Top AI Tools based on Spend 2025

AI observations on utility and larger macro Techno-economics trends (Infographics). Top B2B AI Tools for new companies, founders and startups.

Good Morning,

From Substack’s Top Trends featured topic. a16z is a major funder of the platform. I would place a16z’s total ownership of Substack’s equity at around 15-20%. Only frankly it could be as high as 25% (via Andrew Chen - the real figure is not publically known).

Recently a16z worked with Mercury on an AI tools spending report that goes into some depth about which AI tools are trending from a spend (revenue) perspective of actual startups and not just a website traffic perspective. The result is a different group of AI tools leading the way compared to the more mutable top list of AI tools based on fluctuating web traffic.

It’s possible some of these AI tools include ones that you’ve never even heard of. More importantly, they are ones that top startups are investing in giving them extra credibility in an era of AI-native lean startups.

These represent the AI tools you would use as a new company and might be fairly different from the most popular consumer AI tools that are trending more on sentiment and changing consumer behaviors that traffic reports highlight.

Tools that are useful for an actual company (B2B revenue) vs. tools individuals might like to play around with in their spare time (B2C traffic).

AI Tools by Website Traffic, e.g. July-August, 2025

Insights on AI Tools where Startups are Spending

• Horizontal companies make up 60% of the list, compared to 40% for vertical companies.

• The report analyzes AI application spending by the top 50 AI-native startups using Mercury transaction data from June to August 2025, excluding infrastructure providers like cloud services or GPUs.

a16z partners Olivia Moore and Seema Amble say the data shows companies are still adopting a range of different AI products for certain tasks — and new apps are rising and falling very quickly.

I wanted to quickly dig into some of the key tools and what they do, in case you weren’t aware for our AI enthusiast readers.

The rest of the article covers some infographics at a glance that tell part of the story of the AI sector as we head into Autumn, 2025. As you know I’m concerned about the economic labor market and macroeconomic events related to the AI bubble caused by the surge in the demand for compute.

If you worked at an early stage startup, which AI tools would you use in 2025? Curious what B2B apps startups are buying? It’s all about the bang for the buck and getting organized for specific tasks, also all very much in flux as Gen AI utility continues to consolidate into new winners.

The Key Gen AI Tools for Startups, PMF, GTM and Scaling Revenue

So what tools do founders and new teams actually spend to use to help grow their business? This as Gen AI is getting more implicated in things like enabling founders to succeed, finding product market fit, scaling up and go-to-market. GTM is crucial since it’s the main way a startup succeeds in delivering value to the world.

• Growing a startup and revenue

• Finding Product Market Fit (PFM)

• Growing a customer base (GTM)

A go-to-market strategy is a plan that defines how a company launches a product or service to reach target customers effectively. It focuses on key elements like audience segmentation, pricing, distribution channels, and marketing tactics to drive revenue and competitive edge. In 2025, there’s a range of AI B2B Tools to help you achieve that as an individual or small team.

The good news? There’s a new set of Gen AI tools to help you accomplish this (B2B).

Photo by Marc Sendra Martorell on Unsplash

• Stuck in the back of my mind? I just can’t stop reading about the AI bubble (Plain English Podcast) and about how debt is the canary in the coal mine (Axios) for market bubbles (Madison Mills). More on this later.

We’re going to go into more details around these key AI tools to grow your early-stage company.

• The piece includes a ton of Infographics on things I’ve noticed around the AI boom, after the sections on AI B2B tools that startups find the most useful. The infographics represent a detailed picture of about where we are heading in the AI Infrastructure and semiconductor boom.