Top Funded Open Source Startups in 2024
Most Fortune 500 companies, specifically 99%, implement open-source software. Open-source startups have collectively raised approximately $2.5 billion in funding, averaging $41.1 million per startup. This influx of capital indicates strong investor confidence in the open-source business model. While many startups are based in the U.S., there is notable representation from Europe, particularly Germany and the U.K.The average funding per startup stands at about $41.1 million.
This vast network is crucial to the technology sector since it encourages innovative ideas and receives substantial funding. The promise of open source startups to democratize access to technology and disrupt established sectors has led to a significant increase in financing for these companies through 2024.
This article aims to highlight the top funded open source startups in 2024 and demonstrate how they utilize community-driven development to drive technical innovation and appeal to investors.
What are open source startups?
Firms selling open source software as their main product are considered open source startups.
Open-source software is freely available to the public and usually does not cost anything. However, due to the significant effort involved in maintaining it, for-profit organizations sponsor and manage many of the biggest open-source initiatives.
Credibility and a sizable user base are crucial to the success of open source startups. As most open software is freely available (except paid services), establishing a solid reputation and substantial user base improves the chances of attracting paying customers.
Successful open source startups
Now that you know how open source startups work and their funding opportunities in 2024, it’s time to grasp the most successful startups and their industries.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
The worldwide artificial intelligence industry will grow at a 37.3% CAGR from 2023 to 2030. From simplifying complicated procedures to improving consumer relations, companies in this industry are revolutionizing how organizations run. Let’s look at a few open source startups operating in this sector.
Together AI
Established in 2023, Together AI is a prominent player in the open-source AI platform sphere, notable for its sophisticated cloud solutions for generative AI applications. The company provides a robust platform that supports developers in building, training, and deploying AI models efficiently, leveraging the latest innovations in AI technology.
They recently launched innovative products such as the Together Inference Engine, designed to optimize AI application performance without compromising quality.
Jina AI
Jina AI, established in 2020 in Berlin, is dedicated to revolutionizing the AI industry, focusing on multimodal data search solutions. As a commercial open-source software company, Jina AI develops technologies that enable enhanced search capabilities across various data types, aiming to improve business efficiency and innovation through advanced AI models.
Their platform integrates components like embeddings, rerankers, and core infrastructure to refine search processes, offering a more nuanced understanding and handling of data.
Hugging Face
Hugging Face, launched in 2016, pioneered machine learning democratization through open-source contributions. With its tools, pre-trained models, and resources, the firm offers a comprehensive ecosystem for AI research, encouraging cooperation and creativity in machine learning and natural language processing.
Their goal is to promote an inclusive and collaborative atmosphere while increasing access to cutting-edge AI.
MindsDB
MindsDB, founded in 2017, is a trailblazer in democratizing machine learning through its innovative open-source platform. The company empowers developers to integrate AI into applications by connecting any data source with AI frameworks. MindsDB makes deploying AI models directly in databases easier, enabling sophisticated analytics using SQL queries and democratizing machine learning.
Data Infrastructure and Analytics
2.5 quintillion data bytes are produced daily. That means data infrastructure and analytics are crucial for making educated decisions. Here are a few open-source startups in this sector.
Starburst
In 2017, Starburst was established to improve data operations’ efficiency, adaptability, and speed to transform data access for all sectors. Their technology enhances the functionality of Trino, a free and open-source distributed SQL query engine, allowing organizations to access data analytics capabilities quickly. Businesses can now effectively analyze large volumes of data, which speeds up insights and decision-making.
Grafana Labs
Grafana, founded in 2014, is an open-source platform renowned for its advanced analytics and monitoring solutions. These solutions allow users to query, visualize, alert, and understand their metrics no matter where they’re stored.
Across various sectors, the platform improves operational efficiency and decision-making by supporting several databases and integrating different data types into a unified, user-friendly dashboard.
Zilliz
Zilliz, founded in 2017, is a leader in the vector database market. Through its Milvus platform, it focuses on managing complex AI-driven applications. It provides high-performance services tailored for handling large-scale vector similarity searches, integrating seamlessly with modern data architectures.
Zilliz supports diverse use cases, from multimedia content to scientific data, enhancing the ability to work with unstructured data across industries.
Aiven
The Aiven platform, founded in 2016, is an advanced cloud data management solution integrating various open-source data technologies. It offers robust services for streaming, storing, and analyzing data across all major cloud providers, simplifying the complexities of data operations.
Aiven enables seamless scalability, top-tier security, and efficient data management, making it a vital tool for businesses aiming to optimize their data infrastructure.
Developer Tools and Frameworks
Forecasts indicate that developers worldwide will rise to 28.7 million by 2024, up 3.2 million from 2020. Effective software development relies heavily on developer tools and frameworks. Here is a list of successful open source startups in this industry
GitLab
GitLab, founded in 2014, is a comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps platform that integrates the entire software development and operations cycle into a single application.
This integration facilitates collaboration, increases efficiency, and accelerates software delivery, making GitLab a critical tool for developers worldwide. By highlighting automation, security, and high-speed operation, the platform allows teams to release software faster and with more security.
Docker
Established in 2013, Docker simplifies software development by offering containerization tools and platforms. It enables developers to package programs along with their dependencies for smooth system deployment. The company is important in DevOps, promoting consistency, scalability, and efficiency in application development and management.
Platform.sh
Platform.sh, established in 2010, is an advanced Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provider that simplifies cloud hosting for developers. It integrates seamlessly with major cloud service providers, offering features like automated scaling, data management, and high availability.
Platform.sh is a flexible option for businesses looking for quick development and deployment workflows because its infrastructure supports many programming languages and frameworks.
List of top-funded open source startups in 2024
Si. No. | Organization Name | Location | Founding Year |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Together AI | United States | 2022 |
2 | Grafana Labs | United States | 2014 |
3 | Platform.sh | France | 2010 |
4 | Yotako | Luxembourg | 2016 |
5 | Zilliz | China | 2017 |
6 | CODING | China | 2014 |
7 | Starburst Data | United States | 2017 |
8 | Graylog | United States | 2012 |
9 | Your Base | United States | 2018 |
10 | Acquia | United States | 2007 |
11 | GitLab | United States | 2014 |
12 | Docker | United States | 2013 |
13 | Luos | France | 2018 |
14 | Odoo | Belgium | 2005 |
15 | Aiven | Finland | 2016 |
16 | Endor Labs | United States | 2021 |
17 | Unstructured Technologies | United States | 2022 |
18 | Hasura | India | 2017 |
19 | MinIO | United States | 2014 |
20 | German Bionic | Germany | 2016 |
21 | PostHog | United States | 2020 |
22 | Anaconda | United States | 2012 |
23 | Sonatype | United States | 2008 |
24 | Acquia | United States | 2007 |
25 | Lucidworks | United States | 2007 |
26 | Alluxio | United States | 2015 |
27 | MariaDB | United States | 2009 |
28 | SurrealDB | United Kingdom | 2021 |
29 | Hazelcast | United States | 2012 |
30 | Graylog | United States | 2012 |
31 | PostHog | United States | 2020 |
32 | Observable | United States | 2016 |
33 | Jina AI | Germany | 2020 |
34 | HumanSignal | United States | 2019 |
35 | Gradle Inc. | United States | 2014 |
36 | WSO2 | United States | 2005 |
37 | Strider Technologies | United States | 2019 |
38 | Tigera | United States | 2016 |
39 | Nixtla | United States | 2021 |
40 | ArangoDB | United States | 2014 |
41 | Jito Labs | United States | 2021 |
42 | Ethyca | United States | 2018 |
43 | Liquibase | United States | 2012 |
44 | ZenML | Germany | 2021 |
45 | EMQ Technologies | United States | 2017 |
46 | Ambassador | United States | 2014 |
47 | Moodle | Australia | 2002 |
48 | Wing Cloud | United States | 2022 |
49 | Hull | United States | 2013 |
50 | Altinity | United States | 2017 |
51 | ERP Next | India | 2008 |
52 | Hopsworks | Sweden | 2016 |
53 | Code Ocean | United States | 2016 |
54 | Balena | United States | 2013 |
55 | Stacklok | United States | 2023 |
56 | Hugging Face | United States | 2016 |
57 | Crate.io | United States | 2013 |
58 | Aarna Networks | United States | 2018 |
59 | AT&T CyberSecurity | United States | 2007 |
60 | Cerbos | United Kingdom | 2021 |
61 | Inrupt | United States | 2017 |
62 | Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) | United States | 2015 |
63 | lakeFS | United States | 2020 |
64 | Mapbox | United States | 2010 |
65 | Featureform | United States | 2019 |
66 | Efabless | United States | 2014 |
67 | Aryn | United States | 2022 |
68 | Lenses.io | United Kingdom | 2016 |
69 | QuestDB | United States | 2019 |
70 | Anyscale | United States | 2019 |
71 | Dimagi | United States | 2002 |
72 | dbt Labs | United States | 2016 |
73 | Attivio | United States | 2007 |
74 | Serverless | United States | 2015 |
75 | ERPNext | India | 2008 |
76 | CodeNotary | United States | 2018 |
77 | GitLab | United States | 2014 |
78 | WunderGraph | United States | 2020 |
79 | DataStax | United States | 2010 |
80 | Temporal Technologies | United States | 2019 |
81 | Activepieces | United States | 2022 |
82 | Metriport | United States | 2022 |
83 | Pimcore | Austria | 2010 |
84 | Eficode | Finland | 2005 |
85 | NodeSource | United States | 2014 |
86 | Sysdig | United States | 2013 |
87 | RUTILEA | Japan | 2016 |
88 | Chainguard | United States | 2021 |
89 | Apollo GraphQL | United States | 2016 |
90 | MindsDB | United States | 2017 |
91 | Atsign | United States | 2019 |
92 | Timefold | Belgium | 2022 |
93 | Hoppscotch | India | 2021 |
94 | SCRT Labs | United States | 2015 |
95 | Traceloop | Israel | 2022 |
96 | ZEDEDA | United States | 2016 |
97 | Open-Xchange | Germany | 2005 |
98 | Swiftype | United States | 2012 |
99 | Nexenta Systems | United States | 2005 |
100 | Anomali | United States | 2013 |
Funding opportunities for open source startups in 2024
In 2024, open source startups have various funding opportunities available to fuel their growth and development:
- Venture capital funding: Venture capital strongly supports open source startups, providing significant funding to help these companies scale operations and market reach. For example, companies like MindsDB and Auterion have raised $50m and $25m through venture capital. It shows the high potential investors see in innovative open source solutions.
- Accelerator programs: Accelerators are important for early-stage open source startups, offering not just funding but also mentorship and networking opportunities. These programs support startups looking to refine their business models and accelerate growth. Y Combinator, for example, has helped numerous open source startups reach new heights by providing the necessary resources.
- Pre-seed and seed funding: Initial funding stages are crucial for getting open source projects off the ground. Programs like the UNICEF Venture Fund offer up to $100K in equity-free funding, focusing on open source startups for technological solutions with potentially high impacts. These early investments support the foundational development of products and technologies.
- Crowdfunding and community support: Open source startups often turn to crowdfunding to raise capital directly from users and supporters, which simultaneously helps validate their products in the market. Platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo are popular among startups looking to gauge public interest and secure funds based on product potential rather than traditional equity models.
Prepare for Your Next Funding Round with Eqvista!
As companies realize the significant benefits of collaborative development, open source startups will continue to gain funding in 2024. Understanding and maintaining the equity of substantially financed organizations is critical in this growing sector.
At Eqvista, we specialize in sophisticated equity management solutions catering to the needs of startups across all stages. Our platform uses advanced cap table management tools, detailed financial modeling, and robust compliance tracking to ensure that your startup precisely manages the complexities of equity distribution and investor relations. We offer in-depth analytics and forecasting tools to help you make informed decisions about equity distribution and future funding rounds. Contact us right away to discuss your company’s funding needs!