As the year steadily draws to a close, many companies and institutions start to reflect on what and who has impacted the world significantly in 2013. And as we know, Forbes is the leader in compiling lists about influential and important people, products or companies.
Along with listing the richest people in the world, or the most successful popstars, Forbes has also released a list that caught our attention; The Hottest Global Startups of 2013.
According to Forbes, they received more than 300 entries. Some were nominated by the founders themselves, others by investors and even diligent Forbes writers whom have kept an eye on the startup market of 2013. In other words, the had to spend a lot of time sifting through to nail it down to the Top 7 startups.
Nevertheless, they did. And here they are, in order, the 7 Hottest Startups of 2013:
1.EyeEm
EyeEm may be seen as an Instagram equivalent, but it is actually far from it. Think of it as Instagram but with an option to filter only the best pictures of things you really want to see. No nonsense of having to scroll through your cousin‘s 16th birthday pics.
EyeEm allows users to “˜curate‘ their photos with categories. This makes it possible to choose topics you would like to see more of.
Founded in Berlin back in 2011, EyeEm had 1 million users in January. Add another 900% (!) to that number and now, by the end of the year, EyeEm has 10 million users.
The way in which EyeEm works also means that it is developing its own searchable database of photos, which will (soon) be made available for brands and companies who would like to purchase, or work on commission, for high-quality photographs – thus, ensuring amateur (or professional) photographers using EyeEm, will get a shot at making some money off their striking snaps.
2.Instabeat
Instabeat has nothing to do with Instagram or music – but in fact, something way cooler. Instabeat is a wearable pedometer for swimmers.
Wearable tech has also skyrocketed in 2013, and Instabeat is taking the idea to new depths (excuse the pun). The device simply straps onto a swimmer‘s goggles and, while a swimming session is taking place, tracks the heart rate, calories burned and the number of laps of the person. The data can then be accessed on a computer via USB for in-depth analytics.
Instabeat raised $50 000 on it‘s Indiegogo campaign this year, and the first wave of devices will be shipped in early 2014.
3.Tambero
Tambero.com can literally be seen as farming for the future – in more ways than one. Tambero is an app that is available for download on mobile, tablets and even desktops. The app is designed to help farmers manage their breeding cattle and also their milk and seedling production.
What makes it so amazing, though, is that it builds a database of your animals which, in turn, makes it possible to project births, set alarms and monitor your herd. It also provides other, valuable analytics to the farmer.
Tambero already has a massive following based purely on word of mouth. They plan to roll out a freemium model soon. Tambero would work well in the Karoo – if the signal reception doesn‘t let the farmers down.
4.Thalmic Labs
Thalmic Labs is a Canadian company that has created another wearable tech device that is set to take the world by storm. And by storm we are also (slightly) referring to the X-Men character, because this new tech sounds like it belongs in a sci-fi film.
The Myo Armband is a gesture control armband which measures electrical pulses in your muscles to allow you to wirelessly control your computer, phone and other devices, by simply moving your hand and forearm.
The wearable tech device (it‘s officially a trend now), got $14,5 million in funding and 25 000 units have been pre-ordered, although they are not officially on the market yet. While the company has not officially sold anything yet, it has a projected revenue of $4,5 million. Here‘s to the future.
5.Trustev
With their tagline reading “˜Increase Revenue, Eliminate Fraud‘, Trustev wants to help ecommerce retailers be safe and secure.
Trustev uses software to verify the identity of online shoppers through their various social media accounts. This then generates a digital fingerprint to prove that you, as an online shopper, are who you say you are.
Trustev helps to significantly reduce the risk of credit card and identity theft, thus making the wonderful experience of shopping online pleasant for both shopper and retailer. The startup has raised $3 million since it‘s inception in 2013, and we‘re betting that that number will double very soon.
6.RidingO
First we saw a boom in taxi apps (a la Uber and friends), but now it seems car sharing and carpooling is on the up – more so in the US.
RidingO is a carpooling service that is available on smartphones, computers and even feature phones. The service offers car-sharers a petrol recharge and also offers the riders prices which are comparable to those of busses.
The service is much cheaper than taxi‘s and caters for anyone – women-only carpools are available for example.
RidingO doesn’t deal with cash either. Once you are registered with them as either a passenger or car owner, you can buy miles online before getting in a car.
Launched privately in May of this year, RidingO currently has 2500+ users and plans to launch in full in 2014.
7.YPlan
YPlan is a ticketing app that has joined the current trend of mobile commerce and social recommendation apps. It simplifies the way of buying tickets and browsing events, so, naturally it will be successful – especially among the young‘uns.
The app allows users to browse through upcoming events, select one, and buy tickets straight through the app. Simple.
YPlan has raised $13.7 million in funding thus far. It also seems to be a very cool app to have, with most of it‘s users hailing from London and New York. There are more than 500 000 regular users of YPlan between these two cities, and the company plans to expand extensively.
2013 has truly been an exciting year for startups. With the competition getting stiffer, the bar raises everyday for-up-and-coming companies. We‘re ready for our minds to be blown in 2014.
Source: Forbes
