The 5 hottest startups, from robotics to AI, have gained 393% in private market value in 2025

It's not just the Nvidias (NVDA) of the world that have seen an atmospheric rise as investors piled into the AI trade over the past year. Top startups competing in key areas, from humanoid robots to AI search, have also seen their private market share prices surge.

"In today's VC landscape, there's a clear split between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots,'" Emily Zheng, senior VC analyst at PitchBook, told Yahoo Finance. According to Zheng, a handful of breakout AI startups are driving the majority of valuation growth. Some are raising capital at astonishing prices while attracting intense demand from primary and secondary investors.

That demand — often fueled by a mix of FOMO, conviction in AI tech, and limited liquidity options — has helped push the US VC secondary market to an estimated $60 billion in size this year, up from $50 billion in 2024, according to PitchBook. But this sharp rise doesn't mean venture is booming across the board — most of the activity is concentrated in a small, highly sought-after cohort.

Among the top five private-market gainers this year, the average year-to-date share price is up a staggering 393%. Together, these startups have added over $68 billion in estimated valuation so far in 2025, per Yahoo Finance data.

Here are the top 52-week gainers in private markets according to Yahoo Finance data, provided by Forge and EquityZen.

1. Figure AI

• Estimated valuation: $35.26B

• Year founded: 2022

• YTD share price: +1,012%

The humanoid robots startup aims to bring AI-powered robots that can work in factories and homes alike to the mass market. Enthusiasm around AI and robotics, such as Tesla's (TSLA) Optimus, has continued to rise. Figure AI recently raised $1.5 billion in a May funding round, bringing its total raise to $2.25 billion.

2. Ripple

• Estimated valuation: $15.64B

• Year founded: 2012

• YTD share price: +286.16%

Ripple, the blockchain-based payments platform, has seen renewed investor enthusiasm amid broader interest in crypto infrastructure and decentralized finance. CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently announced that Ripple would drop its years-long cross-appeals with the SEC, following the agency's claim that Ripple sold its XRP token as an unregistered security.

3. Perplexity

• Estimated valuation: $10.99B

• Year founded: 2022

• YTD share price: +260.16%

Perplexity, the buzzy AI-powered search engine, has positioned itself as a serious challenger to Google (GOOG) by delivering real-time answers with cited sources. Backed by investors like Nvidia and Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos, the startup has seen rapid adoption. It's reportedly in talks to raise up to $1 billion, which could push its valuation to $18 billion.

4. xAI

• Estimated valuation: $91.59B

• Year founded: 2023

• YTD share price: +231.33%

Founded by Elon Musk, the startup xAI aims to build artificial general intelligence (AGI) that competes with large language models like ChatGPT. It aims to integrate with products like Tesla and X, which it recently merged with. Its Grok chatbot has been launched across the social media platforms' premium offering.

5. Nuro

• Estimated valuation: $5.99B

• Year founded: 2016

• YTD share price: +178.65%

Nuro specializes in autonomous delivery vehicles designed for last-mile logistics. The company has partnered with major brands like Kroger (KR) and Domino's (DPZ) to pilot its driverless pods in US suburbs. While the robotaxi race heats up, Nuro is carving out a niche in commercial AV delivery, which could see significant upside as urban mobility and e-commerce evolve.

Francisco Velasquez is an Associate Reporter at Yahoo Finance. You can reach him via LinkedIn and X.

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