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2023 Big50 Startup Report
Startup50’s biennial Big50 Startup Competition kicks off in January 2023. Every two years, the team at Startup50 investigates hot technology startups to find 50 startups with the right combination of experience, innovation, and financial backing to upend established market sectors.
To earn a slot in the Big50, startups must complete a series of challenges that focus on everything from pitching VCs to moving markets via thought leadership. Sign up for the Startup50 newsletter to participate in and/or follow this year’s competition.
2021 Big50 Startup Report
The 2021 Big50 Startup Report spotlights 50 high-upside startups that have gained a foothold in fast-growth tech sectors. Every two years, Startup50 compiles an in-depth report that features hot startups that are poised to upend the status quo in a range of industries, from next-gen cybersecurity to Software-Defined Networking to the Internet of Things. The startups featured in the 2021 Big50 are the best of the best, the ones who competed hard all year to earn this distinction.
Big50 Startups Making a Big Splash
Startups from previous Big50s have raised record levels of funding, such as Cloudera’s near billion-dollar investment from Intel, Cybereason’s $100M Series D in June 2017, or Snowflake Computing’s massive $450M Series F in October 2018, followed by a successful IPO in 2020.
On the first day of trading, the share price of Snowflake more than doubled, climbing above $300/share and closing the day at just under $254, making this the most successful software IPO in history. As of this writing, Snowflake’s market cap has climbed to nearly $78 billion.
Other Big50 alums that have reached successful IPOs include Asana, Cloudera, Cloudflare, Elastic, Square, Pivotal Software, and Zscaler, among others.
Many other Big50 alum have been acquired by major incumbents. HP has acquired Eucalyptus, Niara, and Silver Peak. Microsoft snatched up CyberX and Hexadite. FaceBook bolstered its mobile security arsenal with the RealFace acquisition, and Cisco bought Dou Security, Skyport Systems, and Viptela. VMware snatched up both Datrium and Nyansa, and Juniper purchased 128 Technologies for $450M.
Startups featured in the 2021 Big50 Startup Report have collectively raised more than $2 billion in VC funding since our last report published in 2019. Four startups in the 2021 Big50 reeled in $100M+ VC rounds, led by Data Robot’s massive $320M Series F.
The 2023 Big50 Startup Competition launches in January 2023. Sign up for the Startup50 newsletter below to vote for your favorite startups, follow the startups as they confront challenges, and receive your copy of the final report when it publishes. In the meantime, we’ll send you a copy of the previous report!