On Sep 22, 2021, Linked published its 5th annual LinkedIn Top Startups list. LinkedIn analyzed startups between July 1 2020 and June 30, 2021, using their internally methodology, some tenants of which are:

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  1. Independently or privately owned, but no more than 7 years old

  2. Must have their head quarter in the US

  3. Must have at least 50 employees 

  4. Employment Growth (15% or more over the time horizon)

  5. Other


Based on the aforementioned criteria, the Top-5 startups, as ranked by Linked are:


5) Brex - Offers an all-in-one finance platform for businesses

Capital Raised: $940 Million in venture capital

Employees: 750+ employees with hubs across major US cities

Valuation: $7.4B as of 2021 (Source: Tracxn)


4) Discord - An online voice, video, and text communication platform designed for creating communities

Capital Raised: $500M in Series H round.

Employees: 550+ employees

Valuation: $15B as of 2021 (Source: Tracxn)


3) Glossier -  Direct to consumer beauty company

Capital Raised: $80M, Series E, Jul 06, 2021

Employees: 250+ employees

Valuation: $1.8B as of 2021 (Source: Tracxn)


2) Gong - Revenue intelligence platform that delivers insights at scale

        Capital Raised: $250M, Series E, Jun 03, 2021

Employees: 600+ employees

Valuation: $7.2B as of 2021 (Source: Tracxn)


1) Better.com - Platform for residential mortgages

        Capital Raised: $500M, Series E, April 01, 2021

Employees: 9000+ employees

Valuation: $1-10B as of 2021 (Source: Crunchbase + PrivCo)


Interesting insight from LinkedIn across Top-50 startups is that the majority of the positions they are hiring for are virtual. These companies are not wasting time debating whether virtual or in office is the right option, rather they are attracting the talent to help them scale.