My Top 5 Startups for 2024

Steve Symington here, wishing you the best as we kick off the new year digging into the most promising stocks and startups at Bottom Line Investing.

Given their more timely nature and the (current) lack of a secondary market, let’s hit the ground running and start with the latter group, shall we? Keep your eyes peeled for my top five stocks to watch in 2024 tomorrow.

Until then, here are five promising startups I think are worthy portfolio candidates heading into 2024:

My 5 Top Startups for 2024

• RAD AI (Closing March 31, 2024 on Dealmaker): 
  
  The rise and permeation of truly useful generative artificial intelligence was all the rage in 2023. But I think we’re just getting started. To that end, I’m commencing coverage on RAD AI (short for Remove All Doubt) for our Bottom Line Investing Watchlist as of today.
  
  RAD AI is a leading marketing technology company that’s leveraging generative AI to help enterprise clients automate creative decisions and content strategy at scale. Every decision RAD AI’s platform makes is ROI-based, and its value proposition is so clear that it managed to more than triple revenue last year (from just over $446K in 2022) while attracting big-name clients including MGM Resorts and Accenture.
  
  Though RAD AI is entering a crowded niche in marketing tech and data analytics, it’s also a mammoth opportunity worth more than $630 billion annually that should have more than enough room for multiple winners — that is, if RAD AI isn’t acquired before it can truly begin to scale.
  

• ByteNite (Closing Feb. 21, 2024 on Wefunder):
  
  ByteNite has built a compelling distributed computing platform that’s demonstrated processing speeds up to 10X faster than Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) on AWS. So how could a pre-revenue business manage to challenge the cloud-computing prowess of one of the largest tech conglomerates in the world? ByteNite leverages the idle computing power of everything from smartphones, laptops, and tablets running its app in the background to create a cohesive distributed computing platform — and it pays the owners of those devices for the privilege of quietly borrowing their computing resources.
  
  To be clear, ByteNite is still a very high-risk startup, and one of its near-term goals is to reach 4,000 paying users in the first quarter of 2024. It also says it’s set to soon launch a new generative AI image app that could challenge the capabilities of OpenAI’s heralded DALL-E AI systems.
  
  If all goes well, ByteNite could be massive winner for investors getting in on the ground floor.
  

• Taste of Nature (Closing April 25, 2024 on PicMii):
  
  Another new BLI watchlist addition, Taste of Nature isn’t exactly the sexiest “startup” on this list. But it’s definitely the…uh…tastiest?
  
  In fact, Taste of Nature arguably isn’t even a startup anymore considering it was 1) founded 32 years ago, 2) increased revenue 40% year over year in 2023 to more than $40 million, and 3) even issued a one-time dividend to shareholders last fiscal year.
  
  You’ve probably seen Taste of Nature’s ridiculously popular CookieDough Bites (among dozens of other products) in movie theaters, Walmart stores, or convenience stores somewhere around the world. This is an actual thriving business we’re talking about — but it also happens to be a business that has never accepted outside equity investments other than through Crowdfunding in its three-decade history.
  
  With the help of new products stemming from a 2022 licensing deal with Mars-Wrigley, Taste of Nature believes it can significantly expand margins and grow revenue to over $70 million by 2026. I see no reason that goal isn’t achievable.
  

• Future Cardia (Closing Jan. 17, 2024 Extended until Mar. 18, 2024 on StartEngine):
  
  I’ve already extolled the virtues of medtech firm Future Cardia in a detailed report here at BLI before. But with the end of its current round fast-approaching, let’s recap its premise: Future Cardia is using a 2-minute procedure to tackle a $19 billion industry. Its tiny insertable, long-term cardiac monitor device leverages AI a slew of data to detect early signs of heart failure before symptoms arise, significantly reducing hospitalizations in the process. The company enjoys a short regulatory path to approval with an existing insurance reimbursement model, and successfully completed its first in-human implants late last year.
  
  With more than $2 million raised this round, Future Cardia should have plenty of capital to complete its clinical trials before entering its short path to regulatory approval.
  

• Andalusia Whiskey (Closing Feb. 15, 2024 on StartEngine):
  
  Whiskey enthusiasts unite! I’m officially adding Texas-based Andalusia Whiskey to the BLI Watchlist because I’m a sucker for high-quality brewers and distillers — not only because I personally appreciate their products and dedication to the craft, but also due the high frequency of favorable exit events for the best up-and-coming players in the space.
  
  On the former, Andalusia Whiskey’s flagship whiskeys are highly reviewed and often compared to smooth-drinking Speyside Scotch Whiskies — a happy consequence of its use of rainwater and smoked in-house barley grown on its 100-acre haven.
  
  On the latter, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if a publicly-traded leader like Tilray (TLRY) — a fellow BLI Watchlist constituent that acquired Breckenridge Distillery for $109 million two years ago — attempts to gobble up Andalusia Whiskey if it proves successful in its plan to expand beyond Texas to multiple additional states. Even if that doesn’t happen, I suspect future raises will be at a much higher premium than Andalusia’s current $10 million valuation implies.