Venture capitalists have identified the most promising AI startups of 2024, spanning healthcare, enterprise infrastructure, sales automation, and security. These companies represent the cutting edge of artificial intelligence innovation and are attracting significant investment.
Healthcare AI Leaders: Abridge raised a massive $150 million Series C in February to develop generative AI technology that transcribes patient-doctor interactions and automates electronic health record documentation. With $212.5 million in total funding and a strategic partnership with EHR giant Epic, Abridge is positioned to address healthcare’s labor crisis. AliveCor launched FDA-approved AI in June that can detect 35 cardiac conditions including heart attacks using a pocket-sized ECG device, making heart monitoring accessible in locations without traditional ECG machines.
Enterprise AI Infrastructure: Braintrust is building critical infrastructure for enterprise AI products, helping companies like Zapier, Coda, Airtable, and Instacart boost AI accuracy by over 30%. Founded by Ankur Goyal, who sold his previous company to Figma, Braintrust has raised $8.3 million. Cake AI offers an integrated platform for running the full AI stack, helping companies navigate the complex universe of AI tools from cloud providers to large language models. Datology raised $46 million to help companies identify the best data for training and fine-tuning AI models, addressing a core challenge in AI development.
Sales and Marketing AI: Clay just raised funding from Sequoia and Meritech at a $500 million valuation. The platform allows users to run AI prompts on spreadsheet cells, consolidating processes that previously required multiple expensive data sources and custom code. Connect the Dots uses AI to map professional relationships and generate warm introductions for sales teams, delivering ROI within the first month.
AI Security and Compliance: Cranium emerged from KPMG’s startup studio and raised $25 million from Telstra Ventures to provide security and compliance for generative AI systems. Distributional offers automated AI testing and evaluation to make AI systems safe and reliable.
Specialized AI Applications: Air Space Intelligence has raised $222.28 million to build an AI-powered operating system for aerospace and defense, working with major US carriers and expanding into Department of Defense deployments. Decagon builds AI agents for enterprise customer support that go beyond traditional chatbots, working with companies like Rippling and Eventbrite. Continua AI is developing always-on, deeply integrated LLMs for personal AI assistants led by longtime Google engineer David Petrou.
Key Quotes
Abridge has a lot of the necessary ingredients (capital, early commercial traction, strong ecosystem partners, high caliber team) to support provider workflows, help improve communication with patients while also serving as a scaled GenAI business, that could spur additional investment in the space
Marisa Bass, principal at Primary Venture Partners, explained why Abridge stands out in the healthcare AI space, highlighting its partnership with Epic and potential to drive further investment in medical AI applications.
Because the device is compact and easy to use, this new device can be used in places that don’t already have ECG machines on hand, and in particular, will accelerate decision-making around heart attacks
Alex Morgan from Khosla Ventures described AliveCor’s FDA-approved AI that can detect 35 cardiac conditions, emphasizing how the technology democratizes access to critical heart monitoring capabilities.
Models are what they eat. And Datology helps companies feed their ML models the best data
Jon Chu from Khosla Ventures explained Datology’s value proposition in solving one of AI’s core challenges—identifying and curating the best training data from petabytes of unlabeled information without human intervention.
Software buyers are exhausted with cold inbound emails and calls – relationship-based selling is the future of B2B sales
Scott Beechuk from Norwest Venture Partners described why Connect the Dots is gaining traction, as the AI-powered platform helps sales teams leverage warm introductions instead of cold outreach, generating ROI within the first month.
Our Take
This VC-curated list reveals a maturing AI ecosystem moving beyond the hype of foundational models toward practical, revenue-generating applications. The concentration of investment in infrastructure companies like Braintrust, Cake AI, and Datology signals that the industry recognizes the need for robust tooling before AI can scale across enterprises. Particularly notable is the healthcare sector’s prominence with Abridge and AliveCor—these aren’t experimental applications but solutions addressing urgent problems like clinician burnout and cardiac care access. The emphasis on AI security through Cranium and testing via Distributional shows enterprises demanding production-ready, compliant systems rather than experimental tools. What’s most telling is the diversity of applications: from aerospace operations to coworking spaces to sales automation. This suggests AI is transitioning from a single technology category into a foundational capability embedded across industries, similar to how cloud computing evolved. The valuations and funding amounts indicate strong investor conviction despite economic headwinds, suggesting these VCs believe we’re still in the early innings of AI commercialization.
Why This Matters
This comprehensive list reveals where venture capital is flowing in the AI sector and which applications are gaining the most traction. The diversity of companies—from healthcare documentation to aerospace operations—demonstrates AI’s expanding reach across industries. Several trends emerge: infrastructure and tooling companies like Braintrust, Cake AI, and Datology are attracting significant investment as the “picks and shovels” enabling AI deployment; vertical-specific applications in healthcare and aerospace show AI moving beyond general-purpose tools into specialized domains; and enterprise adoption is accelerating with companies focused on sales automation, customer support, and security.
The healthcare AI investments are particularly significant given the industry’s labor crisis and administrative burden challenges. Meanwhile, the emphasis on AI security, testing, and compliance through companies like Cranium and Distributional signals growing maturity in the market as enterprises demand safer, more reliable AI systems. The valuations and funding rounds—including Clay’s $500 million valuation and Abridge’s $150 million raise—indicate strong investor confidence despite broader economic uncertainty. These startups represent the next wave of AI commercialization, moving beyond foundational models to practical applications that deliver measurable ROI.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-startups-most-promising-2024-9