How do I get more than one page?

Raise max_items (up to 250) or set start_page to begin further down the results.

Do I pay for lookups that come back empty?

No. You are charged per result, so a request that finds nothing costs nothing. Testing this against a messy list is free to get wrong.

What does a request cost?

1 point per returned record, which is $1 per 1,000, and only records that come back are charged. Points come out of your monthly plan allowance.

Startup & Funding Data

BetaList Startup Search API and MCP — Find Startups by Keyword

Send a keyword and get the matching BetaList startups back, each with name, tagline, logo image and link. Use max_items to cap the result (up to 250) and start_page to read further down.

Run it in the app Read the API docs

You send: a keyword, how many startups you want (max_items, up to 250) and, optionally, the page to start from
You get back: name, tagline, logo image and BetaList link for each startup matching the keyword
Coverage: BetaList records with a public page.
Price: 1 point per returned record — $1 per 1,000; Billed per record actually returned, capped by max_items. A request that returns nothing costs nothing.

Comparison

Ways to get this data

Three approaches teams use today, and where each one runs into trouble.

Approach	What it takes	Cost	Trade-off
BetaList directly	Type the query into BetaList and read the results	Free, and slow	Fine for one record, useless across a list, and the layout differs on every platform
Building a scraper	Write it, host it, and repair it when BetaList changes its pages	Engineering time	A maintenance commitment for something that isn't your product
NeuralVerge	One request, the same shape as every other source in the catalog	$1 per 1,000, misses not billed	Returns what BetaList publishes at request time. Other platforms are separate sources with the same request format

Response

What you get back

Every field in the example response below.

Field	Type	Description
`session_id`	string	Id of this run, for tracing.
`kind`	string	Source type of the response.
`keyword`	string	The keyword you sent.
`max_items`	number	The cap you sent on returned records.
`start_page`	number	First page read.
`partial`	boolean	True when the run stopped before reaching max_items.
`human`	string	Readable summary: query, result count and a traffic line.
`machine.total_items`	number	Number of records returned in this response.
`machine.items[]`	array	The returned records, each with the fields listed below.
`machine.first_item`	object	A copy of the first record in items[], for a quick read.
`machine.total_found`	number\|null	Total matches when the platform reports one; null when it does not.
`machine.page_count`	number	Pages read for this response.
`machine.blocked`	boolean	True if the platform refused the read.
`machine.proxy_traffic_bytes`	number	Traffic used by the run, in bytes.
`total_points`	number	Points charged: 1 per returned record.
`machine.first_item.id`	string	Startup slug on BetaList.
`machine.first_item.name`	string	Startup name.
`machine.first_item.url`	string	Link to the startup page on BetaList.
`machine.first_item.alias`	string	Same slug as id.
`machine.first_item.tagline`	string	One-line description.
`machine.first_item.image`	string	Logo image link.

Response

Example response

A real response, as returned.

{
  "session_id": "11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111",
  "kind": "betalist_startups_search",
  "keyword": "ai",
  "max_items": 2,
  "start_page": 1,
  "partial": false,
  "human": "# BetaList — startups search\n\n- **Query:** keyword=ai\n- **Results:** 2\n- **Proxy traffic:** 94.8 KB",
  "machine": {
    "total_items": 2,
    "first_item": {
      "id": "dmautopilot",
      "name": "DM AutoPilot",
      "url": "https://betalist.com/startups/dmautopilot",
      "alias": "dmautopilot",
      "tagline": "AI-assisted automated Twitter outreach",
      "image": "https://resize.imagekit.co/p0SSrMTkPXfYl2-m-Pez49UYKy0RyghHZN4YFYh4i1s/s:40:40/dpr:2/plain/s3://betalist-production/nct2968o80idjda8mjn87buuunfb"
    },
    "items": [
      {
        "id": "dmautopilot",
        "name": "DM AutoPilot",
        "url": "https://betalist.com/startups/dmautopilot",
        "alias": "dmautopilot",
        "tagline": "AI-assisted automated Twitter outreach",
        "image": "https://resize.imagekit.co/p0SSrMTkPXfYl2-m-Pez49UYKy0RyghHZN4YFYh4i1s/s:40:40/dpr:2/plain/s3://betalist-production/nct2968o80idjda8mjn87buuunfb"
      },
      {
        "id": "explain-ink",
        "name": "explain.ink",
        "url": "https://betalist.com/startups/explain-ink",
        "alias": "explain-ink",
        "tagline": "Turn topics or documents into hand-drawn explainer videos",
        "image": "https://resize.imagekit.co/W37Y0BmeEZ4nw50ui1bhANS0t2Yv5-jSceugGcz_wrY/s:40:40/dpr:2/plain/s3://betalist-production/fitbzbimnwo2oa5wshen1pkf8x8p"
      }
    ],
    "total_found": null,
    "page_count": 1,
    "blocked": false,
    "proxy_traffic_bytes": 97112
  },
  "total_points": 2
}

Integration

How to run it

The same lookup works from the app, the API, or as a tool an agent can call mid-task.

Results come back in the same envelope as every other source: a session id, a readable summary, the structured result and the points charged. max_items caps how many records are returned and billed.

curl -X POST https://api.neuralverge.ai/functions/v1/run-betalist-startups-search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"keyword":"ai","max_items":2}'

Use cases

What teams use it for

Where this field shows up in an actual workflow.

Niche discovery

Search a theme such as a technology or customer type and list the early-stage startups that mention it.

Competitor scouting

Check which new products describe themselves with the same keywords as yours.

Lead generation

Build a list of young startups in a segment, then look up each one for detail.

Idea validation

See how many and what kind of products already match a concept.

Coverage & limits

Coverage, freshness and limits

What this source covers, how fresh it is, and where it stops.

Coverage

BetaList records with a public page.

Freshness

Read at request time, so the answer reflects the platform as it stands when you ask.

Handling

This source returns information BetaList shows publicly. Every response carries the session id you can trace.

What it will not do

—Matches carry name, tagline, logo and link only. Use BetaList startup for the full record.
—total_found is null in the sample, so the number of matches beyond the returned page is not reported.
—Matching follows BetaList's own search. Short keywords such as ai can match broadly.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Use BetaList topic startups for a topic slug, or this search for free text.

Related sources

BetaList startup

Name, tagline, description, makers, topics, launch date, screenshots and similar startups.

BetaList latest startups

The newest BetaList startups, newest first, each with name, tagline, logo image and BetaList link.

BetaList topic startups

Name, tagline, logo image and BetaList link for the startups filed under that topic.

All startup & funding data

Startup directories, funding databases, launch platforms and investor data.

Try betalist startup search on your own data

One request format across every source in the catalog.

Get started