26 Startup Investments for 2026

Here is the continuation of the series that I've run for many years showcasing the top startups that I am seeing and working with. You can see past posts from 2025, 2018 , 2014, and 2013, along with my personal portfolio. If you'd like an intro to any of these, let me know.

What's Changed:

In an age where software can be cloned very easily, the era of one large company with a generic product attempting to serve everyone is over.

A scrappier entrepreneur with distribution will create applications for a niche and knock out the large corporate advantage.

The big companies are mostly going to be relegated to things that need large compute resources or other major infrastructure to get started.

More small companies will be purpose built for communities of 100-1,000 that don't require major capital to get started and success can mean making $500k so the founder can take home $300k.

So what is lasting:

• Network Effects: When a product gets better as more people use it, you have a business worth building.
• Data Moats: When information gets amassed in a central place that makes that place more valuable, you have defensibility.
• Resilience: Founders who can push through setbacks and adapt to changing markets will outlast those who can't.
• Cultural Shift: Building products that align with where culture is heading rather than where it's been.
• Humanity First: With AI taking over so much of our lives, there's a growing need for genuine human connection.

Request For Startups

• Compliance: Smart startups build the guardrails so companies can have peace of mind that they won't face major lawsuits as laws change.
• Inference Platform For Video: Platforms need better infrastructure for handling large files and long form video processing efficiently.
• AI-Powered Contact Management: An app that brings intelligence and perspective to managing your professional relationships and networks.
• Computer Vision For Everything: On-device perception for use cases that were previously only affordable for enterprise applications.
• Business Social Network: LinkedIn is broken and we need a network with proper incentives for genuine professional connections.
• Communities Powered By AI: Tools that help people discover and connect with others who share their interests and values.
• Innovative Sports Leagues: New leagues built on owned IP, personality-driven content, and social engagement from day one.
• Custom Data Based Startups: If you have exclusive data from collection or contracts, LLMs create new monetization opportunities.

The List:

1. Ballers (realballers.com): AI Powered Basketball Community. Using computer vision to create custom sports data from pickup and amateur basketball, giving athletes the data that was previously only available to the elite. Founder is super resilient genius Carnegie Melllon Computer Science grad / ex -Microsoft community builder, who got his last startup to 7 figures bootstrapping. Basketball moms and dads love it. Strava just filed for IPO and is the blueprint.
2. MICSI (micsi.com): Improve MRI image quality with software. Led by leading researchers in the space, this is a company I invested in from YC. FDA 510(k) cleared and making large strides on the business side.
3. Delphi Markets (delphiterminal.com): Bloomberg terminal for prediction markets. CMU CS / quant fou who had success trading on prediction markets on their own. Enterprise ready, already have first customers rolling in after launching a few weeks ago. In the hottest of markets.
4. Diagon (diagon.ai): AI for procurement of machines. For factories building out large scale manufacturing, Diagon is a must have to figure out what's feasible. Should be used by all the big companies building out datacenters. CMU Alum who did this for Tesla.
5. Atria (askatria.ai): Feasibility research agents for real estate. From building codes to municipal codes to national regulations and general trends in an area, real estate pros have to understand many things in order to start construction on a site or to buy a piece of land. Atria brings it all together efficiently. Resilient second time founder. It's his birthday so send him some customers (real estate developers evaluating building sites).
6. Apprentos (apprentos.com): AI-driven tech platform that guides apprentices through their full journey. Unlocking the $16B in government funds for apprenticeships as an alternative for college. Repeat founder, already piloting with various municipalities successfully.
7. WomensPBA (womenspba.com): The premier Women's basketball development league. They've already done 5 seasons and sent players to professional contracts in leagues around the world. The time is ripe for a new league that can capitalize off the boom in Women's basketball with narrative content in addition to interesting gameplay.
8. Pythagoras AI (getpythagoras.ai): Voice agent for healthcare patient conversations. Making the data collection for healthcare orgs easier, more accurate, and more empathetic through AI.
9. Volta Audio (volta.audio): Headphone company with unique designs, got 100M views and preorders are rolling in.
10. Lifestack (lifestack.ai): Organizing your day based on your energy levels. Run by Columbia PhDs who studied energy management, they have over 10k downloads and starting to bubble on social.
11. Calessa (calessa.app): Women's cycle tracker for mood. Made for professional women who want this data to help them make decisions about their schedule based on how their cycle affects their energy, alertness, etc.
12. Swishhouse (swishhouse.com): An in person basketball community focused on class structured training and 3x3 FIBA rules basketball. Experienced it myself and it's a new group fitness format to rival the Rumbles of the world, with a sport that naturally provides community and belonging. Gives me Peloton vibes the way they engage their audience.
13. Keepon.ai (keepon.ai): Digital twin for fitness coaches. Built by Sam Bosch, former MIT PhD in AI, exited repeat founder, YouTuber with 100k+ combined followers. Has natural distribution and the product is well structured for fitness followers.
14. Nappr (nappr.io): Search engine for finding short stay hotel rooms. Saw this founder grind it out for a while on the event circuit, continuing to evangelize the product and test until they found their growth engine: business travelers, and now the growth is going up.
15. Elemind (elemindtech.com): Neurotech headband that helps you sleep better. Given my sleep score has been terrible, I cannot wait to get one of these. Meredith is a repeat founder in the hardware space and a resilient force of nature. Already seems to have some traction with athletes and a clear acquisition target for companies like Nike who need to expand into tech.
16. PlayVision (withplayvision.ai): Computer vision for college/NBA analysis. This team analyzes all the games happening and creates custom data sets that are useful for coaches, sports betters, and fans. Smart team out of YC who worked with universities directly on their film room process.
17. Polymet (polymet.ai): AI for designing websites and apps. My go to tool, it is magical, have recommended it to at least 20 people by now. YC team, immigrant founders with grit. Already a happy customer, looking forward to seeing them grow.
18. Hoopfuel (hoopfuelnutrition.com): Supplements for ballers. Started by basketball influencer Will Custis (TheCorporateHooper), who understands the basketball market better than anyone and is attached to the premier NYC basketball venue The Program. CPG products will be part of the niching down of products to audiences with particular needs instead of large mega brands like Gatorade that do not serve the community well. Authentic content will be the way brands win and Will is one of the best at this.
19. Editframe (editframe.com): Programmatic video editing. Fast and scalable video creation is a huge issue that we have had to face at Ballers. The solution from Editframe is a godsend for handling all the rendering and devops issues that come with video programmatically, with a speed most can't replicate.
20. Brodie League (brodierec.com): The biggest basketball rec league in the world. They have done a great job of building infrastructure for various levels of play and are building tech to unite the community. Can see this expanding beyond North America and finding ways to surface and promote Brodie talent on the content side.
21. Blaze Payments (blaze.money): Cross border payments on mobile. Having lived abroad multiple times and working with so many folks internationally, payments has always been an issue. Blaze simplifies payments and gives you a Venmo like experience for payments across countries and formats. Built by an experienced founder who has built resilient mobile apps for Spotify and others.
22. ApartiAI (aparti.ai): AI platform for Family Law. AI in legal has been blowing up and having specific software for one of the most contentious areas gives lawyers a toolset that levels up their ability to execute for their clients. Built by a resilient founder who worked at top tech companies in the past and experienced the pain of this process firsthand.
23. Latimer (latimer.ai): Empathetic LLMs based on proprietary data of diverse sources. Targeting students and businesses, this is a startup by John Pasmore, an exec and mentor who created a media platform with Russell Simmons. Data is and always will be the moat.
24. Aidy (aidyhq.com): Mobile app for people with digestive diseases to get feedback and recommendations that are customized to them. Data captured helps to understand disease better and solve some of these issues with a crowd approach.
25. Lex (lex.page): AI for document editing. This is a core use case that, with the right UX, will be used by everyone and anyone. If you've ever tried to write anything longer than a paragraph in ChatGPT you know that the chat interface is not ideal for editing writing. Lex is building out a UX that can make writing fluid. Design founder with great experience.
26. Ning Liang: Smart second time founder, building REDACTED in healthcare that I really love. It's also his birthday so wish him a happy birthday.