From left to right: Rebecca Kaden, Aaron Holiday, Edith Yeung, and Jules Miller
Union Square Ventures; 645 Ventures; Race Capital; Mindset Ventures; Marianne Ayala/Insider
We asked hundreds of top venture capitalists to name the most promising startups of 2022.
VCs were asked to name companies inside and outside of their portfolios.
They delivered an exciting list across industries like fintech, healthcare, edtech and more.
Each year, we reach out to hundreds of VCs at nearly 100 firms and ask them to tell us which early stage startups are the most promising of the year.
VCs were asked to name startups within their portfolio — after all, they liked those startups so much they invested — as well as outside their portfolios — after all, they are the startup experts and can’t invest in them all.
And they were also asked to name startups across all stages, particularly earlier-stage companies that are not widely known.
This year, our research was particularly insightful because it’s been a tumultuous time in startup land. VCs have grown tighter with investments and startups that were not well-prepared to weather the cold have struggled.
Layoffs have even hit some of the darling industries of 2021 like fintech, healthtech, and proptech.
Below, we list hundreds of the most promising startups of 2022, sorted by industry.
Advertising tech:
The 19 most promising advertising and marketing tech startups of 2022, according to VCs
Climate tech:
Consumer tech:
The 27 most promising consumer startups of 2022, according to VCs
Crypto:
The 53 most promising crypto startups of 2022, according to VCs
Education tech:
23 of the most promising edtech startups of 2022, according to top edtech VCs
Fintech:
Health tech:
The 21 most promising healthtech startups of 2022, according to top VCs
Real estate/property tech:
The 21 most promising proptech startups of 2022, according to VCs
Retail tech:
24 of the most promising retail startups of 2022, according to top VCs