Enterprise DNA
Training data and experts Supplier to the AI builders

Appen

Listed data company that collects and labels AI training data, with a fast-growing China business.

Revenue
Group revenue A$119.9M in the half year to June 2026 (ASX filing)
Growth
Group revenue up 17%. Appen China up about 80% to A$76.2M on generative AI projects (ASX filing)
Based in
Sydney, Australia
Listed
Public (APX)
Why it is winning

Its China arm reached an annualised run rate above $175M in June 2026, and FY26 revenue guidance is $270M to $300M.

The risk to watch

Its legacy Appen Global business fell 26.9% in the same half.

Money coming in

Who pays Appen, and for what.

No customers of Appen mapped yet.

Money going out

Who Appen pays to do what it does.

No suppliers of Appen mapped yet.

Where it sits on the map

Competitors and neighbours

Mercor
Supplier

Pays vetted experts to write, grade and check the training data that AI labs buy.

About $2B gross annualised run rate in June 2026, reported by The Information. Gross means before contractor pay, which Sacra says is 60 to 70 percent of it

Open profile
Scale AI
Supplier

Labels and grades training data and runs human evaluations for AI labs and big companies.

Meta paid $14.3B for 49%

Open profile
Surge AI
Supplier

Supplies high-end human data to AI labs, and was profitable before its first outside raise.

About $1.2B in 2024 (Sacra estimate)

Open profile
Handshake
Supplier

A student and graduate jobs network that now supplies expert contractors to train AI models.

About $1.1B annualised gross revenue in April 2026 (Sacra estimate). Net revenue about $450M after contractor pay

Open profile
Invisible Technologies
Supplier

Runs human feedback and training data operations for frontier labs and large enterprises.

$134M in 2024, company figure reported by Sacra

Open profile
Labelbox
Supplier

Sells data labelling software and a data service for building AI training sets.

About $50M in 2024 (Latka estimate)

Open profile
micro1
Supplier

Supplies vetted domain experts, such as PhDs and senior engineers, to AI labs for training data.

More than $100M annual recurring revenue by December 2025 (TechCrunch). Sacra estimates about $500M annualised in August 2026 (estimate)

Open profile
Snorkel AI
Supplier

Builds finished training datasets and simulated environments for AI labs, enterprises and the US government.

Annualised run rate above $350M, company figure in September 2026. Implicator reports $375M

Open profile
Turing
Supplier

Supplies coding and engineering experts who train, test and check AI models for labs.

About $300M annual recurring revenue at its March 2025 round (TechCrunch)

Open profile

Sources: announcements.asx.com.au

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241 companies across 25 areas, 62 money flows and 89 openings so far. New research lands every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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