Last year we profiled several companies that graduated from their Next Billion-Dollar Startups status and went on to outperform in private and public markets as multi-billion-dollar companies.
Now, what seemed like an ever-growing list of companies that were poised to smash their previous funding rounds has narrowed as market uncertainty and leveling valuations permeate the industry. Despite the dramatic changes in the market, many companies in the tech sector are showing resilience. Here, we highlight a few companies that have raised funds, fortified their competitive advantages, introduced new products, and are well-positioned to navigate the challenges that could persist in the months ahead.
While this year’s story is still being written amidst an ever-changing market environment, we are encouraged by this group of companies that have continued to grow since attaining billion-dollar status.
Cockroach Labs
The aptly named Cockroach Labs has had an impressive run since it was named to the 2020 list. After tripling its recurring revenue between 2020 and 2021, the New York-based cloud-native distributed database provider tripled its valuation to $5 billion in a $278 million funding round led by Greenoaks in December 2021. The company is at the forefront of application development and already serves blue-chip customers including Comcast, Bose, DoorDash, and eBay. This year, it has pushed into new markets opening offices in Toronto, San Francisco, and London, and expanded its New York headquarters specifically designed for hybrid work. For a company with ambitions to take on AWS and enable the future of cloud computing and remote work, Cockroach Labs walks the walk. In May, Inc. Magazine named the company to its List of Best Workplaces for 2022.
Chainalysis
Chainalysis appeared on the Next Billion-Dollar Startups in 2019 and has been a bright spot in light of recent turbulence in crypto markets. Many critics of the still-nascent industry contend that security risks and the use of crypto by some corrupt users to participate in illicit activities act as a barricade that will prevent widespread and institutional adoption. That is where Chainalysis enters the market. The startup provides a range of blockchain investigation and compliance services to government agencies, exchanges, financial institutions, and cybersecurity companies in over 70 countries. It was recently credited with identifying the hacker behind a 2016 decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) hack that resulted in over $11 billion of losses in ether, and with assisting in the recovery of $2.3 million worth of crypto assets seized from the ransomware group behind the Colonial Pipeline attack.
Amid the crypto downturn that began earlier this year, the company raised a $170 million Series F led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund that brought its valuation to $8.6 billion. In the past year, customer count has grown by 75%, financial services customer count surpassed 100, and it doubled its staff to over 700. The company has positioned itself for success, and it could play a key role in driving mainstream adoption of blockchain assets.
Flexport
Flexport identified supply chain management as an industry ripe for disruption before the massive upheaval of the pandemic made it obvious. Since recognizing the company on the 2017 Next Billion-Dollar Startups, it has established itself as an authority in leveraging technology to transport massive quantities of goods, facilitating the globalization of commerce. In the past year, Flexport’s logistics platform helped customers ranging from Fortune 500 companies to emerging brands move nearly $19 billion in goods between 100+ countries. In February, the company raised a $935 million Series E at a valuation of $8 billion. Just last month, the company announced that Amazon’s former CEO of Worldwide Consumer, Dave Clark, would replace co-founder Ryan Petersen as CEO. With his over two decades of global commerce and logistics leadership experience, Flexport remains poised for growth.