AI is quietly reshaping what it means to build a startup.
New data from Carta shows that solo founders are no longer the exception. They are becoming the norm.
From 2019 to the first half of 2025, the share of startups founded by a single person from 23.7% to 36.3%.
The rise of solo founders seems driven by three things:
- AI lowering the cost of execution.
- Successful solo led companies proving the model works.
- And founders wanting to retain creative and strategic control from day one.
Solo founded companies make up a growing share of startups, but they receive a smaller share of venture funding. In 2024, they represented 30% of new startups but only 14.7% of equity capital raised.
Interestingly, solo founders tend to hire faster. They bring in their first employee earlier than multi founder teams, likely to compensate for being alone at the start.
The startup playbook is changing.
And AI is the reason why.