When it comes to up-and-coming companies that people want to work for most, ventures in data storage, cannabis, industrial safety, delivery and fintech are leading the pack.
That’s according to LinkedIn’s latest ranking of the top start-ups around the country that are creating the most buzz among job seekers. The professional networking site analyzed activity from over 645 million members to create the ranking, which evaluates factors like interest in the company, employment growth, engagement with employees, job interest and ability to attract talent from LinkedIn Top Companies.
Taking the No. 1 spot this year is Snowflake, a cloud-based data storage company that was founded in 2012 and landed in the top 20 last year. Companies that infuse tech into traditional consumer goods and services — from food delivery to real estate to financial services to fitness — make up a large portion of the list.
“The annual Top Start-ups list is a reflection of how work is changing, what new industries are emerging and rapidly growing, and where people want to work now,” said Jessi Hempel, senior editor at large at LinkedIn, in a statement. “Over 11,000 positions were filled at the Top Startups over the last year, and there are thousands of open jobs available at the companies right now.”
Here are the hottest start-ups to work for in 2019.
25. Zume
U.S. headcount: 510
Headquarters: Mountain View, California
One-third of the world’s food goes to waste, according to Zume, which is why the California-based company is on a mission to reduce food waste by tapping into the power of data. Started in 2015, Zume connects restaurants and suppliers with real-time food consumption data and predictive analytics so they can adjust how they purchase. The start-up is actively growing its product, engineering and sales teams to amp up customer acquisition efforts.
24. Ritual
U.S. headcount: 70
Headquarters: Culver City, California
The subscription-based vitamin company recently raised $25 million in Series B funding, and investments in product innovation and scientific research are in the works. Job seekers with their sights on joining the women-led start-up should demonstrate tenacity, says Kadie Bowen, VP of people & organization development at Ritual: “Use alternative means to get the attention of the Ritual hiring team.”
23. Coda
U.S. headcount: 60
Headquarters: Multiple
Coda wants to build one doc to rule them all. The computer software start-up offers a unified work space of text and data meant to stretch the limits of what spreadsheets and documents can do. It’s used by companies like Uber, Spotify, Box, and The New York Times.
22. XFL
U.S. headcount: 130
Headquarters: Stamford, Connecticut
Backed by WWE chairman Vince McMahon, the relaunch of XFL will re-imagine professional football on and off the field by making games faster and fan-focused. The new professional football league kicks off in February 2020 with eight teams on the roster. To prepare, the company is staffing up its social media, marketing and community management efforts.
21. Rubrik
U.S. headcount: 1,070
Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
This cloud data-management start-up was founded by former Oracle, Facebook and Google engineers in 2014. The Silicon Valley organization hired 700 employees in the past year, according to LinkedIn, and is currently scouting new hires in sales and engineering with a “customer-first mindset.” Former Cisco executive Wendy Bahr joined the team as chief commercial officer earlier this year.
20. Databricks
U.S. headcount: 660
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Founded in 2013, Databricks provides a unified analytics platform to help companies use big data across data science, engineering and business teams. Naturally, using data points to explain why you’re a good fit for the company is encouraged for those applying to one of the company’s 177 open positions. Its global customer base includes Viacom, Shell and HP.
19. Bird
U.S. headcount: 500
Headquarters: Santa Monica, California
The electric scooter venture continues to scoot along after also being named one of the top start-ups in 2018. Since then, it’s become the fastest company ever to reach a $1 billion valuation (AKA, unicorn status). Bird scooters are now available in over 100 cities across North America, Europe and the Middle East, and the company has nearly 1,000 open positions around the world.
Scooters take over SXSW in Austin, TX
18. Aurora
U.S. headcount: 305
Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
Aurora, a company developing technology for self-driving cars, was founded in 2017 with Sterling Anderson of Tesla, Drew Bagnell of Uber and Chris Urmson of Google at the helm. The driverless car company added more than 200 employees in the past year, many of whom came from other top companies such as Waymo and Apple. Open positions across Silicon Valley and Pittsburgh — like autonomous vehicle technician and technical artist — abound.
17. SimpleBet
U.S. headcount: 65
Headquarters: New York, New York
This sports betting supplier uses machine learning to automatically update and create real-time bettering opportunities for MLB games. With its recently launched pricing platform under way, the start-up plans to expand to NFL and NBA markets, according to LinkedIn.
16. TripActions
U.S. headcount: 600
Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
TripActions, a corporate travel-management platform, hired 650 global workers in the last year alone, bringing its total workforce to 725 at offices in Palo Alto, San Francisco, Dallas, New York, Sydney, Amsterdam and London. It partners with companies like Dropbox, Lyft and the ACLU to provide integrated travel solutions for business trips. The company is valued at $4 billion, according to LinkedIn, and has 80 open roles in engineering, product and sales.
15. Zoox
U.S. headcount: 890
Headquarters: Foster City, California
Zoox is working to launch an autonomous, all-electric ride-hailing service by 2020, and it’s made major changes in the previous year in order to get there. The self-driving start-up recently celebrated its five-year anniversary; hired a new CEO Aicha Evans, formerly the chief strategy officer at Intel; and opened a new headquarters for 600 workers in the Bay Area.
14. Flexport
U.S. headcount: 1,080
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Flexport aims to bring advanced technology and data analytics, logistics infrastructure and supply chain expertise to modernize freight forwarding and make global trade more efficient. The company doubled its revenue growth in the past year, and the addition of $1 billion in new funding brought its valuation up to $3.2 billion. The start-up’s rapid scaling has also meant new career opportunities for workers from within: Over 250 Flexport workers changed roles in the last year, and 60 moved around the world as the company has expanded to new regions.
13. Away
U.S. headcount: 360
Headquarters: New York, New York
The luggage brand takes travel seriously and offers employees with three years under their belt a bonus and time off to take a sabbatical. The company has over 100 open roles around the world, and ideal candidates should “love opportunities for rapid new skill development and be comfortable with ambiguity and change,” says Erin Grau, VP of people and culture. Don’t see the right opportunity for you? Away invites job seekers to “Name Your Job ” and share how a new role could contribute to the company’s growth.
12. Lime
U.S. headcount: 350
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
The company joins LinkedIn’s list of top start-ups for the first time and has spent the past year taking its name to the forefront of the expanding electric scooter business. Over two years of growth, Lime’s dockless bikes and scooters are now available in nearly 100 U.S. cities and has an international presence in South America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia.
11. Glossier
U.S. headcount: 200
Headquarters: New York, New York
The online beauty retailer appears on the hottest start-ups list for the third time, and for good reason. In the past year, it’s generated $100 million in sales and is now valued at $1.2 billion, according to LinkedIn. While founder Emily Weiss built her company after a string of jobs in fashion and beauty, previous beauty industry experience isn’t required for job seekers to join the beauty-blog-turned-retailer. “Many people are surprised to learn that most of our employees actually didn’t come from the beauty industry,” says Samantha Verdile, a company spokesperson.
Source: Glossier
10. Nuro
U.S. headcount: 300
Headquarters: Mountain View, California
Nuro wants to accelerate the benefits of robotics for everyday life, and it’s starting with self-driving delivery pods. The start-up previously worked with Fry’s Food to deliver groceries in Scottsdale, Arizona, and earlier this year announced a partnership with Kroger in Houston. Its workforce has been recruited from other major tech companies like Apple, Google, Tesla and Uber, and there are 200 open opportunities to join the ranks.
9. Compass
U.S. headcount: 2,300
Headquarters: New York, New York
The country’s third-largest residential real estate brokerage is working to integrate technology into the housing market by building an end-to-end platform that supports the entire buying and selling workflow. The start-up has a vast network of agents in 17 major markets across the U.S. and is on a hiring spree to fill hundreds of product and engineering staffers.
U.S. headcount: 1,800
Headquarters: New York, New York
Peloton recently filed publicly for its upcoming IPO and over the last year reported growing sales but widening losses. Founded in 2012, the at-home fitness company grew its subscriber base from 245,667 a year ago to 511,202 in 2019. As far as attracting and retaining top talent from instructors to engineers, CEO John Foley stresses the importance of both office perks (like the right Kind bars and IPAs on tap) as well as a mission-driven culture and “pre-IPO currency.” It expects to raise $500 million in its offering.
7. Robinhood
U.S. headcount: 500
Headquarters: Menlo Park, California
Robinhood, the fintech start-up that lets users buy and sell stocks and exchange-traded funds via a mobile app, recently secured a $323 million funding round that brought its valuation up to $7.6 billion. The company is looking to staff up its engineering and compliance teams, who primarily work out of an office in Lake Mary, Florida.
U.S. headcount: 80
Headquarters: Los Angeles, California
When Khloe Kardashian and Emma Grede launched their size-inclusive denim line in 2016, they logged $1 million in sales on the first day. Since then, the start-up has expanded to offer apparel including dresses, leggings, bike shorts and maternity wear in sizes ranging from 00 to 26. For job seekers vying to join the body-positive company: “We always look to hire out-of-the-box thinkers, those who are passionate, solution-oriented and able to understand our customer on a deeper level,” the company told LinkedIn.
5. Brex
U.S. headcount: 230
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Founded in 2017, the business-focused fintech is focused on expanding its presence beyond the Bay Area and now has a workforce across New York City, Salt Lake City and Vancouver. The start-up is re-imagining corporate credit cards for other start-ups and has 85 open roles across marketing, partnerships, operations and more.
4. DoorDash
U.S. headcount: 1,780
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
With six years under its belt, DoorDash has steadily doubled its employee headcount every year. The food delivery platform shows no signs of stopping. It acquired competitor Caviar in August, which will expand its restaurant portfolio and customer base in over 4,000 cities across the U.S. and Canada.
DoorDash delivery person
Source: DoorDash
3. Samsara
U.S. headcount: 1,115
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Samsara is committed to increasing the efficiency, safety and sustainability of operations that power the economy. The start-up does so by marrying hardware (like sensors and cameras) with analytical software across industries like trucking, food production, manufacturing and local governments. In order to serve over 10,000 customers, Samsara has 280 open roles across engineering and sales and marketing. “In the next year, our plan is to hire approximately 1,000 new employees to build new products, enter new markets and support our expanding customer base,” says Melissa Yeh, Samsara’s head of people and places.
2. Dosist
U.S. headcount: 200
Headquarters: Los Angeles, California
The wellness company’s main product is its proprietary cannabis dose pen, which aims to help users reduce pain, inflammation and insomnia. Launched in 2016, the vape pen was named one of Time’s 25 best inventions of that year, and the company opened two brick-and-mortar “wellness experience” locations this year. Dosist added 100 new employees since 2018 and is currently hiring for 20 more.
1. Snowflake
U.S. headcount: 1,065
Headquarters: San Mateo, California
Topping the list of hottest start-ups this year is Snowflake, which helps companies move data to the cloud. After taking the 20th spot on the list last year, the software company has since nearly tripled its workforce, grew revenue by 257% and doubled its valuation to $3.9 billion. To take the company to new heights in the next year, Snowflake is hiring for 85 new staffers with a focus on growing its engineering and sales teams.
Courtesy of Snowflake
Courtesy of Snowflake
