Updated 8 Nov 2026
Best AI data collection companies in 2026, ranked by revenue.
The largest AI data collection companies by revenue on record are Innodata ($350M, 12 months to Sep 2026), TaskUs ($250M, 12 months to Sep 2026, AI Services), Appen ($249M, 12 months to Jun 2026), AfterQuery ($100M, run rate, Apr 2026) and Mecka ($100M, run rate, Jun 2026). They record new data from people and the real world for AI training: speech, video, motion, egocentric footage and the like.
58 companies on our register say on their own pages that they make what they sell from data recorded from people and the real world. 30 have revenue, a valuation or funding on record and are ranked below, every figure linked to the filing or article it comes from. Also called physical AI data collection companies, egocentric data collection companies.
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The largest AI data collection companies by revenue
The 6 with the most revenue on record, each bar linked to the record it comes from.
The latest money moves
The newest rounds, valuations and revenue figures among these companies, each linked to its record.
- 5 Nov 2026Innodata reported $350M revenue (12 months to Sep 2026)
- 4 Nov 2026TaskUs reported $250M revenue (12 months to Sep 2026, AI Services)
- 22 Oct 2026Maxinsights raised $30M
- 22 Oct 2026BioStack Platforms raised $9.5M
- 14 Oct 2026Labelbox raised $100M at a $1.3B valuation
- 7 Oct 2026Mecka raised $60M
Best for each kind of work
For each area, the highest-ranked company on this list that names it on its own pages: the largest by the money on record, and how many here do the same work.
- Best for roboticsInnodata, $350M (12 months to Sep 2026): the largest of the 22 here that work on robotics.
- Best for images and videoInnodata, $350M (12 months to Sep 2026): the largest of the 19 here that work on images and video.
- Best for business workInnodata, $350M (12 months to Sep 2026): the largest of the 15 here that work on business work.
- Best for medicalInnodata, $350M (12 months to Sep 2026): the largest of the 13 here that work on medical.
- Best for speech and audioInnodata, $350M (12 months to Sep 2026): the largest of the 13 here that work on speech and audio.
- Best for languagesInnodata, $350M (12 months to Sep 2026): the largest of the 11 here that work on languages.
- Best for codingInnodata, $350M (12 months to Sep 2026): the largest of the 8 here that work on coding.
- Best for financeAppen, $249M (12 months to Jun 2026): the largest of the 10 here that work on finance.
- Best for legalAppen, $249M (12 months to Jun 2026): the largest of the 6 here that work on legal.
- Best for scienceAppen, $249M (12 months to Jun 2026): the largest of the 5 here that work on science.
- Best for computer useAfterQuery, $100M (run rate, Apr 2026): the largest of the 5 here that work on computer use.
- Best for gamesDefined.ai, $62.3M raised: the largest of the 3 here that work on games.
The ranking: 30 AI data collection companies
Each company is ranked on the first of these it has on record: its revenue over twelve months (a run rate or a year as published, or its last four quarters added up; an AI segment where the rest of its business is not AI data), then its newest valuation, then the money it disclosed raising. No company pays for a place.
| # | Company | Ranked on | Measure | Valuation | Sells | Pays companies for data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Innodata | $350M | Revenue, 12 months to Sep 2026 | Labeling software, RL environments, Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation | ||
| 2 | TaskUs | $250M | Revenue, 12 months to Sep 2026 (AI Services) | Annotation, Expert and human data, Datasets | ||
| 3 | Appen | $249M | Revenue, 12 months to Jun 2026 | Labeling software, Datasets, Expert and human data, RL environments, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation | Its own programme | |
| 4 | AfterQuery | $100M | Revenue, run rate, Apr 2026 | $3.2B | RL environments, Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks | Through our introductions |
| 5 | Mecka | $100M | Revenue, run rate, Jun 2026 | $500M | Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks | |
| 6 | Toloka | $26.4M | Revenue, FY2024 | RL environments, Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation | ||
| 7 | Applied Intuition | $15B | Valuation, 2025 | Simulation, RL environments, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation | ||
| 8 | Labelbox | $1.3B | Valuation, 2026 | RL environments, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks | Its own programme | |
| 9 | Kled | $100M | Valuation, 2025 | Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation | Its own programme | |
| 10 | Lightwheel | $145M | Money raised, disclosed | Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation, Simulation | ||
| 11 | Encord | $90M | Money raised, disclosed | Labeling software, Annotation, Expert and human data, Datasets, Evaluations and benchmarks | ||
| 12 | XDOF | $70M | Money raised, disclosed | Evaluations and benchmarks, Datasets, Annotation | ||
| 13 | Defined.ai | $62.3M | Money raised, disclosed | Datasets, Expert and human data, Annotation, Evaluations and benchmarks | Its own programme | |
| 14 | Centific | $60M | Money raised, disclosed | RL environments, Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation | Its own programme | |
| 15 | David AI | $50M | Money raised, disclosed | Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks | ||
| 16 | Luel | $31.2M | Money raised, disclosed | Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation | ||
| 17 | Maxinsights | $30M | Money raised, disclosed | Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation, Simulation | ||
| 18 | Moonlake AI | $28M | Money raised, disclosed | Evaluations and benchmarks, Simulation | ||
| 19 | iMerit | $23.5M | Money raised, disclosed | Labeling software, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation, Datasets | ||
| 20 | Datacurve | $15M | Money raised, disclosed | RL environments, Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation | Its own programme | |
| 21 | Midcentury | $15M | Money raised, disclosed | Datasets, Expert and human data, Simulation, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation | ||
| 22 | Chakra Labs | $10.1M | Money raised, disclosed | RL environments, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Datasets | ||
| 23 | BioStack Platforms | $9.5M | Money raised, disclosed | RL environments, Datasets, Evaluations and benchmarks, Simulation | ||
| 24 | Perle AI | $9M | Money raised, disclosed | Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation | ||
| 25 | Human Archive | $8.2M | Money raised, disclosed | Datasets, Expert and human data, Annotation | ||
| 26 | clickworker | $6M | Money raised, disclosed | Datasets, Annotation | ||
| 27 | VisionLab AI | $6M | Money raised, disclosed | Datasets, Annotation, Expert and human data | ||
| 28 | Build AI | $5M | Money raised, disclosed | Datasets, Evaluations and benchmarks | ||
| 29 | Troveo | $4.5M | Money raised, disclosed | Datasets, Annotation | Its own programme | |
| 30 | Good Start Labs | $3.6M | Money raised, disclosed | RL environments, Datasets, Expert and human data, Evaluations and benchmarks, Annotation |
- Twelve months.
- A run rate or ARR is the company's own annualised figure, often its best month times twelve; a year is the year it published. Where a company reports quarters or halves, the last four quarters or two halves are added up. Gross revenue of a human data company includes what it pays its experts.
- Who is on it.
- A company is on this list when its own pages say it does this work, read word for word. It is not on it because we chose it, and none pays to be here.
- Your place, on your site.
- Every ranked company has a badge of its place, kept current with this page: the address is /badges/ai-data-collection-companies/ followed by the company's id in its page's address, as in Innodata's. Link it to this page.
- Pays companies for data.
- "Through our introductions": it takes companies' data through AIData.Broker's introductions and pays us a referral fee when one goes ahead. That never moves its place: the order is the money on record. "Its own programme": a published programme for buying data. "Says it buys data": its own words, linked.
Head to head
The comparisons people search between companies on this list, side by side on the same figures.
The questions people ask · figures from the market's records, last reviewed 8 Nov 2026
Which are the top AI data collection companies?
By the money on record, the largest are Innodata ($350M revenue, 12 months to Sep 2026), TaskUs ($250M AI Services revenue, 12 months to Sep 2026) and Appen ($249M revenue, 12 months to Jun 2026). AIData.Broker ranks all 58 AI data collection companies on its register, the companies whose own pages say they make what they sell from data recorded from people and the real world, by twelve-month revenue, then valuation, then money raised, and every figure links to the filing or article that reported it.
More answers
- Which are the largest AI data collection companies?
- By the money on record: Innodata, $350M (12 months to Sep 2026); TaskUs, $250M (12 months to Sep 2026, AI Services); Appen, $249M (12 months to Jun 2026). 6 of the 58 on the list have revenue on record; the others are ranked on their valuation or the money they raised.
- Is Applied Intuition the biggest of the AI data collection companies?
- By valuation, yes: Applied Intuition was valued at $15B (Jun 2025). By revenue on record, Innodata is larger: $350M (12 months to Sep 2026), against no revenue on record for Applied Intuition.
- Which AI data collection companies buy data from companies?
- 13 of them take data from companies that hold it, on a published programme or in their own words: Appen, AfterQuery, Labelbox, Kled, Defined.ai, Centific, Datacurve, Troveo, Abaka AI and Asimov, and others in the table. A company holding such data can value it free and be introduced to every one whose rules take it.
- How many AI data collection companies are there?
- 58 companies on our register say on their own pages that they make what they sell from data recorded from people and the real world. 30 of them have revenue, a valuation or funding on record, and are ranked; the rest are listed by name.
- How is this list ranked?
- Each company is ranked on the first of these it has on record: its revenue over twelve months (a run rate or a year as published, or its last four quarters added up; an AI segment where the rest of its business is not AI data), then its newest valuation, then the money it disclosed raising. No company pays for a place.
Other rankings
The same rule, other parts of the market, and every company on one page: the market map.
- Best AI data labs and human data companiesLargest: Mercor
- RL environment companiesLargest: Mercor
- Best data labeling companiesLargest: Handshake AI
- Best data labeling platformsLargest: Scale AI
- AI evaluation companiesLargest: Mercor
- Best AI training data providersLargest: Mercor
- Coding data companies for AILargest: Mercor
- Robotics training data companiesLargest: Scale AI
- Medical AI training data companiesLargest: Mercor
- Speech and audio training data companiesLargest: Surge AI
- Video and image training data companiesLargest: Surge AI
- Finance AI training data companiesLargest: Mercor
- Legal AI training data companiesLargest: Mercor
- AI red teaming and security data companiesLargest: Proximal
- Multilingual training data providersLargest: Surge AI
- Synthetic training data companiesLargest: Mercor
- Computer-use agent data companiesLargest: Scale AI
Cite this
AIData.Broker, “Best AI data collection companies in 2026, ranked by revenue”, reviewed 8 Nov 2026. https://aidata.broker/best/ai-data-collection-companies
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 if you credit AIData.Broker and link to this page. Each row names the publication that stated it, and words quoted from a source keep that source's own terms.
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