A recent report emphasizes the growing interest in startups developing open source tools and technologies for the expanding AI revolution, with a focus on the data infrastructure sector also gaining momentum.
Runa Capital, a venture capital firm that relocated its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Luxembourg in 2022, has released the Runa Open Source Startup (ROSS) Index covering the past four years, highlighting the fastest-growing commercial open source software (COSS) startups. They now present their annual report for 2023 following the success of their first report in 2022.
Trends
Data infrastructure plays a crucial role in AI development, and the report showcases the intersection of these trends.
Leading the ROSS Index in the previous year was LangChain, a startup based in San Francisco that focuses on open source frameworks for large language models. Sequoia recently led a $25 million Series A funding round for LangChain, underlining its success.
Top 10 COSS startups in the ROSS Index for 2023 Image Credits: Runa Capital
In the top 10 list, companies like Reflex, AITable, Sismo, HPC-AI, and Qdrant are making significant strides in the open source arena, with substantial investments and innovations.
The report also highlights that over half of the “top 50 trending” open source startups are related to AI and data infrastructure.
Top 50 COSS startups in the ROSS Index for 2023 Image Credits: Runa Capital
The surge in demand for open source technologies, especially in the AI sector, is attributed to generative AI’s success in 2023, prompting startups to focus on open source solutions to compete with established AI giants.
Geographies
The distributed nature of open source software development reflects in the global presence of these startups, with diverse origins and locations contributing to the ecosystem.
The ROSS Index highlights the U.S. as a hub for open source startups, with 26 companies based there, while also acknowledging the international diversity with companies representing 17 countries. The European presence in the top 50 startups has seen significant growth, with France and the U.K. leading the pack in the region.
Noteworthy trends in programming languages reveal an emphasis on TypeScript, Python, and Rust, indicating the evolving preferences of open source startups in their technology stack.
ROSS Index: Trending programming languages. Image Credits: Runa Capital
The report also delves into the methodology behind the index, outlining the criteria for selecting top trending open source startups. It considers various factors like GitHub stars, growth rate, and company profile to provide an insightful perspective on the open source startup landscape.
