2013 has been an overall good year for businesses and the economy. Today, we would like to take a look at the 7 startups that made the most waves in the year that has just passed. All of the following startups have had a positive track record in 2013 and we’re more than eager to see how they handle themselves in 2014. Curious to see which startups we are talking about? Let’s take a look at the countdown.
No. 7: Coin
Coin is a startup that wants to put an end to stuffed wallets, by giving consumers a simple way to combine all of their credit cards in just one device. The device is not set to be released until the summer, but the startup managed to score $50,000 worth of pre-orders in just 40 minutes. In addition, Coin has also attracted investors such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), Square, and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).
No. 6: Optimizely
More and more businesses nowadays are realizing the importance of having an optimized website to showcase their venture. This is precisely what Optimizely founders wanted to take advantage of when they set up their startup, which helps companies test various versions of their web pages. Over 5,000 businesses currently use this service, including big names such as eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), or The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS). Optimizely managed to score $28 million in its initial funding series, but we are expecting to see an even bigger growth in 2014.
No. 5: QuizUp
Maybe somewhat surprisingly, QuizUp has had a really good year. The trivia based app, which lets members compete against each other, reached 3 million users just 3 weeks after its release. In addition, the startup also raised $2 million in funding.
No. 4: Zendesk
Zendesk, the customer support startup took the world of business by storm. After its initial round of funding, when it raised over $60 million, Zendesk expanded its services to 140 countries and over 200 million customers.
No. 3: Dropbox
If you don’t know by now, Dropbox is the cloud platform that allows users to store and share date all around the globe. Given the limitations imposed by most e-mail providers, Dropbox has become the number one solution for people who want to share files over the internet, without having to worry about size restrictions. In the year that has just passed, Dropbox reached the 200 million users milestone and also released a business version of its platform.
No. 2: Snapchat
Snapchat has been the talk of the town pretty much all throughout 2013. Despite turning down 2 buyouts, Snapchat founders managed to raise money from 5 investment groups. According to Forbes Magazine, over $60 million where raised during summer alone. With over 100 million members and over 300 million snaps send every day, it is safe to assume that Snapchat is the next big thing in social media.
No. 1: Uber
Uber is the ultimate car-pooling startup. The service connects people in need of a ride with people willing to drive them. Uber, which now services over 40 cities around the world, raised over $360 million in funding in August and it is valued at a whopping $3.4 billion.
