Startup Screener: Young AI, Blockchain and Defense Companies
The screener collects young private companies in three technology fields: artificial intelligence, blockchain, and defense including drones. It relies on official publications only. In the United States, a company that raises private capital under Regulation D files a notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) within 15 days. The list adds research contracts that US agencies award to small firms (SBIR). Germany has no comparable notice, so the German part lists small and medium-sized companies that receive EU funding in these fields. Companies that were also granted US patents show how many.
2,853 companies, 2,591 from the United States and 262 from Germany. AI 1,302, blockchain 119, defense and drones 1,949. Sources as of: funding notices through Oct 9, 2026, US grants through Aug 27, 2026, EU grants through Oct 1, 2026.
| Company | Location | Field (basis) | Founded | Latest funding notice | Grants | US patents |
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What the List Shows
- Funding notice (US): the date of the latest notice and the amount sold up to that date, as stated by the company. The SEC does not verify these figures.
- Grant: SBIR awards from US agencies, EU research projects under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, and projects of the European Defence Fund, each with the amount for this company.
- US patents: utility patents granted over the last 52 weeks to an owner with the same legal name.
- Field and basis: what makes a company count as AI, blockchain or defense. That can be the topic of a grant, a program such as the European Defence Fund or the US Department of Defense, a patent class, or the type of security. A field that rests on the company name alone is marked “name only”, and these cases can be hidden.
Clicking a name opens the individual records with date and amount.
Who Counts as a Startup
United States: founded within the last ten years according to the notice, or the first SBIR award is no more than ten years old and the latest one in a field no more than three. Funds and fund interests, partnerships, special purpose vehicles for single investments, and notices that follow a template seen in dubious filings are left out. In both countries, names without a legal form are excluded because they often belong to a sole proprietor trading under a personal name.
Germany: small and medium-sized enterprises as defined by the EU with a funded project in one of the three fields that started within the last three years. The founding year is missing because the German commercial register may only be searched one entry at a time, not systematically. Private funding rounds are not published freely anywhere in Germany.
What the List Does Not Show
The list shows past, publicly filed records. It does not rate any company, and it shows no open offerings, valuations or minimum amounts. It does not refer readers to any platform either. Whether a company is suitable for an investment cannot be read from it: revenue, profit, valuation and the terms of a funding round appear in none of these sources. An investment in a young company can be lost entirely.
Limits of the Data
- Not every startup files a notice under Regulation D, and not every startup receives grants. The list covers only what is public.
- Amounts are self-reported as of the filing date. A later notice for the same round replaces the earlier one.
- Grants also go to established small firms, and not every project on drones or defense is about weapons.
- Matching names prove nothing. Patents are assigned only on an identical legal name, and companies with the same name in different states stay separate.
- A field taken from the company name is a weak signal. “AI” in a name does not make a company an AI company.
The patent screener shows patent counts for large listed companies. An overview of the section is under M&A and patents.
Updated · Content and figures checked