š„30 Hottest Startups in September 2025
Measured by Investor Interest, Headcount, Website Traffic & More
š Hi, Iām Andre and welcome to my newsletter Data Driven VC which is all about becoming a better investor with Data & AI. ICYMI, check out some of our most read episodes:
Welcome to another edition of our Sunday āResourcesā stream where we share our most valuable data & resources across four rotating formats:
30 Hottest Startups of the Month (this is today!)
Top Downloaded Resources from The Lab #1 (see 1513 Angels that actively invest in startups and/or funds here)
State of the Market (see August episode here)
Top Downloaded Resources from The Lab #1 (see āhow to turn Google Sheets into your competitor radarā here)
For 1. and 3., we collaborate with best-in-class partners to ensure you get the highest quality data. For 2. and 4., we leverage our ever-growing product portfolio and share selective snapshots of the most sought-after resources from The Lab.
Funding rumours & announcements
You know it, I know it, we all know it: Gossip is the lifeblood of our industry, if you like it or not.
Information asymmetries exist and knowing relevant information ahead of your competitors gets rewarded. Quid pro quo in an ongoing information trade or via access to a suitable investment opportunity.
Finding new ways to access gossip at scale is key, as you can only take so many coffee meetings.
While this DDVC āPicks of the monthā format focuses on trending signals of hidden gems ahead of their next funding round, weāve spent significant time sifting through the web and have aggregated numerous sources that a) cover ongoing yet oftentimes not finalized funding rounds #rumours by the likes of ArfurRock and more, and b) cover confirmed funding rounds #announcements first with all relevant details by the likes of TC, and more.
We launched the v1 of the aggregated list of rumours & announcements with the first batch of sources via VCSTACK.COM and will add more sources and filters soon. Check it out and let me know what you think, itās free.
Find the next opportunity ahead of your competitors and ArfurRock ;)
For todayās Picks of the Month, weāre excited to partner with Specter: The Bloomberg of Private Markets serving leading VC firms like Bessemer, Index, Insight, and 300+ more.
Instead of ranking startups case by case via different growth signals, we unify all dimensions into a single metric: investor interest measured by the number of investors visiting the respective stealth/startup profiles on the Specter platform.
We cover the top 10 stealth founders, top 10 early-stage startups that raised less than $10M, and the top 10 growth-stage startups that raised more than $10M. Global and across industries.
This month, we find 5 key themes among trending startups:
AI-Native Platforms and Automation: Solutions that embed AI to automate tasks, decisions, and workflows.
Data Infra, Analytics, and Observability: Tools that enable collection, quality assurance, analysis, and monitoring of data.
FinTech, Payments, and Financial Infrastructure: Innovation in instant payments, cross-border finance, and financial system modernization.
Compliance, Security, and Enterprise Efficiency: Platforms that enhance governance, risk management, and operational automation for businesses.
DeepTech and Frontier Applications: Advanced technologies applied to sectors such as transportation, space, robotics, and materials science.
Here are the 30 most sought-after founders/startups in September 2025 you donāt want to missš ranked by investor interest and page visits on the Specter platform.