Top 100 Private U.S. Startups

Every company below is private and U.S.-based today, ranked on a published composite of valuation, growth trajectory, revenue multiples and innovation — recomputed from the same live dataset that powers each linked company profile, so the list and the profiles can never disagree.

Data as of September 2026 · 100 companies · recomputed on every dataset update

Valuation 35%Log-scaled from $1B to $1T — a $100B company is not treated as 100× better than a $1B one.

Growth trajectory 30%Reported YoY revenue growth (percent or x-multiple), parsed from each company's recorded growth figure.

Revenue substance 20%Valuation ÷ revenue. Lower multiples score higher: real revenue behind the number beats story alone.

Innovation 15%Frontier-tech sectors (AI, space, defense, robotics, quantum, bio) tier highest, with a nudge for 2020+ founding.

#	Company	Valuation	Revenue	Multiple	Growth	QL Score
1	AnthropicFoundation Models · San Francisco, CA	$1.00T	$65.0B	15.4×	~7x YoY run rate	0.905
2	OpenAIFoundation Models · San Francisco, CA	$852B	$12.0B	71×	~100% YoY	0.754
3	Crusoe Energy SystemsEnergy · Denver, Colorado	$30.9B	$998M	31×	262% year-over-year revenue growth (2024-2025), 45+ gigawatt	0.705
4	MercorData Labeling / AI Training Marketplace · San Francisco, CA	$10.0B	$1.0B	10×	+897% YoY revenue growth; ARR reached ~$450M run-rate in Sep	0.687
5	Handshake AIData Labeling · San Francisco, CA	$3.5B	$1.1B	3.2×	+349% YoY	0.673
6	BasetenMLOps / Inference Infrastructure · San Francisco, CA	$13.0B	$600M	21.7×	Decacorn — ~$13B valuation, ~$600M ARR (≈20x YoY), >1B infer	0.673
7	RampB2B Spend Management · New York, NY	$44.0B	$1.0B	44×	170% YoY transaction volume	0.665
8	NotionProductivity · San Francisco, CA	$11.0B	$500M	22×	Crossed $500M in annual revenue in September 2025 and is tra	0.664
9	Anduril IndustriesDefense Tech · Costa Mesa, CA	$61.0B	$2.2B	27.7×	~120% YoY (2025)	0.653
10	DatabricksData Platform · San Francisco, CA	$134B	$4.5B	29.8×	~50% YoY	0.645
11	ClickUpWork Management / SaaS · San Diego, CA	$4.0B	$300M	13.3×	$300M ARR, 400% AI sales growth	0.630
12	SaronicAutonomous Maritime Systems · Austin, TX	$9.3B	$200M	46.3×	1500% YoY	0.630
13	OpenEvidenceClinical AI / Medical Decision Support · Miami, FL	$15.0B	$150M	100×	+1,803% YoY revenue growth (Sacra)	0.627
14	SierraEnterprise AI Agents / Customer Support · San Francisco, CA	$15.0B	$150M	100×	+400% YoY revenue growth (Sacra); $15B valuation reached May	0.627
15	Perplexity AIAI Search · San Francisco, CA	$18.0B	$100M	180×	~5x YoY	0.616
16	Cityblock HealthHealth Care · Brooklyn, New York	$1.2B	$1.5B	0.8×	8X growth in dually eligible members since 2020; serving 130	0.615
17	Shield AIDefense Tech · San Diego, CA	$12.7B	$400M	31.8×	~3x YoY	0.614
18	StripePayments · South San Francisco, CA	$159B	$18.0B	8.8×	~30% YoY	0.606
19	PlaudAI Productivity Hardware · San Francisco, CA	$1.0B	$250M	4×	10x annual revenue growth; profitable bootstrapped beginning	0.602
20	Clear StreetPrime Brokerage Infrastructure · New York, NY	$12.0B	$1.0B	11.5×	160% year-over-year revenue growth	0.601
21	AbridgeSoftware · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	$5.7B	$100M	56.9×	900% YoY ARR growth; deployed to 150+ enterprise health syst	0.598
22	VAST DataAI Infrastructure · New York, NY	$30.0B	—	—	Series F at $30B in April 2026, a 3.3x step-up from the $9.1	0.597
23	TemporalDeveloper Infrastructure · Bellevue, WA	$12.6B	$250M	50.2×	ARR past $250M growing over 200% year-over-year, with headco	0.597
24	Devoted HealthMedicare Advantage / Telehealth · Waltham, MA	$12.9B	$3.3B	3.9×	Serving over 466,000 members across 29 states as of January	0.597
25	Applied IntuitionAutonomous Vehicles / Physical AI · Mountain View, CA	$15.0B	$830M	18.1×	~100% YoY (ARR ~2x from $415M in 2024 to $830M in 2025)	0.597
26	FluidstackAI Data Centers / Neocloud · New York, NY	$18.0B	$200M	90×	~200% YoY (revenue $66M in 2024, the last year disclosed in	0.595
27	WaymoAutonomous Vehicles · Mountain View, CA	$126B	—	—	Ride volume scaling rapidly across Phoenix, SF, LA, Austin	0.595
28	WHOOPConsumer Goods · Boston, Massachusetts	$6.7B	$1.1B	6.1×	103% YoY revenue growth in 2025, reaching $1.1B ARR with 2.5	0.594
29	Together AIAI Infra · San Francisco, CA	$3.3B	$100M	33×	~6x YoY	0.589
30	AfterQueryData Labeling · San Francisco, CA	$3.2B	$100M	32×	Reached a $100M annualized revenue run rate by April 2026 (c	0.589
31	The Boring CompanyInfrastructure / Tunneling · Bastrop, Texas, USA	$23.0B	—	—	Marked at $23B in Sep 2026, ~4x the $5.7B April 2022 round;	0.584
32	GammaGenerative AI / Productivity · San Francisco, CA	$2.1B	$102M	20.6×	~712% YoY	0.583
33	TuringTalent Platform / Data Labeling · Palo Alto, CA	$2.2B	$300M	7.3×	Tripled revenue to ~$300M in 2024 (up 150% YoY from ~$120M)	0.576
34	Reflection AIFoundation Models · New York, NY	$8.0B	—	—	15x valuation step-up in 7 months (Mar 2025 $545M → Oct 2025	0.575
35	HadrianAdvanced Manufacturing · Torrance, CA	$7.9B	—	—	4.9x valuation step-up in 13 months	0.575
36	CognitionAI Code Agents · San Francisco, CA	$48.0B	$900M	53.3×	+83% run-rate revenue in four months ($492M May 2026 → ~$900	0.573
37	HarveyAI / Generative AI for Law · San Francisco, CA	$15.5B	$400M	38.8×	+105% ARR ($195M 2025-Q4 → $400M+ Sep 2026)	0.572
38	QuinceDTC / E-Commerce · San Francisco, CA	$4.5B	$2.0B	2.3×	~245% YoY	0.571
39	ClickHouseAnalytical Database · Portola Valley, CA	$15.0B	$250M	60×	ARR crossed $250M by May 2026, roughly tripling year over ye	0.570
40	KalshiFinancial Services · New York, NY	$23.8B	$4.0B	5.9×	~$4B annualized revenue (Aug 2026), ~95% of U.S. prediction-	0.569
41	CohesityData and Analytics · Santa Clara, California	$7.0B	$1.7B	4.1×	Fastest data protection company to cross $1.5 billion in rev	0.564
42	Function HealthHealth Technology / Diagnostics · Austin, TX	$2.5B	$50M	50×	426% revenue growth in 2025	0.561
43	DecagonCustomer Experience AI · San Francisco, CA	$4.5B	$35M	128.6×	1567% YoY	0.557
44	RipplingAdministrative Services · San Francisco, California	$14.1B	$1.0B	14.1×	78% YoY growth, reaching $1B ARR	0.557
45	Citadel SecuritiesMarket Making · Miami, FL	$22.0B	$9.7B	2.3×	Record $12.2B of net trading revenue in 2025 and a record $4	0.553
46	Scale AIAI Infra · San Francisco, CA	$14.3B	$870M	16.4×	~80% YoY	0.553
47	RunwayGenerative Video / Creative Tools · New York, NY	$5.3B	$90M	58.9×	+180% YoY	0.548
48	MotiveSupply Chain and Logistics · San Francisco, California	$2.1B	$501M	4.1×	ARR $501M as of Sept 2025, 110% NDR for Core Customers, 126%	0.548
49	LambdaData and Analytics · San Jose, California	$9.4B	$760M	12.3×	Hypergrowth - 80% YoY revenue growth, one of the fastest-gro	0.541
50	ColumnBanking-as-a-Service · San Francisco, CA	$6.0B	$153M	39.2×	~219% YoY	0.538
51	GroqHardware · Mountain View, CA	$6.4B	$500M	12.7×	Explosive growth as emerging hyperscaler with global data ce	0.535
52	RunPodCloud / GPU Infrastructure · Remote / Tampa, USA	$1.0B	$120M	8.3×	~155% YoY signup growth	0.531
53	ImprintCo-Branded Credit Cards · New York, NY	$1.2B	$70M	17.1×	+367% YoY	0.531
54	ChainguardSoftware Supply Chain · Kirkland, USA	$3.5B	$40M	87.5×	~640% YoY	0.528
55	DeelGlobal Payroll / HR Tech · San Francisco, CA	$17.3B	$1.4B	12.4×	+57% YoY	0.527
56	OuraWearables / Connected Fitness · San Francisco, CA	$11.0B	$1.4B	7.7×	Revenue $1.21B in the nine months to 2026-06-30, up 74%; fis	0.520
57	FlexAI-Native Business Banking · New York, NY	$1.2B	$75M	16×	~295% YoY	0.518
58	WriterGenerative AI & LLM Development · San Francisco, CA	$1.9B	$47M	40.4×	High-growth enterprise AI platform with ~200% YoY revenue in	0.509
59	SupabaseDeveloper Tools / Database · San Francisco, CA	$5.0B	$70M	71.4×	+250% YoY	0.508
60	PsiQuantumHardware · Palo Alto, California	$5.7B	$240M	23.7×	Rapid growth unicorn, $7B valuation post-Series E	0.508
61	GleanData and Analytics · Palo Alto, California	$7.2B	$200M	36.1×	Rapid growth - doubled ARR from $100M to $200M in 9 months,	0.506
62	SimileBehavioral Simulation / Synthetic Users · San Francisco, CA	$2.0B	—	—	Revenue up ~5x since Feb 2026 launch; customers incl. CVS He	0.505
63	Invisible TechnologiesGig Marketplaces / RLHF / Outsourcing · New York, NY	$2.0B	$134M	14.9×	~123% YoY in 2024 ($60M → $134M); 11% EBITDA margin; pivot f	0.501
64	AlchemyBlockchain Infrastructure · San Francisco, CA	$10.2B	—	—	Valued at $10.2B in February 2022 after a $200M round led by	0.498
65	VerkadaPrivacy and Security · San Mateo, CA	$4.9B	$1.0B	4.9×	30% year-over-year revenue growth, crossing $1 billion in an	0.495
66	VercelDeveloper Platform · San Francisco, CA	$9.0B	$200M	45×	~70% YoY	0.494
67	Hubble NetworkSatellite IoT / Bluetooth-to-satellite connectivity · Seattle, WA	$1.6B	—	—	500,000+ devices active on the Hubble Terrestrial Network, m	0.494
68	HarnessSoftware · San Francisco, CA	$4.7B	$250M	18.7×	50%+ year-over-year growth; exceeded $250M ARR in 2025; orch	0.491
69	Eight SleepConsumer Electronics · New York, New York	$1.5B	—	—	Revenue grown 10x since 2020, free cash flow positive in H1	0.491
70	KrakenBlockchain and Crypto · Cheyenne, Wyoming	$10.9B	$2.2B	4.9×	Strong growth with 33% YoY revenue increase in 2025, doublin	0.490
71	GrubMarketB2B Marketplace / Food Supply Chain · San Francisco, USA	$4.5B	$2.0B	2.3×		0.488
72	StartEnginePrivate Markets · Los Angeles, USA	$1.4B	$107M	12.9×	~190% YoY	0.487
73	NeuralinkBiotechnology · Fremont, California	$14.9B	—	—	pre-revenue, scaling to $1B by 2031	0.487
74	Fireworks AIAI Infrastructure & Inference Cloud · Redwood City, CA	$17.5B	$1.0B	17.5×	Hypergrowth ($1B ARR milestone)	0.486
75	AlphaSenseMarket Intelligence / Research SaaS · New York, USA	$7.5B	$600M	12.5×	ARR ~40% YoY (CFO, Jul 2026); $700M+ reported Jul 2026	0.484
76	RoTelehealth / Pharmacy · New York, NY	$7.0B	$598M	11.7×	+66% YoY	0.483
77	ReplitDeveloper Platform · San Francisco, CA	$1.2B	$100M	11.6×	~100% YoY	0.482
78	HyperliquidDecentralized Exchange · Remote / Distributed	$11.0B	$900M	12.2×	Never raised venture capital — no investors, no priced equit	0.482
79	FanaticsSports Commerce · Jacksonville, FL	$31.0B	$9.6B	3.2×	~19% YoY (2024 revenue +15% to $8.1B, 2025 estimated ~$9.6B)	0.476
80	SunoGenerative Audio · Cambridge, MA	$2.0B	$150M	13.3×	Crossed $100M ARR rapidly, now ~$150M ARR	0.475
81	Fal.aiGenerative Media Inference · San Francisco, CA	$8.5B	$400M	21.3×	1,040% annualized revenue growth — fastest in AI infra cover	0.472
82	InnovaccerHealth Care · San Francisco, California	$1.3B	$250M	5.1×	50% year-over-year revenue growth for the past five years; p	0.471
83	QuantinuumQuantum Computing · Broomfield, CO	$10.8B	—	—	Trapped-ion qubit fidelity records; commercial enterprise tr	0.471
84	PumpCloud Infrastructure / FinOps · San Francisco, CA	$1.5B	$15M	98.7×	Up 257% YoY	0.466
85	Skild AIHardware · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	$14.1B	$30M	469.4×	Growing exponentially - scaled from $0 to $30M revenue in mo	0.464
86	GongRevenue Intelligence / Conversation Intelligence · San Francisco, CA	$7.5B	$332M	22.6×	Revenue increased 28% year-over-year in 2024, surpassing $30	0.464
87	ShopMyCreator Commerce & Affiliate Marketing · New York, NY	$1.5B	$89M	16.8×	196% YoY revenue growth	0.460
88	IcertisContract Lifecycle Management · Bellevue, WA	$5.0B	$350M	14.3×	+25% YoY	0.459
89	Epic GamesGame Engine / Live-Service Games · Cary, NC	$22.5B	$4.4B	5.1×		0.459
90	Apollo.ioSales Technology · San Francisco, CA	$1.6B	$150M	10.7×	50% YoY ARR growth, reaching $150M in 2025.	0.457
91	HiggsfieldGenerative Video · San Francisco, USA	$5.4B	$700M	7.7×	$700M annualized revenue run rate (Aug 2026), up from ~$20M	0.454
92	RippleBlockchain and Crypto · San Francisco, California	$19.1B	—	—	Rapid expansion through strategic acquisitions	0.454
93	GrammarlyAI Writing Assistant · San Francisco, CA	$13.0B	$700M	18.6×	+12% YoY	0.453
94	MidjourneyGenerative AI / Image Models · San Francisco, CA	$10.0B	$500M	20×	Bootstrapped since 2021 and profitable on subscriptions: Mid	0.453
95	Cart.comUnified Commerce / Logistics · Houston, TX	$1.6B	$315M	5.1×	Ranked on Inc. 5000 with 1,053% 3-year revenue growth; surpa	0.452
96	CriblData and Analytics · San Francisco, California	$4.4B	$300M	14.7×	Fast-growing unicorn with 40%+ ARR growth	0.452
97	NEARBlockchain L1 · San Francisco, CA	$10.0B	—	—	Two different numbers describe NEAR and they are far apart:	0.452
98	Grafana LabsObservability · New York, NY	$9.5B	$400M	23.8×	ARR scaling rapidly; open-source-led growth model	0.452
99	ModularAI Compilers / Inference · Los Altos, CA	$1.6B	—	—	~3x valuation step-up between Series B and Series C	0.449
100	BiltLoyalty & Rewards · New York, NY	$10.8B	$429M	25.1×	43% YoY growth	0.448

Methodology

The QL Top 100 is a deterministic computation, not an editorial list. Each eligible company — U.S.-based, still private (including confidentially-filed pre-IPO), valued at $1B or more — receives four pillar scores which blend into one composite. The full pillar breakdown ships in the underlying data file.

Why growth outweighs size: a startup list that only re-sorts by valuation is a wealth chart. Weighting growth at 30% surfaces the companies compounding fastest right now.
Why low multiples score higher: two companies at the same valuation are not equal if one has ten times the revenue. The substance pillar rewards valuations that are backed, not promised.
Where the innovation score comes from: sector tiering (frontier tech > enterprise infrastructure > consumer) plus a recency nudge. It is the one editorial pillar, so it carries the smallest weight.
Who is excluded: companies that IPO’d (SpaceX, June 2026), merged into public entities (xAI) or were acquired (Cursor/Anysphere, Wiz) leave the list the day their status changes.

Top 100 private startups — FAQ

What is the most valuable private startup in the U.S.?

As of September 2026, Anthropic leads the QL Top 100 at a $1.00T valuation, followed by OpenAI ($852B). The QL Top 100 ranks on a composite of valuation, growth trajectory, revenue substance (valuation-to-revenue multiple) and innovation — not valuation alone.

How is the ranking computed?

Each company gets a composite score: valuation (35%, log-scaled), growth trajectory (30%, parsed from reported YoY revenue growth), revenue substance (20%, rewarding valuations backed by real revenue rather than story alone), and innovation (15%, sector-tiered with a nudge for recent founding). The full methodology and every pillar score is published on the page and recomputed from QuantLogix's private-company dataset on every data update.

Why are SpaceX, xAI and Cursor not listed?

They are no longer private, independent U.S. companies: SpaceX went public in June 2026 (Nasdaq: SPCX) after absorbing xAI in a February 2026 all-stock merger, and Anysphere (Cursor) was acquired by SpaceX in a deal that closed in August 2026. The QL Top 100 only ranks companies that are private today.

What does the revenue multiple mean?

The revenue multiple is the company's valuation divided by its estimated annual revenue. A lower multiple means the valuation is backed by more actual revenue. The ranking rewards lower multiples through its revenue-substance pillar, so two companies at the same valuation rank differently if one has 10x the revenue.

How often does the list update?

The ranking is rebuilt automatically from QuantLogix's private-company dataset — the same records that power every company profile — whenever valuations, revenue estimates or growth figures are updated, so the list can never disagree with the company pages it links to.

Top 100 Private U.S. Startups

Methodology

Go deeper on private markets

Top 100 private startups — FAQ