The Watchlist

Early-stage startups to watch

37 companies across 7 countries and 30 sectors — every one still at pre-seed, seed or Series A according to its most recently disclosed round. This is a reading list for understanding what early-stage looks like right now, not a shopping list.

Read this before the table

None of these companies are investable by the general public, and nothing here is a recommendation, a rating or a prediction. Most early-stage startups fail — including, statistically, most of the ones below. This list exists to show what a cross-section of the current early-stage market actually looks like: which sectors are attracting capital, which countries, at what round sizes, from which investors.

Last reviewed: 2026-07-16 · Funding stages change constantly. A company here may have raised a Series B the week after this was reviewed — check the company’s own site or a deal database before relying on any row.

Brazil 11

Company	Sector	Latest disclosed round	Amount	Backers
EnterAI for legal work.	Legal AI	Series A	US$35M	Founders Fund, Sequoia
TakoAI payroll automation.	HR / payroll	Series A	US$18.5M	Ribbit Capital, a16z
ArvoAutomated medical-claim validation.	Health AI	Series A	US$20M	Kaszek, Base10
CapimBuy-now-pay-later and SaaS for dental clinics.	Fintech (BNPL)	Series A	US$26.7M	Valor Capital, QED
PrincipiaPayments and financing for education.	Edtech	Series A	US$35M (extension)	Valor Capital
VAASTransaction analysis and risk.	Risk / fintech	Series A	US$3.7M	Headline
CarecodeAI agents handling the patient admin journey over WhatsApp.	Health AI	Pre-seed	US$4.3M	a16z, QED, Endeavor Catalyst
HunaCancer-risk detection from routine blood tests.	Health AI	Pre-seed	US$1.5M	Kortex Ventures
RevisaPrevPension review and planning.	Fintech	Seed	US$770K	Domo VC
Future CowPrecision-fermentation dairy protein.	Cellular agriculture	Pre-seed	US$560K	Antler, Big Idea Ventures
CacaoUSD-to-Pix rails.	Cross-border fintech	Seed	—	Y Combinator

Mexico 5

Company	Sector	Latest disclosed round	Amount	Backers
PitzCar servicing and maintenance platform.	Auto-tech	Pre-seed	US$5M (2 tranches)	Not disclosed
Eywa BiotechBiotech for mental-health treatment.	Biotech / mental health	Seed	US$2.5M	Not disclosed
MiChambaAI productivity software for work.	AI / SaaS	Pre-seed	US$2.25M	Not disclosed
ONEPayments infrastructure.	Paytech	Seed	US$1.2M	Not disclosed
MozartAI debt collection; clients include Bancolombia, BBVA, Santander.	AI / fintech	Pre-seed	US$600K	Not disclosed

Colombia 2

Company	Sector	Latest disclosed round	Amount	Backers
Telepatía AIAI-driven telehealth; reported as LATAM’s largest digital-health round.	Digital health	Series A	US$33M	Not disclosed
Braven (ex-Sytrex)Insurance tech expanding across LATAM, the US and London.	Insurtech	Seed	US$4.6M	Not disclosed

Chile 2

Company	Sector	Latest disclosed round	Amount	Backers
BlancoDigital financial services and factoring for SMEs.	SME fintech	Seed	US$5.2M	Krealo
BrunaPredicts raw-material quality to optimise production.	Industrial AI	Seed	US$3.85M	Brazilian and Mexican funds

Argentina 2

Company	Sector	Latest disclosed round	Amount	Backers
TakenosCross-border payments for remote workers.	Fintech	Seed	US$5M	Variant, Lattice Fund
DepayDigital payments infrastructure.	Fintech	Seed	US$4M	North Island Ventures, DCG, CMT Digital

Uruguay 2

Company	Sector	Latest disclosed round	Amount	Backers
InfiniaFinancial infrastructure rails.	Financial infrastructure	Series A	US$13.5M	Bain Capital, Variant
TripWipPeer-to-peer carsharing.	Mobility marketplace	Seed	US$4.2M	Not disclosed

United States 13

Company	Sector	Latest disclosed round	Amount	Backers
Dominion DynamicsDefense technology.	Defense tech	Series A	US$100M	Georgian, Valor, Bessemer, Lakestar
PloyAutomated website building and growth; founded by Webflow’s ex-CTO.	Marketing SaaS	Seed	US$27M	First Round, Y Combinator
9 MothersCounter-drone systems.	Defense tech	YC Spring 2026	—	Y Combinator
DispatchReusable spacecraft returning space-manufactured goods to Earth.	Space	YC Spring 2026	—	Y Combinator
AdialanteMobile MRI clinics for cancer detection.	Healthcare	YC Spring 2026	—	Y Combinator
SilmarilPrompt-injection protection for AI agents.	AI security	YC Spring 2026	—	Y Combinator
Arga LabsDigital-twin test environments for AI agents.	AI infrastructure	YC Spring 2026	—	Y Combinator
SazabiDetects and fixes software problems.	AI infrastructure	YC Spring 2026	—	Y Combinator
TaskletAgents that work across Slack, Outlook and Drive.	AI agents	YC Spring 2026	—	Y Combinator
SupersetRuns 100+ coding agents at once.	Developer tools	YC Spring 2026	—	Y Combinator
LightsprintTurns plain-language descriptions into production code.	Developer tools	YC Spring 2026	—	Y Combinator
ComplirAI agents for shipping regulatory docs and labelling.	Compliance SaaS	YC Spring 2026	—	Y Combinator
Uno WalletAI mobile wallet optimising card rewards.	Consumer fintech	YC Spring 2026	—	Y Combinator

How this list was built

A disclosed round, or it’s not here

Every company has a publicly reported round with a named stage. Companies we could not pin a stage on were left out, however interesting — that is why some names you would expect are missing.

Pre-seed, seed or Series A only

Anything at Series B or beyond is excluded. So is anything whose latest round we could not establish. A current Y Combinator batch counts as seed-stage.

Recent rounds only (2025–2026)

Recency is what makes “still pre-Series B” credible. We are not claiming to know a company never raised anything, ever; we are reporting the latest round disclosed publicly as of the review date below.

Editorial, unpaid, and incomplete on purpose

Nobody paid to appear. The list is a cross-section, not a ranking and not a census — there are hundreds more companies that would qualify. We chose breadth of country and sector over length.

Where the fact-checking bit

We dropped a well-known carbon-removal company whose latest VC round is technically a Series A but which has raised roughly US$329M through fund structures — accurate by the letter of the rule, misleading by its spirit. We also dropped several one-word names (“Cedar”, “Titan”, “Neon”) that collide with much later-stage companies of the same name.

Sources

Rows are compiled from the following public reporting. Where a source conflicted with another, we left the company out rather than pick a winner.

Understand the routes before you get excited about any of these:
How to invest in startups →

Frequently asked questions

Can I invest in the startups on this list?

Almost certainly not directly, and that is the honest answer. These companies raised from venture funds and angels through private rounds that were never open to the public. The realistic routes for an individual are regulated equity crowdfunding, a syndicate, or a fund — see our guide to the four routes.

Why are there not 100 companies here?

Because we could not verify 100 to the standard above. Every entry needs a disclosed stage, a recent round, and a name unambiguous enough to identify. Padding the list with companies whose stage we were guessing at would make it longer and worse. It will grow as more rounds are disclosed and verified.

What does "pre-Series B" actually mean?

That the company’s most recent publicly disclosed funding is a pre-seed, seed or Series A round — the stages where angels, syndicates and crowdfunding platforms operate. Once a company raises a Series B it is generally institutional territory, with larger cheques and professional investors setting terms.

How often is this updated?

Periodically, and the review date is stamped above the table so you can judge its age yourself. A list like this decays quickly — treat anything more than a few months old as a starting point for your own research rather than a current picture.

Is a company appearing here a signal that it is a good investment?

No. Inclusion means a credible source reported a recent early-stage round, nothing more. We have not done diligence on any of these companies, we have no view on their prospects, and the base rate for early-stage startups is failure.