Innovation Has No Boundaries — Meet the Champion Industries of Startups of The Year 2024

Innovation comes in many forms — and this year, it came from every direction. From AI breakthroughs to Web3 experiments, cybersecurity to space tech, Startups of The Year 2024 showed that no industry was left untouched by bold ideas and real impact.

Over 4.3 million votes were cast across 150,000+ startups in 100+ industries, and today, we celebrate the categories that captured hearts, minds, and timelines. Whether you launched a SaaS product, a fintech solution, or a biotech breakthrough — your community showed up for you.

This year, a few industry categories really took off:

• Cybersecurity emerged as the top contender with a staggering 1.9M+ votes — spotlighting global interest in data privacy, digital defense, and infrastructure resilience.
• Programming and AI followed closely, gathering 822K+ and 288K+ votes, respectively — proving that deep tech and dev tools remain the beating heart of the startup world.
• Meanwhile, Business categories like productivity, consulting, and creative agencies showed that execution and strategy are as hot as ever — with 422K+ total votes across 18 sub-industries.

From solo founders in emerging markets to well-oiled teams in major hubs, these startups didn’t just launch — they led. And they did it in industries that are shaping the next chapter of global tech.

A Few Standout Wins:

🧠 Machine Learning: Didit
💸 Venture Capital: YOBE Ventures
🔐 Data Privacy and Compliance: Accredify
🚀 Space Technology: Spacecoin
🎨 Marketing: ViralMango
👨‍💻 IT Services: Sprinto
🔗 Decentralization: GGEZ1 Foundation DAO

Without further ado, let us kick off the announcement by celebrating the startups with top votes per industry for 2024 🎉

AI (288.6k total votes, 8 industries)

1. Analytics (142.4k total votes, 2.1k startups) - Winner: Mecanizou
2. Automation (67.4k total votes, 1.4k startups) - Winner: Tezeract
3. Business Intelligence (35.6k total votes, 12.1k startups) - Winner: Leonado Limited
4. Machine Learning (22.7k total votes, 1k startups) - Winner: Didit
5. Generative AI (15.5k total votes, 235 startups) - Winner: Worksible
6. AI Wrappers (2.5k total votes, 192 startups) - Winner: Sereda.ai
7. Robotics (2.4k total votes, 1.3k startups) - Winner: Hidonix
8. Chatbots (200 total votes, 189 startups) - Winner: Paidia Gaming

Business (422.5k total votes, 18 industries)

1. Creative Agency (167.4k total votes, 7.5k startups) - Winner: Upshot Brand Media LLP
2. Productivity (101.7k total votes, 3.8k startups) - Winner: Intellico Inc
3. Fintech (27.3k total votes, 8.7k startups) - Winner: Airline Limited
4. Consulting (27.2k total votes, 10.5k startups) - Winner: AKUMENIA
5. Professional Services (16.7k total votes, 9.9k startups) - Winner: EJable.com
6. Investing (14.8k total votes, 4.9k startups) - Winner: Aarin techfin
7. Entrepreneurship (14.2k total votes, 4.8k startups) - Winner: Business Intelligence Limited
8. Venture Capital (11.3k total votes, 4.1k startups) - Winner: YOBE Ventures
9. Leadership (10.6k total votes, 6.3k startups) - Winner: Byte Splash Software Training and Placement Center
10. Business Development (9.6k total votes, 5k startups) - Winner: Pakistan IT Jobs
11. Banking (8.4k total votes, 9.1k startups) - Winner: Violet
12. Commercial Real Estate (3.7k total votes, 3k startups) - Winner: Ondas
13. Non-Profit (3.4k total votes, 4.2k startups) - Winner: Yayasan Generasi Maju Berkarya
14. Transportation Services (2.8k total votes, 3.8k startups) - Winner: Bidmex
15. Project Management (1.8k total votes, 171 startups) - Winner: Luna Launches, Inc.
16. Risk Management (688 total votes, 538 startups) - Winner: Blitz Insurance Group
17. Crowdfunding (511 total votes, 84 startups) - Winner: ADAXIT
18. Incubators (442 total votes, 295 startups) - Winner: SpySkyTech Inc.

Commerce (45.4k total votes, 7 industries)

1. E-Commerce (18.7k total votes, 2.1k startups) - Winner: NAYAMAX
2. Payments (13.2k total votes, 1k startups) - Winner: Bloom Money
3. Consumer Goods (6.4k total votes, 8.7k startups) - Winner: Folio
4. Travel & Hospitality (2.7k total votes, 2.6k startups) - Winner: FueGo.
5. Fashion (1.8k total votes, 1.2k startups) - Winner: Bird Eye India
6. Recreation (1.4k total votes, 1.2k startups) - Winner: RockPorch
7. Food and Beverages (1.2k total votes, 1.1k startups) - Winner: Clickmenu

Cybersecurity (1.9M total votes, 7 industries)

1. Data Privacy And Compliance (735.2k total votes, 2k startups) - Winner: Accredify
2. Cybersecurity Services And Products (725.7k total votes, 1.3k startups) - Winner: SECUREU
3. Network Security (353.7k total votes, 1.7k startups) - Winner: Sage Serv Forensic Labs Limited
4. Threat Intelligence (58.1k total votes, 484 startups) - Winner: autobotAI - SecOps Automation
5. Access Control (698 total votes, 34 startups) - Winner: Cerbos
6. Location Services (72 total votes, 52 startups) - Winner: Charitism
7. Vpn (25 total votes, 11 startups) - Winner: Super Unlimited Inc.

Education (34.2k total votes, 8 industries)

1. Research (11.3k total votes, 6.2k startups) - Winner: Nat5
2. Training And Consulting (6.7k total votes, 12.7k startups) - Winner: SNATIKA
3. E-Learning (5.1k total votes, 3.4k startups) - Winner: textomap
4. Educational Institutions (3.8k total votes, 3.7k startups) - Winner: Quality New Zealand Education Limited
5. Administrative (3.1k total votes, 4.1k startups) - Winner: Iniciativa Proxima
6. Edtech (2.2k total votes, 2.2k startups) - Winner: D.notitia
7. Think Tanks (1.1k total votes, 400 startups) - Winner: Gildre
8. Cultural Institutions (898 total votes, 1.6k startups) - Winner: Seneca Foundation

Emerging Tech (48.8k total votes, 10 industries)

1. Space Technology (26.2k total votes, 566 startups) - Winner: Spacecoin
2. Climatetech (5.7k total votes, 3.5k startups) - Winner: Cropler
3. Biotechnology (3.6k total votes, 2.1k startups) - Winner: Vitality Robotics
4. Quantum Computing (3.4k total votes, 46 startups) - Winner: SharePass
5. Energy Solutions (2.9k total votes, 4.2k startups) - Winner: Dunia
6. Iot (2.6k total votes, 588 startups) - Winner: Cropler
7. Ar/Vr (1.6k total votes, 133 startups) - Winner: SimZero
8. Cloud Computing (1.4k total votes, 1.5k startups) - Winner: RELAYTO/ Content Experience Platform
9. Renewable Energy (1.1k total votes, 1.4k startups) - Winner: scoutlabs
10. Nanotechnology (110 total votes, 115 startups) - Winner: Namalab

Engineering (22.5k total votes, 7 industries)

1. Manufacturing (8.2k total votes, 9.4k startups) - Winner: Margik Inc.

2. Logistics & Supply Chain (4.6k total votes, 6.5k startups) - Winner: floww Delivery APIs

3. Electronics (2.8k total votes, 2.9k startups) - Winner: Riemann Computing

4. Hardware (2.8k total votes, 931 startups) - Winner: SKL.vc

5. Construction (2.4k total votes, 3.3k startups) - 6.5k startups) - Winner: Didimi

6. Aviation & Aerospace (995 total votes, 975 startups) - Winner: Epic of Sun

7. Electric Vehicles (685 total votes, 1.2k startups) - Winner: IKA TCHI EXPRESS

   
   

Healthcare (11.8k total votes, 4 industries)

1. Healthcare Tech (7.1k total votes, 5.7k startups) - Winner: Lite-1
2. Health And Wellness (3.8k total votes, 4.7k startups) - Winner: svexa
3. Neuroscience (674 total votes, 43 startups) - Winner: Somos XR
4. Fitness (204 total votes, 232 startups) - Winner: Promote Balance

Media (649.1k total votes, 15 industries)

1. Marketing (299.9k total votes, 8k startups) - Winner: ViralMango - Influencer Marketing
2. Social Media (292.4k total votes, 4.9k startups) - Winner: OneUp Marketing e Innovación
3. Media Production (12.1k total votes, 8.3k startups) - Winner: 91Ninjas
4. Messaging & Communications (12.8k total votes, 4.8k startups) - Winner: TriOn & Co
5. Blogging (10.8k total votes, 11.2k startups) - Winner: Tech Lead Journal
6. Publishing (4.6k total votes, 1.8k startups) - Winner: Codegain
7. Design (3.8k total votes, 2.2k startups) - Winner: Sivi
8. Art (3.6k total votes, 1.7k startups) - Winner: Meliorar
9. Events (2.6k total votes, 2.5k startups) - Winner: Voguer
10. Writing And Editing (2.2k total votes, 745 startups) - Winner: TECHDELLA
11. Entertainment (2.1k total votes, 2.1k startups) - Winner: Farahy
12. Games (1.6k total votes, 1.2k startups) - Winner: INFINITY-UP
13. News & Journalism (1.8k total votes, 968 startups) - Winner: Cyber News Live
14. Music (747 total votes, 630 startups) - Winner: Watchers—We Make Your Platform Social
15. Film (664 total votes, 977 startups) - Winner: Le Magazine du Mali

Programming (822k total votes, 10 industries)

1. It Services (581.3k total votes, 26.7k startups) - Winner: Sprinto
2. Saas (129k total votes, 10.2k startups) - Winner: Forescribe
3. Software Development (57.8k total votes, 17.4k startups) - Winner: Lightrun
4. Web Development (36.4k total votes, 19.4k startups) - Winner: Make Time Count Today
5. Developer Tools (11.6k total votes, 606 startups) - Winner: Pieces for Developers
6. Opensource (1.5k total votes, 315 startups) - Winner: Arize Phoenix
7. Mobile-App-Development (1.1k total votes, 515 startups) - Winner: Hailr
8. Software Monetization (923 total votes, 768 startups) - Winner: Cosmonova Broadcast
9. Devops (509 total votes, 491 startups) - Winner: Pulumi
10. Operating System (457 total votes, 204 startups) - Winner: Lumafield

Web3 (294.7k total votes, 3 industries)

1. Decentralization (112.4k total votes, 884 startups) - Winner: GGEZ1 Foundation DAO
2. Blockchain (110.2k total votes, 655 startups) - Winner: Exohood Labs Limited
3. DeFi (72.1k total votes, 397 startups) - Winner: GGEZ1 Foundation DAO

From all of us at HackerNoon, THANK YOU for making this year's campaign unforgettable. Whether you won, placed, or just participated — your startup is building the future. And we’ll be here to cheer you on every step of the way.

See you in the next campaign 👀🚀

About HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year

Startups of The Year 2024 is HackerNoon’s flagship community-driven event celebrating startups, technology, and the spirit of innovation. Currently in its third iteration, the prestigious Internet award recognizes and celebrates tech startups of all shapes and sizes. This year, over 150,000 entities across 4200+ cities, 6 continents, and 100+ industries participated in a bid to be crowned the best startup of the year! Millions of votes have been cast over the past few years, and many storieshave been written about these daring and rising startups.

The winners will get a free interview on HackerNoon and an Evergreen Tech Company News page.

Visit our FAQ page to learn more.

Download our design assets here.

Check out the Startups of The Year Merch Shop here.

HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year is a branding opportunity unlike any other. Whether your goal is brand awareness or lead generation, HackerNoon has curated packages to solve your marketing challenges. Book a meeting with us to learn more!

Meet our sponsors:

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Bright Data: Startups that leverage public web data can make faster, data-driven decisions, giving them a competitive edge. With Bright Data’s scalable web data collection, businesses can grow from a small operation to an enterprise by harnessing insights at every stage.

Algolia: Algolia NeuralSearch is the world's only AI end-to-end Search and Discovery Platform combining powerful keyword and natural language processing in a single API.