The global startup landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. High-interest rates, a cautious venture capital environment, and persistent economic uncertainty have compelled startups to rethink how they grow and operate. Yet, despite these headwinds, a select few companies are not just surviving—they’re thriving.
In this in-depth report, we spotlight 25 of the fastest-growing startups in 2025, ranging from AI and fintech to e-commerce and edtech. These companies are leveraging innovation, strategic funding, and product-market fit to carve out dominant positions in their industries.
Data sources: This list is curated using insights from Semrush tracking search trends and market visibility.
1. Perplexity AI (San Francisco, CA)
- 5-Year Search Growth: 8,600%
- Monthly Website Traffic: 10.4M
- Funding: $915M (Series C)
Perplexity AI has redefined the way users interact with search engines. Powered by generative AI, its conversational interface delivers real-time, accurate responses using multiple large language models (LLMs). Backed by major investments, including a $500M round in 2025, Perplexity now boasts over 10 million active users and a staggering $20M ARR.
2. ZeroTier (Los Angeles, CA)
- Search Growth: 327%
- Monthly Visits: 190K
- Funding: $15.9M (Series A)
ZeroTier enables users to create secure, encrypted virtual networks across devices and geographies. Supporting 2 million active devices in over 220 countries, its peer-to-peer architecture makes it a favorite in enterprise IT and devops circles.
3. Deepgram (San Francisco, CA)
- Search Growth: 2,200%
- Monthly Visits: 130K
- Funding: $85.9M
Deepgram is a standout in the speech recognition and voice AI domain. Its latest tool, Aura, enables sub-second response times for conversational AI. Used by NASA and Fortune 500s alike, Deepgram is shaping the future of human-computer interaction.
4. Scale AI (San Francisco, CA)
- Search Growth: 1,540%
- Monthly Traffic: 360K
- Funding: $3.5B
Scale AI delivers training data pipelines for leading AI companies. Its robust infrastructure supports data labeling for images, video, text, and sensor inputs. With a $1B funding round in 2024, the company is now valued at $13.8B.
5. Cradlewise (San Francisco, CA)
- Search Growth: 7,200%
- Monthly Traffic: 100K
- Funding: $7M
Cradlewise produces smart bassinets that respond to babies’ sleep patterns in real-time. Since its U.S. launch, it has generated $8M in revenue, thanks to its AI-based monitoring and automatic soothing technology.
6. PhotoRoom (Paris, France)
- Search Growth: 99x+
- Monthly Traffic: 6.2M
- Funding: $64M
PhotoRoom simplifies photo editing using AI. With over 30 million active users and 150M downloads, the app lets anyone remove backgrounds, retouch images, and create content at scale.
7. Preply (Brookline, MA)
- Search Growth: 1,011%
- Monthly Users: 8.4M
- Funding: $171M
Preply is an online language tutoring marketplace with over 50,000 tutors and 1 million+ students. Its global reach and flexible learning model have made it a staple in edtech growth circles.
8. Airalo (Singapore)
- Search Growth: 8,400%
- Monthly Traffic: 1.4M
- Funding: $67.3M
Airalo offers prepaid eSIM data plans for global travelers. With presence in 200+ countries, the startup now has 10 million+ users, making mobile connectivity seamless and affordable across borders.
9. Oura (Oulu, Finland)
- Search Growth: 1,129%
- Monthly Traffic: 2.2M
- Funding: $421M
The Oura Ring is a pioneer in wearable health tech, tracking sleep, heart rate, and temperature. With 1M+ rings sold and rave reviews from Wired and Forbes, Oura is a top choice for biohackers and athletes alike.
10. Tailwind (Oklahoma City, OK)
- Search Growth: 406%
- Monthly Users: 2.2M
- Funding: $10.7M
Tailwind helps creators and brands grow on Instagram and Pinterest. Used by 1M+ brands, the platform automates content scheduling, hashtags, and design to maximize social reach and ROI.
11. Gumroad (San Francisco, CA)
- Search Growth: 281%
- Monthly Visits: 790K
- Funding: $16.2M
Gumroad empowers digital creators to monetize ebooks, courses, and tools. Over 200,000 creators have sold more than $1 billion in products via the platform. Its creator-first model is ideal for solopreneurs and indie artists.
12. Airwallex (Melbourne, Australia)
- Search Growth: 99x+
- Monthly Traffic: 160K
- Funding: $1.1B
Airwallex delivers cross-border payment services for over 100,000 global businesses. Its seamless international banking platform has processed $50B+ in transactions, making it a fintech force to reckon with.
13. Cohere (Toronto, Canada)
- Search Growth: 880%
- Monthly Traffic: 110K
- Funding: $970M
Cohere builds enterprise-grade LLMs like Command and Embed. Backed by Cisco, AMD, and Fujitsu, its latest valuation hit $5.5B, and its focus on customization makes it a favorite among developers.
14. Brightwheel (San Francisco, CA)
- Search Growth: 232%
- Monthly Visits: 420K
- Funding: $88.8M
Brightwheel offers SaaS solutions for early childhood education. It handles everything from lesson plans to parent communication. The company claims 85% referral rate and huge user satisfaction among educators and parents.
15. Anthropic (San Francisco, CA)
- Search Growth: 4,150%
- Monthly Traffic: 114M (claude.ai)
- Funding: $10.8B
Anthropic is behind the Claude series of AI models. With over $10B in funding, including $4B from Amazon and $3B from Google, it’s now valued at $61.5B. Claude’s safety-first approach via “Constitutional AI” sets it apart in the crowded chatbot space.
16. Shiprocket (New Delhi, India)
- Search Growth: 169%
- Monthly Visits: 1.2M
- Funding: $323M
Shiprocket is India’s answer to e-commerce logistics. With automated order fulfillment, courier integrations, and real-time tracking, it’s helping thousands of SMBs grow their online presence affordably.
17. Saie (New York, NY)
- Search Growth: 900%
- Monthly Traffic: 340K
- Funding: Undisclosed
Saie is disrupting clean beauty with eco-conscious cosmetics. The brand’s transparency and commitment to sustainability fueled a 140% YoY retail growth and a loyal consumer base across major markets.
18. Airbyte (San Francisco, CA)
- Search Growth: 8,700%
- Monthly Visits: 80K
- Funding: $181M
Airbyte is revolutionizing data integration through open-source tools. With 20,000+ users across 7,000 companies, its modular architecture allows complete control over data workflows.
19. Liquid Death (Santa Monica, CA)
- Search Growth: 590%
- Monthly Traffic: 350K
- Funding: $264M
This DTC canned water brand pairs rock-and-roll branding with sustainability. With revenues jumping from $110M to $263M in one year, Liquid Death now offers flavored waters, hydration powders, and teas—all in recyclable cans.
20. Printify (San Francisco, CA)
- Search Growth: 450%
- Monthly Users: 1.5M
- Funding: $54.3M
Printify is a leader in the print-on-demand industry, offering 800+ customizable products for e-commerce sellers. Its seamless Shopify integrations and affordable shipping have powered a massive growth surge in the creator economy.
21. Melio (New York, NY)
- Search Growth: 146%
- Monthly Visits: 50K
- Funding: $638M
Melio simplifies B2B payments for small businesses. Integrated with QuickBooks, the platform now supports over 119,000 businesses with easy bill pay and vendor management solutions.
22. Adalo (St. Louis, MO)
- Search Growth: 214%
- Monthly Visits: 140K
- Funding: $9.7M
Adalo makes no-code app development easy and visual. With drag-and-drop components, the platform has enabled 100,000+ users to create mobile apps without a single line of code.
23. Codeium (Mountain View, CA)
- Search Growth: 9,300%
- Monthly Traffic: 130K
- Funding: $150M
Codeium is an AI-powered developer assistant offering intelligent code suggestions, refactoring help, and support for 70+ languages. Its latest $150M round values it at $1.25B, securing its position in the AI coding arms race.
24. Elegoo (Shenzhen, China)
- Search Growth: 225%
- Monthly Visits: 310K
- Funding: $3.2M
Elegoo offers affordable 3D printers and STEM kits for students and educators. With $200M in 2023 revenue, it’s become a top choice for hobbyists, classrooms, and maker labs alike.
25. Givebutter (Washington, DC)
- Search Growth: 691%
- Monthly Visits: 80K
- Funding: $57M
Givebutter provides free fundraising software for nonprofits, covering donation forms, CRM, email automation, and more. $300M+ raised by 1M+ donors makes Givebutter a disruptive force in charitable tech.
Final Thoughts
2025 is a testament to resilience, innovation, and adaptability. These 25 startups are not only surviving the tough economic climate—they’re scaling faster than ever. Whether driven by AI, clean tech, creator tools, or global e-commerce, these companies exemplify what it means to grow fast in a slow economy.
Pro Tip: If you’re building your own startup or exploring new markets, tools like Exploding Topics and Semrush can give you a real-time edge.