18 startups that VCs say will thrive this year despite the economic crisis

• Many early-stage startups are struggling due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Some are laying off employees to conserve their cash, others are closing shop altogether.
• But there are other startups that will thrive in spite of these tough conditions or even because of them.
• We asked the experts - venture capitalists - to tell us about the startups in their portfolios that are still on track for success in today's conditions and that they think have bright futures tomorrow, too.
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Given that many of today's unicorns and newly public companies were founded in the middle of the last economic downturn, that made us wonder: Who are the unicorns of tomorrow that are being forged in the economic turmoil of today?

To find out, we went to the startup experts: the VCs that funded them. We asked them to tell us about a seed-through early-stage startup in their portfolio that they believe is exceptionally well positioned right now and why. (We limited this list to companies that have raised less than $100 million in funding to-date, though most of them are far smaller and have raised less than $30 million).

All fundraising estimates come from Pitchbook, the keeper of such records.