91,033
Largest sector by company count
Sector Capital Efficiency Report
Vertical comparison of volume, capital intensity, funded coverage, and practical positioning strategy.
Snapshot reference: February 15, 2026
54.16
Highest average funding/company
53.9%
Highest funded-company coverage
1,587,149
Largest total sector funding
Executive Summary
This sector report focuses on capital efficiency rather than raw popularity alone. It compares how verticals behave across four dimensions: company inventory, total funding concentration, average funding per company, and funded-company coverage ratio. The goal is to identify where scale and capital quality align and where they diverge.
The findings show that Internet leads by entity count, but it does not automatically lead every capital-quality dimension. Energy & Utilities and selected infrastructure-heavy verticals show stronger average funding per company, while high-volume categories can contain wider variance in quality and stage maturity.
For founders, this means fundraising narrative should be calibrated to the economics of the target vertical. For investors, it means screening logic should include both sector intensity and sector coverage, not just sector size.
Sector Comparison Charts
Top Sectors by Company Count
Which sectors hold the largest startup inventory
FasterCapital
Top Sectors by Total Funding
Which sectors concentrate the most capital
FasterCapital
Top Sectors by Avg Funding/Company
Capital intensity signal by vertical
FasterCapital
Top Sectors by Funded Coverage
Share of companies with funding > 0
FasterCapital
Interpretation and Operating Strategy
| Sector | Companies | Total Funding | Avg Funding/Company | Funded Companies | Funded Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy & Utilities | 7,868 | 426,152 | 54.16 | 2,867 | 36.4% |
| Automotive & Transportation | 6,928 | 259,023 | 37.39 | 1,351 | 19.5% |
| Mobile & Telecommunications | 19,555 | 566,945 | 28.99 | 10,531 | 53.9% |
| Electronics | 7,518 | 212,325 | 28.24 | 2,894 | 38.5% |
| Finance | 18,987 | 447,216 | 23.55 | 2,921 | 15.4% |
| Internet | 91,033 | 1,587,149 | 17.43 | 45,669 | 50.2% |
| Healthcare | 23,866 | 550,049 | 23.05 | 10,829 | 45.4% |
| Business Products & Services | 23,273 | 114,562 | 4.92 | 3,200 | 13.7% |
Sector mix should be interpreted as a portfolio, not a single ranking. High-volume sectors are usually better for top-of-funnel sourcing, while high-intensity sectors are often stronger for premium opportunities and larger capital narratives. Teams should define category-specific go-to-market playbooks rather than applying one generic model across all verticals.
Year-aware lens: sector attractiveness changes over funding cycles. A sector can outperform in expansion years and compress in correction years. For practical planning, compare this report with the funding-cycle report and then apply a country layer to check whether the same sector behavior is globally consistent or region-specific.
- Use count-heavy sectors for broad demand capture and discovery.
- Use high-average sectors for concentrated capital targeting.
- Use funded-coverage as a quality filter for outreach prioritization.
- Cross sector with geography to avoid over-generalizing global averages.
Methodology and Caveats
Sector values are derived from taxonomy assignments in the company dataset. Funding values use the source numeric representation and are intended for comparative analysis. Amount-centric claims should include data-coverage context from the quality report.
Recommended next step: publish sector-country deep reports to capture “high-intensity in high-density market” combinations.
Related Reports (Apply Sector Insights)
Sector-level rankings become much more actionable when you add geography and year. Use these related links to open country-sector-year pages and compare cycle effects.
| Related Report | URL | Why This Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Global Startup and Investor Landscape | /data/insights/report/global-landscape/ | Macro context for how sectors sit inside global concentration patterns. |
| Country Capital Benchmark Report | /data/insights/report/country-benchmark/ | Add geography before making sector decisions; investor depth differs by country. |
| Funding Cycle Report (Year Dimension) | /data/insights/report/funding-cycle/ | Sector attractiveness changes by cycle phase; use the year layer for timing decisions. |
| Matrix Catalog (Country x Sector x Year) | /data/insights/report/matrix/ | Open hundreds of sector pages inside specific countries and years. |
| Hypercube Builder (8 Dimensions) | /data/insights/report/hypercube/ | Add investor type, market focus, activity, and quality to build a precise scenario report. |
| Matrix Example: United States x Internet x 2024 | /data/insights/report/matrix/united-states/internet/2024/ | Country + sector + year report to turn sector-level findings into an execution-ready market slice. |
| Matrix Example: United States x Healthcare x 2024 | /data/insights/report/matrix/united-states/healthcare/2024/ | Country + sector + year report to turn sector-level findings into an execution-ready market slice. |
| Matrix Example: United States x Business Products & Services x 2024 | /data/insights/report/matrix/united-states/business-products-services/2024/ | Country + sector + year report to turn sector-level findings into an execution-ready market slice. |
| Matrix Example: United States x Mobile & Telecommunications x 2024 | /data/insights/report/matrix/united-states/mobile-telecommunications/2024/ | Country + sector + year report to turn sector-level findings into an execution-ready market slice. |
| Matrix Example: United States x Finance x 2024 | /data/insights/report/matrix/united-states/finance/2024/ | Country + sector + year report to turn sector-level findings into an execution-ready market slice. |
| Matrix Example: United States x Energy & Utilities x 2024 | /data/insights/report/matrix/united-states/energy-utilities/2024/ | Country + sector + year report to turn sector-level findings into an execution-ready market slice. |
| Cycle Compare: United States x Internet x 2025 | /data/insights/report/matrix/united-states/internet/2025/ | Compare the same sector against a different year to see cycle effects inside one geography. |
FAQ
Why is sector size not enough for prioritization?
Large sectors can still have low average capital intensity and uneven quality distribution.
What does funded coverage measure?
It measures the share of sector companies with recorded funding above zero in the dataset.
How should this report be used with country data?
Use sector first for vertical fit, then country benchmark for geographic feasibility and investor depth.
Is this report cycle-sensitive?
Yes. Sector outcomes vary by macro funding cycle, so pair with year-based trend reports.
Can this report support SEO indexing?
Yes. It contains substantial unique narrative and chart interpretation beyond raw numbers.