Annual report · 2026
State of AI Founders — 2026
Inception Studio's annual look at the AI founder population: who they are, what they've built, what they've raised, where they are.
Headline numbers
231+
Founders
151+
Companies
23
Cohorts
$264.7M
Total raised
3
Wins
4
Exits
By category
- Ai Agents 29 companies
- Ai Infrastructure 17 companies
- Data Analytics 9 companies
- Developer Tools 9 companies
- Fintech 7 companies
- Consumer 7 companies
- Vertical Saas 7 companies
- Security 6 companies
By location
- San Francisco Bay Area 2
By stage
Wins by year
Most productive cohorts
| Cohort | Founders | Companies | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cohort 3 | 15 | 13 | 0 |
| Cohort 8 | 10 | 9 | 0 |
| Cohort 17 | 14 | 8 | 2 |
| Cohort 15 | 12 | 8 | 0 |
| Cohort 10 | 11 | 7 | 0 |
| Cohort 5 | 13 | 7 | 0 |
| Cohort 21 | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| Cohort 19 | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| Cohort 16 | 12 | 6 | 0 |
| Cohort 13 | 9 | 6 | 0 |
| Cohort 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| Cohort 9 | 9 | 6 | 0 |
| Cohort 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Cohort 1 | 12 | 6 | 0 |
| Cohort 6 | 9 | 5 | 0 |
| Cohort 22 | 10 | 4 | 0 |
| Cohort 20 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| Cohort 18 | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| Cohort 14 | 11 | 4 | 0 |
| Cohort 7 | 11 | 4 | 0 |
| Cohort 4 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| Cohort 23 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Cohort 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 |