In this article, we take a look at the 22 most disruptive companies in 2022. You can skip our detailed analysis of innovation in the private sector and go directly to 5 Most Disruptive Companies in 2022.
Disruption, as understood in the classical sense, refers to applying new technologies to a problem to find a solution that is optimized for improvement and cost reduction. This makes disruption anti-inflationary by its very nature. Not all radical innovations are disruptive, however.
For instance, the invention of the automobile was not immediately disruptive since early automobiles were a luxury that didn’t replace horse carts at scale. Things only started to change in 1908 with the production of Ford Model T, an economical vehicle that was adopted widely and brought radical change to the transportation market.
In addition, disruption is often caused by smaller companies rather than the market leaders because the latter are not incentivized for it by definition due to their place in the status quo.
However, major companies understand the importance of disruption as well and they usually adapt to it through their free cash-flow advantage. Many giants like Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) end up acquiring disruptive startups at attractive prices, to ensure their dominant status in the market.
For instance, YouTube was a massively disruptive company and it was acquired by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) for $1.65 billion in 2006. The video sharing platform is estimated in the present day to be worth roughly $240 billion.
Modern Day Examples of Disruption
In the modern day, Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) is a great example of a disruptive company that created a sub-market within the larger transportation industry. According to the travel expense management company Certify, Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) has overshadowed traditional taxis by 72% in North America.
Disruption in 2022
Disruptors are taking aim at a wide range of problems we face in 2022, from solving supply chains, reducing emissions as well as capturing carbon from the atmosphere, democratizing access to finance, to improving healthcare for vulnerable populations.
There are several technologies that have been causing or have the potential to cause disruption in the market in the present day. These primarily include Big Data & AI, Cloud Computing, Digital Transformation and Automation.
To take Cloud as an example, it’s already dominating the market for enterprise storage. According to a Data Storage Trends survey, 68% of respondents said their companies were investing in cloud storage relative to 58% who said the companies were also investing in traditional hard drives.
AI, more specifically, Deep Learning, is another revolutionary technology that is disrupting various markets. In terms of video/photo editing, deep learning companies like Runway ML are providing users with tools that eliminate the need for professional video/photo editors.
Many Deep Learning software have already taken a significant share in the marketing industry. According to Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), marketers’ use of Artificial Intelligence tools increased from 29% in 2018 to 84% in 2020.
Now that we have the background in disruptive innovation, and technologies centered around it, let’s move on to the 22 most disruptive companies in 2022.
Photo by Ant Rozetsky on Unsplash
Our Methodology
For the 22 most disruptive companies in 2022, we’ve consulted with CNBC’s tenth Annual Disruptor 50 list for 2022. It is made using companies’ quantitative and qualitative data on scalability, user growth, diversity and sales.
Information is also sourced from Pitchbook, which provides data on implied valuations, fundraising and venture-capital investor quality. For 2022, the most important metrics happen to be scalability and user-growth, followed by use of breakthrough technologies and sales growth.
Here’s the list of 22 most disruptive companies in 2022. Let’s dive in.
22. Tala
Funding: $362
Valuation: $800 million
Key technologies: Big Data & AI
Tala is a fintech startup based in Santa Monica, California. It is helping underprivileged populations digitally access cheap loans across Mexico, India, Philippines and other countries.
Tala’s smartphone application gathers permissible user data like text, browsing activity, merchant transactions and other behavioral information to create the user’s credit-risk profile with machine learning algorithms.
It then approves and lends loans anywhere from $10 to $500 with varying interest rates based on credit risk in minutes. Tala has so far raised over $360 million in venture capital funding from Revolution Growth, and ventures owned by Paypal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) among others.
21. Fanatics
Funding: $4.2 billion
Valuation: $27 billion
Key technologies: AI, cloud computing
Fanatics is a sports retail company based in Jacksonville, Florida. The company is expanding into digital sports’ collectibles, trading cards and sports betting industries.
20. Monarch Tractor
Funding: $81 million
Valuation: $280 million
Key technologies: AI, autonomous vehicles, cloud computing and Internet of Things
Monarch Tractor is a tractor maker based in Livermore, California. The company designs and manufactures fully-electric tractors with unmanned driving options.
Monarch Tractor is helping reduce the agricultural industry’s carbon emissions as well as improve yield efficiency by allowing farm-owners to manage eight tractors at once in the field rather than just one.
19. Maven Clinic
Funding: $202 million
Valuation: $1 billion
Key technologies: Internet of Things
Maven Clinic is a women-led tele-health company based in New York City. It has a valuation of over $1 billion as of 2022. The company offers tech-based healthcare for parenting, pregnancy, fertility and other issues with a focus on women.
18. CloudTrucks
Funding: $141.5 million
Valuation: $850 million
Key technologies: Cloud computing, Internet of Things, machine learning
CloudTrucks is based in San Francisco. It is one of the most disruptive companies in 2022 when it comes to logistics. CloudTrucks app enables truck drivers to find and close truckload deals with brokers and shippers around the country. Among other things, the company helps truck drivers optimize their schedules based on their own preferences.
17. Arctic Wolf
Funding: $498 million
Valuation: $4.3 billion
Key technologies: Cloud computing, machine learning, software-defined security
Arctic Wolf is a Minnesota-based technology company that is providing solutions for cybersecurity threats faced by businesses. It provides a cloud-based cybersecurity system that takes-in large swathes of data from a business’s networks, endpoints and cloud to automatically detect threats and cyber hazards.
Its machine learning algorithms are also trained to filter false alerts to improve operational efficiency of a company.
16. Truepill
Funding: $257 million
Valuation: $1.6 billion
Key technologies: Internet of Things
Truepill is a healthcare company based in San Francisco, California. The company provides tele-health services as well as a digital pharmacy. It also offers at-home diagnostics services covering around 3,000 health issues including Covid-19. Truepill rapidly expanded during the pandemic lockdowns, hiring roughly 800 employees.
15. Medable
Funding: $521 million
Valuation: $2.1 billion
Key technologies: Cloud computing, Internet of Things
Medable is another health company on the list of most disruptive companies in 2022. It is solving the underrepresentation of minority groups in clinical trials across the United States by conducting them remotely.
14. Flock Freight
Funding: $399 million
Valuation: $1 billion
Key technologies: Cloud computing, machine learning
Flock Freight is another logistics company on the list of most disruptive companies in 2022. One of the major problems it is taking aim at is transportation waste. In this regard, the company is applying ideas like shared truckload shipping.
It is also optimizing freight delivery by finding the best possible delivery routes using machine learning, to ensure that freight doesn’t have to be loaded and unloaded between pickup and delivery.
13. Discord
Funding: $1.1 billion
Valuation: $14.7 billion
Key technologies: AI, Big Data
Discord has become one of the most prominent social media companies in 2022, thanks to its many features like social audio, threads and stage channels. While not as big as Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) yet, Discord is a rising star and a direct competitor.
12. Chime
Funding: $1.1 billion
Valuation: $14.7 billion
Key technologies: AI, Big Data
Chime is another fintech company that has democratized financial services in an atmosphere where members of minority groups are oftentimes systematically discriminated against at traditional banks.
Chime offers a collateral-based credit card, with no requirement for minimum deposit and credit history. It is also free of annual interest rate charges and fees which makes Chime an attractive banking option for the underprivileged as well.
11. Checkout.com
Funding: $1.8 billion
Valuation: $40 billion
Key technologies: Cloud computing, machine learning
Checkout.com is a London-based fintech company disrupting the payment-solutions market and is one of the key competitors of Stripe.
10. Pony.ai
Funding: $1.1 billion
Valuation: $8.5 billion
Key technologies: Autonomous systems, cloud computing, deep reinforcement learning
Pony.ai is one of the most disruptive companies in 2022. It is a robo-taxi startup based in Fremont, California. The company already operates a fleet of 100 autonomous taxis in the Nansha district of China and had gotten approval in 2021 to start trials of its robo-taxis in Southeast Beijing as well.
9. Dapper Labs
Funding: $650 million
Valuation: $7.6 billion
Key technologies: Blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi)
Dapper Labs is a blockchain-based fintech and gaming company located in Vancouver, Canada. The company’s business revolves around NFTs.
8. Stripe
Funding: $2.2 billion
Valuation: $95 billion
Key technologies: Internet of Things
Stripe is one of the most popular payment gateway systems in the world. It became the most valuable private company in the world in 2021 at $95 billion. However, it has lowered its own value by 28% in the current macroeconomic backdrop where the tech sector is being roughed up.
Many tech companies like Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) have lost considerable share value since the start of rate hikes.
7. Blockchain.com
Valuation: $14 billion
Key technologies: Blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi)
Industry: Fintech
Blockchain.com is a major player in the crypto industry. The company offers digital wallets to store cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
6. Convoy
Funding: $837 million
Valuation: $3.8 billion
Key technologies: Cloud computing, deep learning, Internet of Things
Convoy is a logistics startup founded by former Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) executives. The company aims to maximize efficiency in the truck transportation industry by connecting people all across the sector.
Click to continue reading and see 5 Most Disruptive Companies in 2022.
Suggested articles:
- 10 Best Cannabis Stocks to Buy Now
- 10 Best December Dividend Stocks to Buy
- 15 Biggest European Tech Companies
Disclosure: none. 22 Most Disruptive Companies in 2022 is originally published on Insider Monkey.
