This week, Forbes unveiled its sixth annual Cloud 100 list, a definitive ranking of the world’s top private cloud companies. This multi-billion dollar sector has become one of the hottest areas in tech, and New York City certainly appears to be at its forefront.
The companies that made the cut range from small startups to private-equity-backed giants, and were selected based on their growth, sales, valuation and culture, as well as a “reputation score” as decided by a panel of 34 CEOs and executives in the industry.
Coming in at No. 1 nationally was San Francisco-based Stripe — incidentally America’s most valuable startup with a $95 billion valuation. And Figma, a rising star in the world of web-based design, jumped a whopping 22 slots up the list to No. 7 this year with a $10 billion valuation. Although the company is headquartered in the Bay Area, it recently opened a new ‘hub’ in NYC and is in the midst of a big hiring spree here, so it is certainly becoming an important part of the New York conversation.
As for NYC-headquartered enterprises, 15 companies based here made the list, making it the second best represented market behind San Francisco. These companies raised a staggering $5.4 billion in funding combined, and employ nearly 8,000 New Yorkers, according to Forbes’ data.
Read below to learn more about five NYC cloud companies that led the way on this year’s ranking.
Rank #12
With a valuation of $7 billion, Attentive is the top-ranking startup among the 29 newcomers on this year’s national list. The company aims to do away with the marketing materials clogging your email inbox by replacing them with brand-specific text messages, and it appears to be getting quite a bit of investor attention. Between two Series Cs ($70 million and $40 million) and its $230 million Series D, Attentive raised $340 million in 2020 alone. Then it turned around and closed on a $470 million Series E last March.
Rank # 23
Braze is a customer engagement platform that helps brands send personalized, omnichannel messages to consumers. The company is valued at about $850 million and has raised $175 million to date — its most recent funding being an $80 million Series E in 2018. Lately, Braze appears to be focusing a lot on its DEI efforts, and was featured in February for its Black History Month celebration.
Rank #40
Collibra has garnered the attention of major investors like ICONIQ Capital and Index Ventures for its ability to help businesses uncover and use their data. The 13-year-old company hit a $2.3 billion valuation last year, and has raised nearly $350 million to date. Now, it appears to be in the midst of a hiring spree, with more than 150 open tech positions at its NYC headquarters.
Rank #51
Over the course of a decade, Yotpo has become a familiar name in the world of e-commerce and marketing tech, counting brands like Patagonia and Steve Madden among its 300,000 global customers. And the company has been especially successful amid the pandemic. In fact, when it raised a $230 million Series F and hit a $1.4 billion valuation last March, co-founder and CEO Tomer Tagrin declared the industry was the “most important place to be.”
Rank #53
At a time when health and wellness seem to be at the top of everyone’s mind, healthtech companies the world over have been seeing massive success, and Cedar is no different. Its platform, which uses electronic health records and various data to make it easier for patients to make online payments, engages with an average of 300,000 people daily, and has been experiencing “skyrocketing” demand according to CEO Florian Otto. The company hit a $3.2 billion valuation last March thanks to a $200 million investment from Tiger Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital and others.
