The largest group in the 2026 database is not a technology. It is a strategy: build AI for one industry and know that industry cold. 149 of the 513 startups in our database are vertical AI, spread across eight recorded industries. This page groups them, names an example company for each, and links the full list.
1. Vertical AI by industry
B2B software is the biggest slice at 66 companies, but the named industries are where vertical AI earns its name: healthcare at 23, fintech at 21, industrials at 19 and consumer at 13, then real estate and construction, education and government. The example in each row is the newest batch company in that industry in our data.
| Industry | Companies | Example company |
|---|---|---|
| B2B | 66 | ClaimKit |
| Healthcare | 23 | Canos |
| Fintech | 21 | Blinka |
| Industrials | 19 | Aikido Technologies |
| Consumer | 13 | Confetti |
| Real Estate and Construction | 4 | Telamont |
| Education | 2 | Cardinal Square |
| Government | 1 | Reconero |
2. Why vertical keeps winning the count
A vertical product can be worse as a model and better as a business: it speaks the industry's language, fits its workflow and prices against its budget. The 2026 cohort has clearly taken the lesson. Even the agent category bends vertical: most of the 137 agent startups name a single job in a single industry. If you want to compare the tools these startups will eventually compete with, our free FreeTier Finder ranks established AI tools by the free tier they actually record, and the platform search covers the startup side.
3. Reading the list
Pick your industry row, open the example company, then browse the rest of the industry on the vertical AI category page. Every company page carries founders, batch and headquarters, so a shortlist takes minutes, not days.
4. A note on the B2B row
B2B, at 66 companies, is not really an industry; it is the horizontal layer wearing a vertical list's clothes. These are tools sold to businesses generally: workflow, sales, support, finance operations. The named industries below it are the purer signal. Healthcare's 23 companies must survive clinical and compliance reality; fintech's 21 must survive regulators; industrials' 19 must survive factories. When a named industry grows between cohorts, it means buyers there are paying, not just piloting.
Source: AIToolGuide 2026 startups database (513 AI companies), compiled from Y Combinator 2026 batch listings and the TrustMRR and Indie Hackers marketplaces.