The 20 Most Competitive Startups of 2017
In the past few years, the AngelList Talent platform has become the go-to place for people in tech to find their next move, and for more than 24k startups to find top candidates. You can apply to 71k startup jobs with one application and see salary and equity information upfront. No middlemen.
That approach, a transparent jobs platform, has led to over 1 million mutual introductions last year alone between companies and candidates.
Now, some companies attract more interest then others. This could be a reflection of the company itself (is it a great place to work? 🙂), recent announcements (new product launch 🚀, funding round 💰), or simply a function of the number of job listings the company has. With that in mind, we wanted to answer the question: which companies are the most competitive to work at that are currently hiring on AngelList? 🤔
To find out, we looked at the data, and compared the number of applicants companies see, to how active they are in responding to candidates. Some of the startups that scored the highest are more well-known then others, but if hiring volume and candidate interest is any indication, these companies have big plans in the months ahead.
The Results: The 20 most competitive companies to work for on AngelList.
1. Flexport: The freight forwarder for the internet age
Flexport is revolutionizing the global logistics industry by using software to manage all of the nuances and complexities of international trade. The company recently raised a massive $110M Series C from top investors, and is currently moving hundreds of tons of air freight and thousands of containers of ocean freight each month. Flexport has 50+ open positions across all departments, with dozens of roles in marketing and operations available.
2. Opendoor: A better way to buy and sell homes
Opendoor is on a mission to make it easier to buy and sell homes. The company has raised more than $300 million from top investors like Khosla Ventures, NEA, and others to fix the process of home buying and selling. Opendoor recently announced that more than $100 million of homes are bought and sold each month on the platform, and is hiring in multiple engineering roles and operations.
3. Coinbase: The world’s leading exchange for digital currencies
Coinbase is the leading platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum. The company raised a $100M Series D in August of 2017 and has been on fire since (reportedly adding 100,000 new users in a single day). If you are interested in helping build the future of currency and payments and are passionate about cryptocurrencies, join their team in SF — the company is hiring in design, engineering, sales, and operations.
4. Forkable: The best way to get lunch at the office
Forkable finds the tastiest single-serving meals from the best restaurants nearby. Each team member shares what foods they like, as well as their restrictions. The intelligent learning platform will automatically select individual lunches for everyone based on their individual preferences. Forkable is currently hiring for engineering, marketing, and operations.
5. Castle Global: Rethinking products with machine learning
Castle Global is building machine learning enabled technology products in a number of verticals across both consumer and enterprise spaces. Their enterprise visual intelligence platform Hive offers the complete deep learning toolkit, ranging from a data labeling platform that helps university researchers with their research to fully integrated solutions for enterprise clients. The company has dozens of engineers roles available, and is also hiring in design, marketing operations, and sales.
6. Heap: Analytics infrastructure for the Internet
Heap builds analytics infrastructure that powers decisions for over 6,000 online businesses. While other analytics tools require you to define events upfront and manually instrument code, Heap automatically captures everything: clicks, submissions, and taps — which lets users analyze data instantly and retroactively without writing code. In May 2017 the company raised a 27M Series B and is hiring in design, engineering, operations, and marketing in San Francisco.
7. Textio: The augmented writing platform for job listings
Textio invented augmented writing, which is writing supported by outcomes data in real time. The first application of Textio’s technology was in talent acquisition, where customers could submit draft job postings and get feedback on how well those postings would perform. The company raised a $20M Series B in June 2017 and is looking to expand beyond recruiting and job postings. Textio is based in Seattle and is hiring in sales, data, customer success, and in multiple engineering positions.
8. eero: Finally, WiFi that works
eero is the WiFi service Apple should’ve built. The hardware and software system blankets your entire home in fast and reliable WiFi. No dead spots, slow spots, drop-offs, or buffering. In 2016 the company raised an additional $50M, bringing their total funding to date to $90M. If you believe that WiFi is the new electricity join this world-class team — they are hiring in multiple positions.
9. Hammerhead: A new-generation cycling computer
Hammerhead is building a software layer for the bike. Designed by cyclists and build on Android, the latest version bring the best maps, social features, and training tools to the bike. Cyclists can use it to explore new routes, create and track training plans, and it also calculates power, cadence, heart rate average, and more. The company is hiring in engineering and customer support roles.
10. BuildZoom: Using AI to build the homes and cities of tomorrow
BuildZoom is revolutionizing the $1 trillion construction industry. If you’ve ever tried to undertake a home construction project, you know what an expensive and time-consuming process it can be. With BuildZoom you can get it done under budget and ahead of schedule by working with a project consultant who will go through a database of 2.5 million licensed contractors to find the best ones for your project. The company raised a $10.6M Series A in October of 2016 and is a graduate of Y Combinator. BuildZoom is currently hiring salespeople and has multiple engineering roles available.
11. BetterUp: Personalized leadership development for everyone
BetterUP provides personalized leadership development for employees at all levels — the first mobile platform designed to improve work performance. Through coaching, a library of content, and actionable insights, you’ll be able to track your progress and connect it to tangible business results. The company raised a $12.9M Series A in November of 2016 from DFJ, Social Capital, SV Angel, and others, and is hiring in all departments, with multiple operations roles available.
12. Sonder: Local living with hotel service
Soder is building the future of hospitality. If you want the authentic local feel of an Airbnb with the comfort of hotel hospitality, Sonder is the answer. Explore one-of-a-kind neighborhoods, with professional cleaning where you stay, and a 24/7 concierge service. The company raised a $10M Series A in November of 2016 and is hiring in dozens of operations roles and multiple engineering positions available.
13. Coffee Meets Bagel: Build meaningful relationships
Coffee Meets Bagel is one of the more unique dating apps out there. Guys will receive up to 21 quality matches—“bagels”—and have the option to either “like” or “pass” — then the app curates the best potential matches for women among the men who expressed interest in them. The company raised a $7.8M Series A in 2015 and has multiple engineering, marketing, and design roles available.
14. Lark: Transforming healthcare through artificial intelligence
Lark is the first medically-reimbursed A.I. for preventing diabetes. Managing the cost curve down, & quality of life up, for those who suffer from chronic diseases. The company is on a mission to improve people’s health and happiness through artificial intelligence. The app uses data from your phone and wearables to create a personalized health “chat bot” buddy to help them get better sleep, eat healthier, and stay active. Lark has multiple openings in engineering, as well as in marketing, operations, and sales.
15. Zumper: Find your next apartment with ease
Zumper makes makes finding your next apartment as easy as booking a hotel. There are more than a million available apartments and homes on the platform each month, all of which pass Zumper’s authenticity verification process. You can schedule apartment tours and apply for places you love instantly. The company raised a $17.6M Series B in October of 2016 and is hiring engineers and designers in San Francisco, with other roles available.
16. ThousandEyes: Network intelligence monitoring platform
ThousandEyes is a network intelligence monitoring toolkit for enterprises. As organizations rely more on cloud services the network has become a black box they can’t understand, ThousandEyes gives them visibility into the network, arming them with an accurate understanding of how decisions impacts their applications. The company raised a $35M Series C in February of 2016 led by GV, with Sequoia being a major investor from previous rounds. ThousandEyes is hiring in dozens of engineering roles in San Francisco.
17. Compass: Discover home trends in your market
Compass is a New York based startup that helps homebuyers, sellers, and renters navigate the real estate market in a unique way. Homes—which are curated by design, amenities, and neighborhood—are hand-selected by local experts, for example. The company raised a massive $100M Series E at a $1.8B valuation in November 2017 and is hiring for multiple roles in all departments.
18. Leap Motion: Reach into virtual reality with your bare hands
Leap Motion is transforming how we interact with technology using the original interface: the human hand. As you can see in the video, Elon Musk is a fan. You can also check out the short video of Orion — Leap Motion’s new hand tracking software that’s built from the ground up for virtual reality. The company has multiple engineering roles available in San Francisco, as well as sales and operations.
19. Envoy: The new standard for visitor registration
Envoy is a visitor registration product that is changing how visitors are greeted in the workplace. Say goodbye to old paper sign-in books, and say hello to the iPad-based guest sign-in experience from Envoy. To date, Envoy has served 4 million visitors in 55 countries, and is quickly expanding to include more types of services. The company raised a $15M Series A from Andreessen Horowitz in 2015 and has multiple roles available in design, operations, engineering, and sales.
20. Joy: Everything about your wedding in one place
Joy helps you with your wedding from engagement to honeymoon, and everything in-between. Get a beautiful wedding website, app, and more, all for free. The company believes software can help organize and bring people together in the real world and raised a $4.5M Seed round in November 2016 on that premise. Joy is a graduate of Y Combinator and is hiring in multiple engineering roles and a designer in San Francisco.
