While tech giants have long dominated the search engine space, a new wave of innovative startups is emerging — each offering unique approaches to how we discover and interact with data. These companies are leveraging cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NPL), and privacy-focused architectures to redefine the search experience. From enterprise solutions to open-source platforms and privacy-centric alternatives, these top search engine startups are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in search.
Search Engine Companies to Follow
Every year, new startups pull to the forefront of their industry through exciting innovation and industry-disrupting business models. We’ve rounded up the most exciting search engine startups of 2024 that startup-lovers, investors, and aspiring entrepreneurs should follow.
Disclaimer: With so many exciting startups launching and growing worldwide, we aren’t able to cover them all. Furthermore, the startups that are listed below are not officially ranked and are listed in no particular order.
1. Renoon
- Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Founder(s): Iris Skrami, Gabriele Trapani, Nicolò Tresoldi, Piero Puttini
- Founded In: 2020
- Funding: Seed, $1.48 Million
- Investors Include: 500 Global, Startupbootcamp, Angels4Women
Renoon connects socially aware fashionista users with platforms and brands that combine sustainability and style in equal measures. The app aims to create a community and space in which those who love fashion can indulge their passion while simultaneously making their intentions around supporting sustainable and ethical brands a reality.
2. HolidayFox
- Location: London, England
- Founder(s): Jason Green, Richard Hooker
- Founded In: 2020
- Funding: Pre-Seed, $1.61 Million
- Investors Include: Fuel Ventures, Xochi Birch, Atomico
HolidayFox is a digital marketplace offering bespoke holiday packages in UK destinations. The site provides access to every element required for the perfect holiday in the United Kingdom, from accommodation to activities and even all-important babysitting services. The search engine component of the site allows for personalization and searches by location or activity.
3. Brave
- Location: San Francisco, California
- Founder(s): Brendan Eich, Brian Bondy
- Founded in: 2015
- Funding: Series A, $178 Million
- Investors Include: Capital Factory, All Blue Capital, Blockchain Assets
Brave is a privacy-focused web browser and search engine that emphasizes user privacy and data protection. Its search engine, Brave Search, uses its own independent index and doesn’t track users or their searches, offering a privacy-respecting alternative to mainstream search engines. While Brave is primarily known for its browser, its expansion into search demonstrates its commitment to creating a more private and secure internet ecosystem for users.
4. Xayn
- Location: Berlin, Germany
- Founder(s): Dr. Leif-Nissen Lundbæk, Prof. Michael Huth
- Founded In: 2017
- Funding: Series A, $30.2 Million
- Investors Include: Global Brain, Molten Ventures, Earlybird Venture Capital
Xayn is an internet search and discovery app that provides personalized results with levels of privacy protection that will impress even the most security-conscious of internet users. The platform allows for web and discovery feed searches as well as collation of content collections.
5. Ecosia
- Location: Berlin, Germany
- Founder(s): Christian Kroll
- Founded In: 2009
- Funding: Grant, $42,800
- Investors Include: Purpose, Tim Schumacher
Ecosia is a search engine startup that is taking ethical online browsing to the next level. The platform not only offers enhanced levels of privacy for users but also uses its advertising revenue to fight deforestation by planting trees in affected areas. The startup also recently partnered with US-based privacy-oriented browser Brave.
6. You.com
- Location: Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, California)
- Founder(s): Dr. Richard Socher
- Founded In: 2020
- Funding: Series B, $99 Million
- Investors Include: DuckDuckGo, Elevation Capital, MicroVentures
You.com is an innovative private search engine that summarizes the web for users. The platform describes itself as a “do engine” rather than a search engine, as it seeks to empower users to get things done rather than just browse. As seems to be key with new search engine startups, it also focuses on privacy and does not target its users for ads.
7. Algolia
- Location: San Francisco, California
- Founder(s): Nicolas Dessaigne, Julien Lemoine
- Founded In: 2012
- Funding: Series D, $336 Million
- Investors Include: Noteus Partners, Golden Falcon Capital, Karmel Capital
Algolia was originally developed in France and provides a search-as-a-service product. By harnessing AI, Algolia provides a wide range of industries with smart search facilities for their websites. Results are real-time and delivered in less than 100 milliseconds.
8. Kipwise
- Location: Wilmington, Delaware
- Founder(s): Kwun-Lok Ng, Charlie Mak, Amanda Wong
- Founded In: 2018
- Funding: Convertible Note, $871,000
- Investors Include: Techstars, Icebreaker
While Kipwise may officially be headquartered in Estonia, its true location is as international and untethered as that of its three founders — and this is precisely the basis of their offering. The AI-based knowledge management system with search engine functionality was developed in 2018 as remote work became more common, and businesses expressed a need for streamlined internal knowledge systems.
9. Glean
- Location: Palo Alto, California
- Founder(s): Arvind Jain, Vishwanath T R, Tony Gentilcore, Piyush Prahladka
- Founded In: 2019
- Funding: Series E, $615 Million
- Investors Include: Lightspeed Ventures, General Catalyst, Sapphire Ventures
Glean is an AI-powered enterprise search startup that aims to help employees find and discover information across their company’s various applications and data sources. It uses machine learning to understand the context of searches and provide personalized results based on an employee’s role, projects, and collaborators. Glean integrates with popular workplace tools and platforms to offer a unified search experience, improving productivity and knowledge-sharing within organizations.
10. Marqo
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Founder(s): Tom Hamer, Jesse Clark
- Founded In: 2021
- Funding: Series A, $18.1 Million
- Investors Include: Blackbird, January Capital, Lightspeed Ventures
Marqo is an open-source vector search engine that enables developers to build advanced search functionalities into their applications. It offers features like semantic search, multi-modal search (text and images), and real-time indexing, making it suitable for a wide range of use cases from e-commerce to content discovery. Marqo is designed to be easy to use and deploy, with support for various programming languages and cloud platforms.