The 2025 Intelligent Applications 40: Celebrating the Pioneers of Applied AI
Now in its fifth year, the Intelligent Applications 40 (IA40) has become a hallmark of innovation in artificial intelligence. Announced today by Madrona, the 2025 IA40 recognizes the top 40 private technology companies at the forefront of applied AI. These trailblazing startups are redefining how software is built and used, from foundational infrastructure to transformative applications that span industries and use cases.
This year’s cohort reflects the rapid evolution of AI, showcasing companies building agentic systems, vertical-specific solutions, and next-generation user interfaces. The IA40 not only highlights the diversity of AI innovation but also underscores the growing maturity of the AI ecosystem. With over 340 nominations from more than 70 venture capitalists across 54 top-tier firms, the selection process was both rigorous and data-driven, leveraging insights from PitchBook’s Venture Exit Predictor Tool and expert input from industry leaders.
A Celebration of Innovation Across Stages
The 2025 IA40 winners are divided into four funding-stage categories—Early, Mid, Late, and Enablers—with an additional spotlight on five Emerging Enablers, infrastructure-focused startups with under $50 million raised. Together, these companies have raised a staggering $119 billion, with $86 billion—over 70%—secured in just the past 12 months. This surge in investment highlights the accelerating pace of AI adoption and the immense value being placed on intelligent systems.
Early-Stage Winners:
- Distyl
- Listen Labs
- Exa
- CodeRabbit
- Gamma
- Fireflies.ai
- Pylon
- Factory
- Clarify
- Aaru
These companies represent the cutting edge of AI, often pioneering entirely new categories or reinventing existing ones. For instance, Distyl and Aaru are reshaping the economics of SaaS with outcome-based pricing models, while Factory is advancing agentic software that orchestrates workflows autonomously.
Mid-Stage Winners:
- Granola
- Linear
- Mercor
- Cartesia
- Basis
- Prophet Security
- HeyGen
- Legora
- Bolt.new
- Dropzone AI
Mid-stage companies like HeyGen, Cartesia, and Legora are leading the charge in creating adaptive, human-like interfaces and delivering AI-native products tailored to specific industries such as legal and defense.
Late-Stage Winners:
- Lovable
- Cursor
- Anduril
- Abridge
- ElevenLabs
- Perplexity
- Canva
- Applied Intuition
- Clay
- OpenEvidence
Late-stage winners exemplify scale and impact. Companies like Anduril (defense), Abridge (healthcare), and Canva (design) are leveraging deep domain expertise, proprietary datasets, and ecosystem leverage to drive transformative outcomes.
Enablers:
- Anthropic
- OpenAI
- Databricks
- ClickHouse
- Vercel
- Together AI
- CrewAI
- Fal
- Browserbase
- Statsig
Enabler companies provide the critical infrastructure that powers AI innovation. From Databricks’ enterprise data platform to Together AI’s model hosting and Browserbase’s agent access layer, these organizations are laying the groundwork for the next wave of AI applications.
Emerging Enablers:
- Modal Labs
- Haize Labs
- Braintrust
- LangChain
- Arcee AI
These rising infrastructure startups are poised to play pivotal roles in shaping the future of AI development and deployment.
Key Themes Driving AI Innovation
Several key trends emerged from this year’s IA40 winners:
- Next-Generation User Interfaces: Voice, video, and natural language interfaces are enabling more intuitive and adaptive interactions. Companies like HeyGen, Cartesia, and ElevenLabs are leading the way in creating human-like, multimodal experiences.
- Agentic Software: Systems that reason, orchestrate, and execute autonomously across workflows are becoming increasingly sophisticated. OpenAI, Perplexity, and Factory are among those pushing the boundaries of what agentic software can achieve.
- Software Meets Services: Outcome-based pricing and “service-as-software” models are transforming traditional SaaS paradigms. Startups like Distyl and Aaru are pioneering this shift.
- Developer Transformation: Tools like Cursor, Bolt.new, and Lovable are revolutionizing software development by turning coding into a natural language experience, making it accessible to a broader audience.
- Vertical Momentum: AI-native products are gaining traction in specific industries, driven by depth, data, and ecosystem leverage. Examples include Abridge in healthcare, Anduril in defense, and Legora in legal.
- Enabling Infrastructure: The maturation of the AI infrastructure stack continues, with companies like Together AI, Browserbase, and Databricks providing scalable platforms and tools that empower developers and enterprises alike.
Honoring the Builders of Intelligent Systems
“The 2025 IA40 celebrates the builders of intelligent systems—not just tools, but reasoning machines that improve with use, integrate deeply into workflows, and collaborate with users,” said Matt McIlwain, Managing Director at Madrona. “We’re now entering an era where the most valuable software is learning, adaptive, and agentic by default.”
Only one company, Databricks, has appeared on the IA40 list every year since its inception in 2021—a testament to the rising bar for inclusion and the increasing diversity of AI leaders. Meanwhile, 27 companies are first-time winners, reflecting the dynamic nature of the AI landscape.
Join the Conversation at the IA Summit
The 2025 IA40 winners will be celebrated at the Intelligent Applications Summit, held September 30–October 1 in Seattle. Hosted by Madrona in partnership with AWS, Microsoft, Google, McKinsey, NYSE, Goldman Sachs, and Delta, the summit will bring together founders, researchers, and leaders driving the AI strategies and products of tomorrow.
For full details on the winners and evaluation methodology, visit: https://www.ia40.com/the-list.
To request an invite to the Summit, visit: https://www.ia40.com/summit.
As AI continues to reshape industries and redefine possibilities, the 2025 IA40 serves as a powerful reminder of the ingenuity and vision propelling this transformative era.
About Madrona
Madrona (www.madrona.com) is a Seattle-based venture capital firm with nearly 30 years of experience investing in early-stage technology companies. Madrona partners with founders from day one, providing long-term support to build innovative, industry-leading businesses for the long run. The firm has more than $3 billion under management, and was an early investor in companies such as Amazon, Snowflake, UIPath, Rover, Redfin, and Smartsheet. Rooted in the Pacific Northwest, Madrona also backs companies across the country, focusing on sectors such as AI, intelligent applications, and life sciences.
