On Jesse Vega’s first date with Deaunda Lira, a romantic sushi dinner in Colorado Springs three years ago, he was upfront: He has epilepsy and suffers severe seizures. “It could be scary,” Jesse, 49, recalls telling her. Deaunda, 52, was wary at first, especially after witnessing one of his seizures firsthand. But she shortly came around. “He’s so handsome, I’m gonna have to give it a try,” she remembers thinking, laughing.

For a dozen years, Forbes has partnered with TrueBridge Capital Partners to highlight the companies that are likely to become unicorns in the near future. To qualify, startups must be venture-backed, based in the U.S. and worth less than $1 billion. In a sign of the times: Nearly all this year’s list members use AI in some fashion as they work on everything from bone marrow to biological threats, cybersecurity to creative design. Our track record is striking: Of the 275 alumni of this list, 60% did indeed become unicorns, including household names Duolingo and DoorDash. Another 60 were bought (or were merged). Nearly half of last year’s picks already are worth more than a billion. There have been surprisingly few disasters—just six companies, about 2%, imploded or shut down.

Every year, thousands of venture-backed startups raise millions in capital, generate headlines and promise to reshape entire industries. Only a small fraction ultimately become enduring, category-defining businesses.

The 2026 Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list recognizes the companies that appear best positioned to make that leap. While this year's companies span industries from healthcare and cybersecurity to legal services and insurance, many share a remarkably consistent set of characteristics.

Ex-superstar player succeeds Didier Deschamps as France manager after the national team’s bitter semifinal exit in the United States.

France great Zinedine Zidane’s long-held ambition to coach the national team became reality on Tuesday when the French Football Federation appointed the former captain and World Cup winner as Didier Deschamps’ successor on a four-year contract.

Late-Night TV

"Memorializing the collegial and cozy relationship between the press and those that they cover is, at best, a very bad look in normal times," the host said of the annual event

George Russell says he's "never" experienced a season with so much misfortune after an engine issue caused his disastrous start to the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Russell started Sunday's race in sixth, one place ahead of Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, but his car went into anti-stall so he slowly crept off the line and dropped to the back on the long run down to Turn 1.

Two whisky bottles can sit side by side on an American shelf and now face dramatically different treatment at the border.

On the morning of July 24, more than 20 Israeli settlers from the illegal Havat Gilad settlement attacked Palestinians’ homes on the eastern edge of Tal, southwest of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.