CNBC unveils its annual list of 100 promising start-ups to watch

The Upstart 100 is CNBC's exclusive list of promising young start-ups, featuring a diverse group of companies that are building brands and breaking industry barriers on the path to becoming tomorrow's household names. Selected from more than 500 nominees, each one was scored on eight equally weighted quantitative metrics (read more about our methodology here).

While there's always focus on the billion-dollar-plus unicorns, there is now increasingly more investment activity taking place among younger start-ups. Venture capitalists poured a record $11.5 billion into early stage companies in the second quarter of 2018, according to PitchBook, while the average deal size reached a 10-year high of $18 million. Many companies that received some of that funding have made it onto this list.

The companies that made this year's Upstart 100 list represent nearly every sector of the economy, from enterprise software and finance to insurance, health care and retail. They come from nine different countries and 13 U.S. states, and 19 of the 100 are led by women. All of them are less than five years old, but 28 are less than three years old and six were founded just last year.

And all of the 100 companies on the list have quickly become entrepreneurial success stories worth keeping an eye on.

2018 Upstart100 List

Company	Description	HQ	YR FOUNDED
6 River Systems	Autonomous warehouse robots that work alongside humans	Waltham, MA	2015
6Sense Insights	Predictive analytics to help marketers generate new leads	San Francisco	2013
Aira Tech	Smart glasses connected to human agents offering real-time help to the visually impaired	San Diego	2015
Apptimize	Testing platform for iPhone and Android app developers	San Francisco	2013
AREVO	3-D printing process designed to speed production	Santa Clara, CA	2013
ATTN:	A new media company for younger generations, backed by Ryan Seacrest	Los Angeles	2014
AvidBots	Commercial-scale, self-driving, floor-cleaning robots	Kitchener, Ontario	2014
Axios*	D.C.-based media company producing political, business and technology content	Arlington, VA	2017
Blockstack	New internet structure for decentralized apps	New York	2013
BorderX Lab	E-commerce platform that gives merchants direct access to Chinese shoppers	Sunnyvale, CA	2014
Bulletin	A way for digital brands to get shelf space in physical stores	New York	2015
Buoy Health	A digital health app and AI-based diagnosis assistant	Boston	2014
Candid	Direct-to-consumer orthodontic products	New York	2017
Carrot Fertility	Fertility-benefits provider for employers	San Francisco	2016
Clarifai	Artificial intelligence focused on visual recognition	New York	2013
Clearcover	Mobile-app-based car insurance platform	Chicago	2016
Clobotics	Big data for the wind energy and retail sector	Seattle	2016
Cloudleaf	Internet of Things for global supply chains	Milpitas, CA	2014
Commonsense Robotics	On-demand delivery technology for grocery retailers	Israel	2015
CoverWallet	Online small-business insurance platform	New York	2015
Curology	Personalized acne care delivered via online consultations	San Francisco	2014
data.world	An enterprise platform for building, sharing and discussing data across teams	Austin	2016
Descartes Labs	A big-data mapping service for construction, agriculture and energy	Santa Fe, NM	2014
DocSynk	Data analytics for health-care practices	Irving, TX	2015
EarnUp	Personal finance tool for debt management	San Francisco	2014
Electric	Outsourced IT solution for small business	New York	2016
Ethos	A life insurance start-up with celebrity backers, including Jay Z's Roc Nation	San Francisco	2016
Excelero	Israeli-founded data-storage company	San Jose, CA	2014
Farmobile	A marketplace for farmers to sell their data	Leawood, KS	2014
Fetch Robotics	On-demand autonomous mobile robots for warehousing and logistics	San Jose, CA	2014
Finery	A digital organizer and curator for your closet	New York	2016
Flow	An e-commerce platform for cross-border sales	Hoboken, NJ	2015
Flytrex	Autonomous last-mile drone delivery	Israel	2014
FreightWaves	Data analytics and risk management for the transportation and logistics industries	Chattanooga, TN	2016
Geltor	Synthetic biology working towards a vegan gelatin replacement	San Leandro, CA	2015
Glow Recipe	Beauty products line based on South Korean skincare formulas	New York	2014
HabitNu	Digital program designed for diabetes management	Chicago	2014
Handshake	Career recruiting platform for college students and universities	San Francisco	2013
Havenly	Online platform for interior design consultation	Denver	2014
HeadSpin	Cloud-based app developer management tool	Palo Alto, CA	2015
Heptio	Open-source enterprise platform service	Seattle	2016
Hive	Productivity and collaboration platform for the workplace	New York	2016
HubHaus	Shared-housing communities designed for professionals	San Franciso	2016
Hypergiant	Customized artificial intelligence for corporate brands, backed by Tony Robbins	Austin	2017
Iguazio	Big-data firm from Israel, backed by Dell and Verizon	Israel	2014
Illusive Networks	Cybersecurity firm that grew out of Israeli Defense Forces, backed by Cisco and Microsoft	New York	2014
Immuta	Management platform for big data	College Park, MD	2014
Inspire	Renewable-energy tech company focused on the smart home market, backed by Shell	Santa Monica, CA	2014
iUNU	Data management and analysis for commercial-scale greenhouses	Seattle	2013
JASK	AI-driven automation for security operations, protecting companies against cyberattacks	Austin	2015
Kano	A DIY computer-building and coding company backed by Sesame Street's venture fund	London	2013
Keeps	Health-care company focused on male pattern baldness prevention and treatment	New York	2017
KIDBOX	Curated clothing subscription service for children	New York	2016
Lovepop	3-D pop-up greeting cards manufacturer backed by Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary	Boston	2014
Mammoth Media	Mobile media company behind social polling, trivia and microstorytelling apps	Santa Monica, CA	2015
Mapillary	Computer-vision technology for street-level digital mapping	Malmš, Sweden	2013
MealPal	Subscription lunch plan that works with local restaurants	New York	2016
Modsy*	Online interior design service with 3-D visualization	San Francisco	2015
Namogoo	AdTech helping e-commerce brands block competitor promotions	Boston	2014
Narrativ	Works with publishers of product review sites to drive sales	New York	2015
Neptune Flood	An insurance company rivaling the federal flood insurance program	St Petersburg, FL	2016
Nova Credit	Cross-border credit-reporting agency for immigrant consumers	San Francisco	2016
Nurx	Telemedicine platform focused on birth control and HIV prevention	San Francisco	2015
OhmConnect	Energy-sharing platform that incentivizes users to reduce electricity consumption	San Francisco	2013
Opkix	Compact, wearable smart cameras with companion editing and sharing app	Costa Mesa, CA	2016
Optibus	Artificial intelligence to improve mass transit, used by more than 300 cities	Israel	2014
Otonomo	Automotive data platform that delivers apps and services to drivers	Israel	2015
PayStand	Blockchain-based B2B billing and payments service	Scotts Valley, CA	2013
PerimeterX	Cybersecurity firm that detects difference between human users and malicious bot attacks	San Mateo, CA	2014
Primer	AI and natural-language processing technology that can analyze data across languages	San Francisco	2015
prooV	Testing platform for companies to try new enterprise software solutions	Israel	2015
quip	Electric toothbrush and dental-care service provider	New York	2014
RDMD	R&D service analyzing patient medical records to help drug companies develop rare-disease treatments	San Francisco	2017
Relola	Location-based social media app used in real estate, political and nonprofit sector	Emeryville, CA	2015
RigUp	Oil and gas industry platform for sourcing contractors and service providers	Austin	2014
Rubikloud	Machine-learning platform focused on retailer pricing, promotion and loyalty	Toronto	2013
SafeBreach	Cybersecurity firm that uses hacker techniques inside a network to detect flaws	Sunnyvale, CA	2014
Scale	Provider of data tools for companies working on AI solutions, including self-driving efforts at Lyft and Cruise	San Francisco	2016
SciBac	Microbe drugs that treat and prevent antibiotic-resistant diseases	Burlingame, CA	2015
ShapeShift AG	Blockchain technology firm that offers marketplace where users can buy and sell digital assets	Zug, Switzerland	2014
Shift Technology	Fraud-detection technology designed for insurance industry	Paris	2014
SigOpt	Workflow optimization technology	San Francisco	2014
Solv	Mobile app for booking same-day doctor appointments	San Francisco	2016
SPORTLOGiQ	Sports analytics firm selling data to teams and the media	Montreal	2015
Starcity	Firm that converts commerical property into co-living residential buildings	San Francisco	2016
Strivr	VR training technology for workforces and athletes, backed by the NFL and BMW	Menlo Park, CA	2015
SURE	Digital insurance platform covering a variety of policies, from renters to travel, pets and jewelry	New York	2014
Tamara Mellon	Direct-to-consumer women's luxury footwear	Los Angeles	2016
Textio	Analytics technology used by employers to improve job posts and recruiting emails	Seattle	2014
TheGuarantors	Insurance products for the residential real estate rental market	New York	2014
ThirdLove	E-commerce lingerie brand focused on personalized sizing	San Francisco	2013
tilr	Job market search tool matching employers and candidates	Cincinnati	2015
TVision Insights	Television advertising technology tool to monitor viewer attention span	New York	2015
Unravel Data	Application performance management for AI, Internet of Things and other data-heavy apps	Palo Alto, CA	2013
VAYAVISION	Aggregated system of sensoring technologies for autonomous vehicles	Israel	2016
Veem	B2B cross-border wire-transfer and payment system based on the blockchain	San Francisco	2014
Veo Robotics	Factory robots designed to minimize risk of working alongside humans	Waltham, MA	2016
Verifly	On-demand job insurance for contractors and freelancers	New York	2015
Viome	Genetic sequencing and analysis of the microbiome targeting chronic-disease prevention	Bellevue, WA	2016
Xendit	Payments technology for e-commerce and peer-to-peer lending in Southeast Asian market	Jakarta, Indonesia	2015

*Disclosure: NBCUniversal is an investor in Axios. CNBC parent Comcast is an investor in Modsy.