New technologies and innovations continue to drive the transition to a digital economy. The brisk pace of growth of highly scalable digital-driven startups is sustained by the timely funding they receive from venture capital firms. CNBC upon seeing this transformation and its impact on businesses and individuals’ everyday lives launched an inaugural list titled “Top Startups for the Enterprise”.
The idea for the Top 25 list came from the CNBC Technology Executive Council that is comprised of CIOs, CTOs, and CISOs from industries across the economy. Council members engage with each other about innovation and technology and how they “meet customer needs, improve employee productivity and mitigate risk”. Their observations and suggestions for the list were well-received by the CNBC staff.
After embracing the idea for Top list, the Council helped to establish the criteria for inclusion as well as how nominees would be judged. Those under consideration needed to be enterprise-focused, use technology to power digital transformation, be attractive to top investors and be likely acquired.
CNBC then contacted potential nominees for the inaugural list, drawing upon the 1,200 plus companies that were nominated for the 2022 CNBC Disruptor 50 released this past May
The nomination pool covered a range of sectors: business intelligence, IT, cloud, big data, and cybersecurity. All were experiencing high growth due to their innovative technologies being in high demand. Also, clients continued to spend on these technologies despite an unclear economy.
“Ambitious, creative, and innovative entrepreneurs” is how CNBC describes the profile of those helming these startups and were very worthy of inclusion. These individuals clearly see the opportunities emerging from the transition to the digital economy, then specifically developing new technologies to fill demand.
The final 25 were chosen using CNBC’s proprietary methodology. Those selected for the inaugural list have in aggregate raised over $14 billion in venture capital. They have an implied collective valuation of more than $147 billion, according to pitchbook. Their business models are inclusive of emerging and trending technologies and most use a combination of AI, machine learning, and cloud computing, Over one third provide cybersecurity solutions.
Timely access to critical funding continues due to their track records that includes high demand for their startups’ products and services. As a result, the 25 selected for the Top Startups for the Enterprise list are viewed as well positioned to take advantage of opportunities that are presented to them by large enterprises who have committed to the digital economy.
Medable, a Big Data startup, is one of the 25 selected and is an example of the enormous potential digital startups have which makes them very attractive to venture capital firms. Led by co-founder and CEO Michelle Longmire, the company has raised $517 million since its founding in 2015 and has a valuation of $2.1 billion, according to crunchbase. Such milestones and achievements make evident why these companies were chosen for the inaugural CNBC Top Startups for the Enterprise list.
