PrivCo 50 - Top Enterprise Software Companies of 2021 🏅

Yesterday, we released our latest report: Top 50 Enterprise Software Companies of 2021. After a year in which 5 years’ worth of workplace technological adoptions were made in an eight-week time span and over $426BN was spent globally on enterprise software, certain trends, companies, and investments stand out. As the world tentatively returns to normal, under threat from the Delta variant, cyber-security attacks, and career changes happening remotely, the technologically dependent model people have grown accustomed to will continue to bring more spending in enterprise software. 

Here are the trends & companies that stand out:

Data Management

It took the pandemic for us to realize file cabinets and piles of papers were inessential. Now there’s all manner of technology to Marie Kondo our data, from relieving remote IT teams (Cohesity) and creating predictive models with organizational skills better than I’ll ever have (DataRobot) to creating new computing frameworks altogether (Databricks).

Infrastructure

Nothing reveals the precariousness of systems like a global health crisis slamming the world to a standstill. Who better to survive and thrive in dark times than the aptly named Cockroach Labs, developer of an open-source software of scalable cloud systems that can survive a disaster. HashiCorp boasts an impressive $5BN valuation for its open-source tools and commercial products. 

Cyber Security

Colonial Pipeline. Solarwinds. JBS Foods. All of these companies provide evidence that this increasingly technologically native world needs strong digital doormen. The top-performer in this category goes to Tanium out of Kirkland, Washington for its organization-level security and system management. The company's latest valuation came in at $9BN in October with $150MM of funding, the same valuation it had received in June of 2020 after a $117.2MM round.

Development

Low to no-code app development is revolutionizing the industry by offering speed and ease for ideas to develop. Many predict that these platforms will boast 65% of all app releases within the next five years. Watch out for Outsystems, LaunchDarkly, and Tealium.

E-commerce

• It should come as no surprise that e-commerce is on fire. What used to be the pitstop at a local retailer or big box haul has become the subscription service or one-click checkout. Squire has made a business out of booking & payments for those post-pandemic haircuts, and Bond is the software logistics platform offering delivery and distribution center services.