How to Find AI Companies With a Powerful Self-Service Tool

Global private AI companies raised $100.4 billion in funding in 2024, making it a record-setting year, according to CB Insights. The race is on to find the right partners, vendors, and investment opportunities in the rapidly expanding AI landscape. But identifying which companies are truly AI-first versus those merely using AI as a feature can be challenging.

That’s where Coresignal's data can make the difference, enabling you to segment the AI market with precision and speed.

So, how to find emerging AI companies?

What qualifies as an AI company?

The term AI company covers a broad spectrum of enterprises: from startups building foundation models to traditional enterprises adding generative features into their existing products. Most of them would fall under one of the three types:

• Companies building AI
• Companies commercializing AI
• Companies that are using AI as a supporting feature

Overall, an AI company is an organization whose core products, services, or business models are fundamentally based on artificial intelligence technologies, including machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision, or robotics. Here's a more detailed breakdown of the key categories of AI companies:

With such an extensive range of practical AI applications, how can you find the right companies that fit your preferences? 

Step-by-step guide on how to find AI companies with Coresignal

Coresignal provides over 3 billion records data about companies, employees, and jobs that can help identify AI companies for:

• Investment and market research: Identify promising startups, assess industry trends, and benchmark performance across the AI sector.
• Business development: Identify potential partners, clients, or acquisition targets for collaboration or integration opportunities.
• Talent sourcing: Target companies for recruitment, understand where top AI talent is employed, and analyze hiring trends.
• Competitive intelligence: Monitor competitors’ activities, product offerings, and positioning within the AI ecosystem.

These are just some of the use cases for the data, so try it out to check how well it fits your use case risk-free.

To start the AI company search, create an account:

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1. Go to the Multi-source company API playground

Once you enter the self-service portal, you can find a list of all the APIs we offer on the left. We provide three types of Company APIs, each tailored to different needs:

• Base Company API: Provides essential data points, including firmographics. It's suited for quick enrichment and lightweight use cases but may contain duplicate entries.
• Clean Company API: Delivers deduplicated and standardized company data, making it easy to work with and consistent across records.
• Multi-source Company API: Offers premium, high-detail company profiles with over 500 data points aggregated from multiple distinct sources.

I recommend using the Multi-source Company API because it contains the most comprehensive and detailed information. So, from the API list on the left, select Multi-source Company API. You’ll see a collection of pre-built query templates ready to use.

To get an understanding of how the tool works, try the Competitive Analysis template. It generates a query that retrieves a list of real estate companies in Dallas that have 5 employees. After selecting the template, click Submit request to receive a list of matching company IDs. Select one ID, resubmit the request, and you’ll gain access to the complete company profile.

Each search request costs credits – 2 credits for Multi-source API, and 1 credit for Base or Clean APIs.

2. Filter AI companies by sector

If you want to find companies that are in a specific vertical or industry, such as finance, you can use the following query:

{
  "query": {
    "bool": {
      "must": [
        {
          "bool": {
            "should": [
              { "match_phrase": { "categories_and_keywords": "AI" }},
              { "match_phrase": { "categories_and_keywords": "artificial intelligence" }},
              { "match_phrase": { "categories_and_keywords": "machine learning" }}
            ],
            "minimum_should_match": 1
          }
        },
        {
          "bool": {
            "should": [
              { "match_phrase": { "industry": "finance" }},
              { "match_phrase": { "industry": "financial services" }},
              { "match_phrase": { "industry": "fintech" }}
            ],
            "minimum_should_match": 1
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

It returns an AI company database with enterprises that work in this particular industry:

3. Filter AI companies by funding round and stage

Are you interested in finding AI startups or early-stage companies that are creating AI products? You could get a list of companies in the pre-seed funding stage with this query:

{
  "query": {
    "bool": {
      "must": [
        {
          "bool": {
            "should": [
              { "match_phrase": { "categories_and_keywords": "AI" }},
              { "match_phrase": { "categories_and_keywords": "artificial intelligence" }},
              { "match_phrase": { "categories_and_keywords": "machine learning" }}
            ],
            "minimum_should_match": 1
          }
        },
        {
          "match_phrase": {
            "last_funding_round_name": "pre-seed"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

It returns companies that work with AI and have had pre-seed funding, such as no-code AI platform SQOR Technologies:

4. Filter AI services companies using specific keywords

If you're interested in finding generative AI companies that develop chatbots or other specific type of product, simply paste the request below. I've also included additional filter (headquarters) to narrow down the search.

{
  "query": {
    "bool": {
      "must": [
        {
          "match_phrase": {
            "hq_city": "New York"
          }
        },
        {
          "bool": {
            "should": [
              { "match_phrase": { "categories_and_keywords": "chatbot" }},
              { "match_phrase": { "categories_and_keywords": "conversational AI" }},
              { "match_phrase": { "categories_and_keywords": "virtual assistant" }},
              { "match_phrase": { "categories_and_keywords": "AI assistant" }}
            ],
            "minimum_should_match": 1
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

This query returns a list of companies that have their headquarters in New York and create conversational AI tools. One sample record fitting this request is Meera AI:

Of course, each of these requests can be narrowed down even further – filter by any parameter you feel fit.

How to find AI companies?

AI adoption is accelerating. According to McKinsey research, in 2024, 78% of organizations reported using AI in at least one function. That means the market is both crowded and fast-moving. Getting data about AI companies fast gives you the visibility and control needed to discover the right AI partners or prospects at scale

With Coresignal's data, you can:

• Filter companies by funding round, industry, AI keywords, and headcount growth
• Identify early-stage innovators vs. late-stage commercializers
• Segment vendors by use case 
• Monitor traction through job postings and employee growth

Using these tools, you can explore beyond well-known unicorns and uncover emerging AI-first startups that align with your technical or product goals.

Start a 14-day free trial

Instantly access millions of AI companies

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