The 19 hottest San Francisco startups to watch in 2018

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It's been a wild year for tech in San Francisco.

Some of the city's tech stalwarts, like Twitter and Uber, have been rocked by controversy and competition, while buzzy startups like Jawbone, Luxe and Juicero shut down their services.

Yet even amidst the turmoil, tech continues to reach new heights, with Salesforce tower now dominating the San Francisco skyline.

San Francisco remains America's breeding ground for innovative startups, with an ever-growing flock of entrepreneurs busily at work creating the next big thing.

We've compiled a list of 19 hot San Francisco startups to watch in the coming year by talking to venture capitalists, active members of the San Francisco tech scene, and looking at fundraising data from PitchBook. To narrow the list down, we kept it to companies headquartered in San Francisco, excluding Palo Alto, Mountain View, and San Jose-based ventures.

The coming year is sure to be a telling one for the San Francisco tech world, here are the hottest startups to watch out for:

Motiv wants to be the future of fitness trackers.

What it is: Motiv makes the Motiv ring, a fitness, heart rate, and sleep tracker in the shape of an attractive metal ring. It's designed for 24/7 use with an inconspicuous design, a battery that lasts for three days, and waterproofing.

Its on-board memory sets it apart from other fitness wearables, as the ring can be separated from a phone for up to five days, and still store all activity data. The company wants to be the simple answer for people looking to improve their health.

Founded: 2013 by Michael Strasser, Eric Strasser, Curt von Badinski, and Peter Twins

Funding: $20.18 million from Granite Ventures, Soda Rock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and others.

Nurx wants to give more women easy access to birth control.

What it is: Nurx is basically the "Uber for birth control." Its service eliminates a trip to the doctors office, and allows women to get a birth control prescription by simply putting in their information into the Nurx app and having a doctor review it. Delivery doesn't cost extra, and for the uninsured, Nurx helps customers choose and sign up for a provider. It's available in 16 states right now, and has plans to expand nationwide.

Founded: 2015 by Hans Gangeskar and Edvard Engesaeth.

Funding: $8 million from Lowercase Capital, Y Combinator, Union Square Ventures and others.

Virta Health is on a mission to reverse Type 2 diabetes.

What it is: An online medical company focused on creating individualized diabetes treatments.

The latest venture from Sami Inkinen, who co-founded Trulia, was inspired by his personal life. Virta Health hopes to tackle Type 2 diabetes, which Inkinen himself was diagnosed with in 2004.

Aided by physicians, coaches and algorithms, each regimen Virta designs for its clients "addresses the underlying biochemistry of diabetes and shifts the paradigm from management to reversal," Virta says. The aim is to do all that without medications or surgery.

Founded: 2014 by Sami Inkinen, Jeff Volek, Stephen Phinney.

Funding: $36.7 million from Venrock, Allen & Company, Obvious Ventures, and others.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider