Every month, Green Flag Digital reranks the top private tech companies not only by funding, but by web traffic and brand prominence. In January 2026, the top 3 spots go to OpenAI, Databricks, and Loveable, each fundamental to the AI ecosystem that’s currently dominating funding rounds.
Taking ~50% of all global venture cash in 2025, AI projects are soaking up about 21% more venture value than in Q4 of 2024. But in 2026, which companies turn bucks is also paramount.
By combining all 3, we created a score that adds a new dimension to typical tech company rankings, highlighting the importance of market impact and brand authority without erasing funding altogether.
Here are our most recent findings.
Key Takeaways
- #1 OpenAI stays on top, with #2 Databricks, and #3 Loveable cementing AI dominance atop the podium.
- New to the top ten: Databricks cracks the list with its mega-raise of $4B just 17 days ago — which also helps it top the funding ranking this month.
- OpenAI, Substack, NPR, Quince, and Persona posted the strongest web traffic scores this month.
- For branded web search, Astonomer, Hometap, SavvyMoney, Boom Supersonic, and Mercor lead in growth, with Mercor’s 2,377% You growth landing it in the top 10.
Which 100 Tech Companies Score Highest?
We analyze thousands of companies every month to determine which are leading the way in terms of industry and consumer momentum.
These are the top 100 private tech companies.
Breaking Down The Top Ten Tech Companies
Zooming in on the top 10 companies today, we see they’re not performing equally well across all three categories.
Typically, companies grow from funding buzz to web searches and ultimately achieve brand recognition through keyword searches.
Here’s how the top ten right now stack up in each area:
#1 OpenAI – $40B From SoftBank Adds to the AI Snowball
OpenAI has bobbed between #1 and #2 for the last 3 months, depending on the tides of its funding rounds (12 so far for the large language model). With another $1B in its warchest this month, bringing the total to $79,000,120,000, OpenAI has been able to bring its website score to #6 overall, and its keyword score to a #27 ranking, impressive for a company in which the main product isn’t the name of the company itself.
#2 Databricks – The Boring Tech Winning the AI Boom
Databricks appears in the top 10 for the first time this month. Its #1 funding score has buoyed its less dominant web traffic and keyword scores (#194 and #156, respectively, the lowest among the top-5 companies). What Databricks lacks in consumer buzz, it makes up for in enterprise prowess: the data, AI, and business analytics company has helped redefine the lakehouse model that’s bringing data together in 2026.
#3 Lovable – Shifting the Labor Market
Lovable is also new to the top 10. While it’s the #14 funding rank (the company brought in an early $330M holiday present) that jets this Swedish vibe coding platform to the top, strong web and branded global search volume along with 22,412,828 average monthly visits signals a lot of people are interested in vibe coding their latest project — with Lovable helping them do it.
#4 Anthropic – IPO Whispers Begin Circulating
Anthropic creeps up from 5th place last month to #4. The AI model behind “Claude” has netted funding of $33,740,377,627, including the top 10’s highest most-recent raise: $13,000,000,000 4 months ago. And though it’s acquired just 2 other companies, its brand searches are growing by almost 50% since 6 months ago.
#5 Kalshi – Prediction Markets Nip at Traditional Finance
Kalshi is a fintech firm with solid keyword search chops. With $1,643,244,988 in the bank, they’ll have some firepower to increase a branded search profile that’s already up over 500% over the last 6 months. It turns out the contract market that pushed prediction markets into the mainstream isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
#6 Mercor – The Future of AI Labor is — Human?
Mercor stays in the top 10 this month, holding tight after an autumn tumble. So while its 4 total funding rounds, including its most recent $350M raised 67 days ago, rank among the lowest in the top ten, its branded web search growth outperforms the other top tech companies this month by a mile. Or rather, by its unprecedented year over year growth of 2,377%.
#7 EquipmentShare – The Fleet Flywheel Launching its Owners Off the Private Company List
EquipmentShare is an equipment rental behemoth that also stakes its valuation on its fleet management software. Their tech-powered nationwide network is rare in the construction niche, and their upcoming IPO pretty much guarantees we won’t see them on this list of top private companies for long. It’s funding that’s landed EquipmentShare here this time around: with $2.75B added on December 3, it’s been a joyous season for the company.
#8 Scale – From Data Labelling to Enterprise Trust-Broker
Scale is the Levi’s of the postmodern age, selling the tools businesses need today to strike gold in AI. It’s no wonder funders are banking on the provider, which ranks #17 in funding this month, buoying a branded keyword surge to #74 — not bad work for a corporate provider.
#9 Anysphere – Cursor is Working to Ship More than Demos
Anysphere is the company behind Cursor, a vibe coding platform that’s surpassed the saturated market and won over investors with some crazy-vibes valuations (the company has grown from a $9.8B valuation in July to $29.3B in November). This month’s showing is down to its #5 funding score, as the company’s adding more Benjamins to its wallet, bringing in $3,373,400,000 in early December.
#10 Kraken – The Adult in the Crypto Room Goes Public
Kraken is a mainstream cryptocurrency exchange that’s destined to leave the public list soon. In the meantime, its November IPO registration has kept its reputation high. So while Kraken didn’t raise a venture round last month, they still ranked #24 in funding, and their web and branded traffic continue to soar, making them an all-arounder on the list.
The Funding Index
Fundraising is constant, with 181 companies raising new money over the last 31 days.
But within the top 100 companies, which are the biggest winners for total raise, recent funding, and the biggest cash infusions? This month, it’s Databricks. The company brings in $4B to top its 16 total funding rounds, bringing its total bank account to $25,814,821,657.
Recency also made the difference for Hadrian, EquipmentShare, Anysphere, and VoltaGrid.
The Traffic Index
OpenAI, Substack, and NPR (by way of grant funding, as is the public radio’s typical path) see the most web traffic in December.
However, all three have seen traffic slide over the past 6 months. With 4.90% growth, #9 Scribe, with the lowest overall traffic among the top ten, records the biggest traffic surge.
When it comes to gains, the biggest winners aren’t making the top ten — they’re not even in the top 100. These are up-and-comers putting up huge numbers compared to their small web footprints. If they can sustain that performance, look for companies like Propel, Giga, and PowerLattice Technologies to crack the overall index soon.
The Branded Search Index
Branded search means more than clicks. It indicates deeper brand authority. Users know what they want and they’re seeking it out, not just landing on a company website through the power of SEO.
Within the top 100, Astronomer has learned that lesson well. The dataOps company behind Astro has enjoyed a 49.46% YoY increase in branded searches.
Mercor (up 2,377% YoY), Opine (up 1,251% YoY), and Periodic Labs (up 19,700% YoY) are also soaring when it comes to cementing brand authority.
Which Industries are Leading the Tech Race?
Some industries are more cutting-edge than others. And while those organizations tend to capture more funding, do they also capture the public imagination?
We allowed companies to have multiple industry tags, so among the 100 top-scoring companies today, 157 industries are represented, from space travel to collectibles.
Here are the ten industries represented most often:
Ultimately, AI and its adjacent industries, combined, from machine learning to generative AI, are commanding an oversized share of top companies. However, they’re clustered among the highest performers even more prominently: 7 of the top 10 are specifically tagged as AI.
Where are the Top 100 Tech Companies Located?
Regardless of what part of the puzzle they contribute, top-performing tech companies are likely to be headquartered in California, and specifically in the Bay Area, with San Francisco nurturing 7 of the top 10 companies.
Just Lovable’s Delaware digs (the vibe coding platform is Swedish), Kalshi’s New York finance HQ, and EquipmentShare, a construction and fleet management company from Missouri, buck the trend.
With 13 of the top 25 in the Bay Area, there is little diversity outside the startup north star of Northern California.
Here’s what a map of the top-25 ranked tech companies reveals:
With so many San Francisco and Silicon Valley headquarters, the top 25 are disproportionately clustered around the country’s largest funding ecosystem.
The Final Takeaway? Tech Companies Can’t Live on Funding Alone
Funding may fuel the fire, but it’s not the whole story. With layered signals, we’re seeing that some companies are using that funding better — turning bucks into buzz.
As tech categories like AI continue to draw investor attention, our index helps spotlight companies that are gaining both visibility and velocity, building real market presence for the long haul.
We’ll be watching to see who keeps climbing.
Methodology
To track industry buzz, we analyzed 1,361 tech companies across 3 categories: funding, monthly website traffic, and global keyword volume, to assess which are riding a wave of sustained energy and which are actually turning that excitement into business progress.
Here’s how we broke it down:
Funding – 50%
Number of Investors
Number of Lead Investors
Most recent funding amount
Total funding amount
Most recent funding
Website Analysis (Traffic) – 25%
Monthly visits
Average visits over time
Percentage of visits (to normalize volume and allow better comparison across companies)
Trend in monthly visits over the past 6 months
Keyword Analysis (Brand Search) – 25%
Search volume
Average keyword volume over time
Search volume percent (to normalize volume and show overall strength)
Keyword volume trend over the past 6 months
| 1 | OpenAI | 10.00 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 7.9 | 11 |
| 2 | Databricks | 9.71 | 10.0 | 8.1 | 7.0 | 14 |
| 3 | Lovable | 9.62 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 8.7 | |
| 4 | Anthropic | 9.46 | 9.0 | 8.5 | 7.7 | 2 |
| 5 | Kalshi | 9.44 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.9 | |
| 6 | Mercor | 9.05 | 7.6 | 8.3 | 9.2 | |
| 7 | EquipmentShare | 9.02 | 9.3 | 7.4 | 6.7 | |
| 8 | Scale | 8.95 | 8.6 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 2 |
| 9 | Anysphere | 8.91 | 9.3 | 6.9 | 6.7 | 3 |
| 10 | Kraken | 8.89 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 7.0 | 19 |
| 11 | Hadrian | 8.82 | 9.5 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 1 |
| 12 | Achieve | 8.82 | 8.7 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 1 |
| 13 | Gopuff | 8.73 | 7.9 | 8.8 | 7.0 | 7 |
| 14 | GoodLeap | 8.72 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 6.3 | |
| 15 | Lambda | 8.65 | 8.7 | 7.2 | 6.8 | |
| 16 | Ramp | 8.64 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 7.1 | 4 |
| 17 | Whatnot | 8.64 | 7.5 | 8.6 | 7.7 | 1 |
| 18 | Cyera | 8.64 | 8.8 | 7.3 | 6.3 | 3 |
| 19 | Fal | 8.60 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 6.9 | 1 |
| 20 | Vercel | 8.60 | 7.4 | 8.7 | 7.8 | 3 |
| 21 | Imprint | 8.59 | 8.4 | 7.8 | 6.5 | |
| 22 | VoltaGrid | 8.57 | 9.1 | 6.4 | 6.4 | |
| 23 | Saviynt | 8.57 | 8.7 | 7.5 | 6.1 | |
| 24 | PayJoy | 8.54 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 7.1 | 1 |
| 25 | Thinking Machines Lab | 8.51 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 8.2 | |
| 26 | Quince | 8.44 | 6.9 | 8.9 | 7.8 | |
| 27 | Vantage Data Centers | 8.40 | 8.3 | 7.5 | 6.4 | 6 |
| 28 | Octane | 8.37 | 8.0 | 7.7 | 6.5 | |
| 29 | Supabase | 8.36 | 6.9 | 8.6 | 7.9 | |
| 30 | Anduril Industries | 8.35 | 7.9 | 7.7 | 6.7 | 8 |
| 31 | CookUnity | 8.32 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 6.6 | 3 |
| 32 | Luma AI | 8.32 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 5.1 | 1 |
| 33 | Physical Intelligence | 8.30 | 8.2 | 7.4 | 6.2 | |
| 34 | Point | 8.30 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 7.1 | |
| 35 | Groq | 8.28 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 6.6 | 2 |
| 36 | Wispr Flow | 8.27 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 8.1 | |
| 37 | Upgrade | 8.26 | 7.2 | 8.3 | 7.1 | 1 |
| 38 | Astronomer | 8.26 | 6.1 | 7.7 | 10.0 | 1 |
| 39 | Sesame | 8.25 | 7.4 | 7.9 | 7.3 | |
| 40 | Waymo | 8.25 | 7.5 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 1 |
| 41 | Chaos | 8.25 | 8.1 | 6.8 | 6.9 | 1 |
| 42 | Scribe | 8.24 | 7.0 | 8.7 | 7.0 | |
| 43 | Truemed | 8.22 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 6.3 | |
| 44 | Nanit | 8.21 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 6.5 | |
| 45 | Genesys | 8.20 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 6.7 | 26 |
| 46 | Adaptive Security | 8.19 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 6.6 | |
| 47 | Eon | 8.19 | 8.1 | 6.5 | 6.9 | |
| 48 | Harvey | 8.18 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 7.2 | 1 |
| 49 | Ripple | 8.18 | 7.9 | 7.7 | 6.1 | 8 |
| 50 | Replit | 8.18 | 6.8 | 8.6 | 7.4 | |
| 51 | NPR | 8.17 | 6.8 | 9.0 | 7.1 | |
| 52 | Figure | 8.15 | 7.8 | 6.7 | 7.2 | |
| 53 | Plaid | 8.14 | 6.9 | 8.6 | 7.2 | 3 |
| 54 | Apptronik | 8.13 | 8.1 | 6.8 | 6.5 | |
| 55 | Thread | 8.11 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 7.7 | |
| 56 | ShopMy | 8.10 | 6.8 | 8.5 | 7.2 | |
| 57 | OnePay | 8.09 | 6.2 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 1 |
| 58 | OpenEvidence | 8.09 | 7.3 | 8.3 | 6.3 | 1 |
| 59 | Avride | 8.09 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 6.7 | |
| 60 | Peek | 8.09 | 7.2 | 8.2 | 6.7 | 2 |
| 61 | Armis | 8.08 | 7.9 | 7.1 | 6.4 | 3 |
| 62 | Substack | 8.08 | 6.3 | 9.1 | 7.5 | 4 |
| 63 | Flex | 8.07 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 7.2 | 1 |
| 64 | MainFunc | 8.07 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 6.2 | |
| 65 | Tempo | 8.06 | 7.7 | 5.9 | 8.0 | |
| 66 | Verkada | 8.04 | 7.1 | 8.0 | 6.9 | |
| 67 | Cognition | 8.03 | 7.3 | 7.6 | 6.9 | 1 |
| 68 | PolyAI | 8.03 | 7.9 | 5.9 | 7.3 | |
| 69 | Linq | 8.02 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 6.4 | |
| 70 | Periodic Labs | 8.00 | 7.2 | 5.5 | 9.0 | |
| 71 | Hometap | 8.00 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 6.0 | |
| 72 | Phia | 7.99 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 7.3 | |
| 73 | Parallel | 7.99 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 7.1 | |
| 74 | Persona | 7.98 | 6.4 | 8.8 | 7.3 | |
| 75 | LangChain | 7.98 | 7.0 | 8.1 | 6.8 | |
| 76 | Kilo Code | 7.97 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 8.4 | |
| 77 | EarnIn | 7.96 | 6.9 | 8.5 | 6.6 | 1 |
| 78 | 7AI | 7.95 | 7.7 | 6.9 | 6.4 | |
| 79 | TeraDAR | 7.94 | 7.4 | 6.9 | 7.1 | |
| 80 | Angle Health | 7.93 | 7.7 | 7.1 | 6.2 | |
| 81 | Boom Supersonic | 7.93 | 8.4 | 7.0 | 5.1 | |
| 82 | Lighter | 7.92 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 7.0 | |
| 83 | Lava | 7.91 | 7.4 | 6.8 | 7.1 | |
| 84 | Model ML | 7.91 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 1 |
| 85 | PsiQuantum | 7.91 | 7.8 | 6.7 | 6.3 | |
| 86 | Lemon Slice | 7.91 | 7.2 | 7.3 | 6.8 | |
| 87 | Outset | 7.89 | 7.2 | 7.9 | 6.2 | |
| 88 | Chainguard | 7.88 | 7.5 | 7.2 | 6.2 | |
| 89 | Eight Sleep | 7.88 | 6.5 | 8.1 | 7.4 | 1 |
| 90 | isolved | 7.88 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 7 |
| 91 | Lila Sciences | 7.87 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 7.5 | |
| 92 | Opine | 7.87 | 6.3 | 6.9 | 9.2 | |
| 93 | Echo | 7.87 | 7.5 | 6.5 | 7.0 | |
| 94 | Yoodli | 7.86 | 7.1 | 7.6 | 6.7 | |
| 95 | Quantinuum | 7.86 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 6.5 | 1 |
| 96 | Doppel | 7.86 | 7.1 | 7.6 | 6.6 | |
| 97 | SavvyMoney | 7.85 | 7.4 | 7.8 | 5.8 | 1 |
| 98 | Runway | 7.85 | 6.5 | 8.3 | 7.1 | |
| 99 | Ritten | 7.85 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 6.6 | |
| 100 | Carbon | 7.85 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 7.0 | 1 |
FAQs
Funding tells one story. Traffic tells another. Brand demand tells a third. We wanted a view that reflects how companies actually gain leverage in the market, not just how much money they raised.
So we built our own ranking, the tech ranking we wanted to see. The one built for those trying to understand real market traction.
By looking at these three categories together we can see who turns capital into attention, and attention into brand demand.
Companies that raise big rounds but stall in visibility fall fast. Companies with modest funding but outsized momentum have greater potential to rise quickly.
Private companies operate in a different growth phase, where momentum signals matter more than quarterly earnings. Ranking private companies allows the index to surface emerging leaders before public market pressures reshape behavior and visibility.
Some companies grow steadily without headline-grabbing funding rounds. Strong traffic growth or rising branded search can push these firms higher, reflecting meaningful adoption and awareness that funding coverage alone may overlook.
Leave a Reply