How AI Is Powering The Next Billion-Dollar Startups
Forbes Talks
Forbes Media LLC
5 • 4 Ratings
🗓️ 12 August 2025
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Uncover the future of business with Forbes' highly anticipated annual ranking of companies poised to hit billion-dollar valuations! For over a decade, this list has boasted a superb track record, with more than half of its featured companies already achieving unicorn status.
This year, Senior Editor Amy Feldman sits with Assistant Managing Editor Katharine Schwab to discuss the vast majority of selected startups that are leveraging artificial intelligence to automate tasks across diverse sectors, from healthcare to design. Discover the rigorous methodology behind these predictions, involving insights from hundreds of VC firms and a deep dive into financial data, even for very early-stage companies.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Catherine Schwab, an assistant managing editor here at Forbes covering technology. |
| 0:09.0 | Today I'm so excited that we have launched our next billion dollar startups list. |
| 0:14.0 | It's our annual ranking of 25 companies we think most likely to hit a billion dollar evaluation |
| 0:20.0 | in the future. I'm so excited to be here with Amy Feldman, senior editor on the team here with me. |
| 0:25.6 | We worked on this list together. |
| 0:28.6 | Amy, tell me more about the next billion dollar startups list. |
| 0:32.6 | How do we choose these companies? |
| 0:35.6 | And how good are we at predicting future unicorns? |
| 0:39.8 | I am delighted to be here. |
| 0:41.3 | This is the 11th year that we have done this list. |
| 0:44.6 | We started in 2016. |
| 0:46.7 | And we have had a superb track record so far. |
| 0:50.7 | We have more than half of the companies are already unicorns. |
| 0:53.3 | I think it is 140 at last count out of 250 of them. |
| 0:58.8 | And in addition to that, we've had a number that have been acquired or have gone public |
| 1:04.7 | at somewhat below a billion. |
| 1:06.5 | We've only had a few blow-ups. |
| 1:07.7 | So we are quite happy with the track record and knock wood, it will continue |
| 1:11.5 | this year. I'm pretty proud of that too, especially given how many startups fail. So how do we |
| 1:19.0 | choose these companies to feature? We and our partners at Truebridge Capital, which also works with |
| 1:25.2 | us on the Midas list, reach out to companies. |
| 1:27.9 | They reach out to a few hundred VC firms to get the best of the best of their portfolios. |
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