With just a few weeks left in 2015, it's time to start looking forward to next year's big story lines and more specifically, the companies who can bring them.
2015 was headlined by countless D.C. tech funding announcements, major hires and big acquisition moves—for instance, Disruption Corp was acquired by 1776, Tenable Network Security scored a $250 million Series B and former LivingSocial CEO Timothy O’Shaughnessy became the CEO of Graham Holdings, which previously owned The Washington Post.
Looking back, 2015 was also big for a number of relatively unknown startups—for companies like Distil Networks and Quorum Analytics—which have since become household names around the larger local tech community because of either their team, products or funding.
For reference, more than $700 million has been doled out to local, D.C.-area technology companies by venture capitalist as well, according to quarterly PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)/NVCA MoneyTree reports. And that action doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon, especially as a new crop of exciting companies and founders continue to build innovative brands.
We've assembled a list of 16 startups to watch for in 2016. These companies aren't necessarily the most promising but rather, they're definitely capable of making big news that reverberates nationally.
Keep an eye on these 16 startups throughout 2016:
Quorum Analytics
- Quorum started the year as an unknown D.C.-based startup that had just moved operations from Boston to the District. Led by an eloquent group of recent Harvard graduates, the startup's co-founders Alex Wirth and Jonathan Marks have masterfully pushed a public outreach strategy by gaining attention from a long list of news publication. Heading into 2016, the company will look to upend D.C. rival, FiscalNote, to become the city's flagship legislative data analytics and aggregation software platform.
MomentSnap
- Founded by a group of former New Brand Analytics (acquired by Sprinklr) executives, this startup works in the retail employee training space by providing smartphone software. By producing a program that incentives reaching certain performance marks, MomentSnap hopes to help companies like Olive Garden and Walmart reduce the cost of employee training. Because the new company follows a big acquisition, it will be interesting to see how the team handles product development efforts and its first funding round. A local investor with knowledge of the deal previously told DC Inno that MomentSnap would announce a seed stage raise in late December.
DroneShield
- Herndon, Va.-based drone detection technology developer DroneShield raised a $950,000 convertible debt round led by a New York City-based institutional investor in October. That raise followed the announcement of a critical contract with Boston Police to install drone detection systems along streets used by thousands of runners during the 2015 Boston Marathon. With an eye on pending drone regulation that could greatly increase both commercial and industrial drone usage, DroneShield has set itself up to bank on the larger drone "economy" as it grows. DroneShield's non-invasive technology works by sensing the unique sound signatures that drones produce during flight. Because it is designed to not be dependent on traditional radio frequency detection, the system can alert users of devices that would otherwise not appear on radar due to their size.
SocialRadar
- There's no way around it: SocialRadar had a rough 2015. Multiple employees left, chief executives departed and a big pivot had to happen. That struggle actually capped off what had been a tough two-year spell since the company was founded in 2013. But it's not all bad news. In fact, things are starting to look up for SocialRadar and its veteran tech executive Michael Chasen. SocialRadar made a really smart pivot, away from a commercial social network dependent on geographical connections, towards becoming a mapping tech SDK provider. In this a capacity, the customer group is different and the sales model has greatly changed. Mapping tech—evident by the sale of Nokia Maps and Tom Tom's big deal with Uber—is an extremely valuable market segment. Only time will tell if SocialRadar can make the switch and succeed in this new venture.
CircleBack
- In the same vein as SocialRadar, CircleBack recently announced a major decision. The company, which struggled to adapt a B2B product and sales model, cut 50 percent of its workforce just 4 months after raising more than $10 million from a cohort of prominent venture capital firms. Now, the company must return to its roots as a commercial-centric software company that targets users who look to organize their business contacts in a smart and efficient way. The story here is whether CEO Manoj Ramnani can turn the ship around and restore faith in his board and the investors. More to come soon.
Split
- You may have seen a Split car roaming around D.C. recently with that trademark "S" sticker on the passenger door, and the truth is that you're far from the only one noticing them. The ridesharing, carpool-centric, UBerPool competitor has been quickly adding drivers and customers to its business all year long. This 1776 startup is a company to watch given the high market potential of the D.C. area's substantial commuter population. Split rides can cost between $2 and $8 depending on distance of transportation. There's no surge charging. While Split originally only serviced specific parts of D.C., the ride hailing company now covers the entire city.
Endgame
- Endgame is a company that is on the opposite end of CircleBack and SocialRadar. This cybersecurity firm, based in Arlington, Va., specializes in technology that can quickly detect, mitigate and stop hackers from infecting critical systems by monitoring endpoints. The majority of their business remains aimed at Washington's complex federal clientele who face a bevy of attacks, but that demographic is also quickly expanding and providing more business. A source with close knowledge of the company's business directive previously told DC Inno that EndGame's board of directors has its eyes set on an acquisition rather than an IPO in the coming years. It's unclear whether 2016 will be that year. Also of note, in November, former chief strategy officer Niloofar Razi Howe was poached by RSA to become their SVP and CSO.
Social Tables
- It has been another strong year for Social Tables, the popular hospitality and event planning software company based in Washington, D.C. But what could 2016 hold? Continued hiring across the board will continue, VP of people operations Samantha Cicotello told DC Inno, and the development of several new products will highlight engineering efforts. On the financial side, the company last raised an investment round in August 2014 to the tune of $8 million. With a strong year behind them and an optimistic future, it's possible that Social Tables will become the next local startup to score a massive funding round in excess of $20 million. Keep an eye on Social Tables, as any executives moves and/or board changes may indicate a leaning towards one investor.
WeddingWire
- Yet another business success story, e-commerce wedding service platform WeddingWire completed multiple acquisitions during 2015 and saw its business grow by adding new partner channels, customers and hiring numerous employees. The hiring of CFO Mike Beach in May led many to believe that the Chevy Chase, Md.-based tech company was considering an IPO move. If so, the hire makes sense. Beach was the CFO of BlackBoard leading up to its leading up to its initial public offering in 2004. Today, WeddinWire has customers in more than 12 countries. In an interview with WBJ, CEO Tim Chi said "going public is not something we focus very much on internally." Could 2016 be the year WeddingWire becomes a publicly traded company? I suspect few people know at this point, but Chi and Beach will undoubtedly be at the center of this decision moving forwards.
Aquicore
- D.C.-based energy usage data analytics startup Aquicore was among the first companies to be invested in by 1776's new $12.5 million venture seed fund. The $3.1 million raise for Aquicore also came at a time when the company was aggressively hiring to further scale their sales and engineering departments. Then in August, Aquicore hired former SocialRadar VP of communications Shana Glenzer to become the next CMO. In an interview with DC Inno, CEO Logan Soya said his company was "past the first adopters" stage and that there was "still a lot of room to grow." Both 1776 and Aquicore will hope that 2016 will be a year of growth, as that performance could help legitimize 1776's still-young venture capital operations and the strength of the company.
Cove
- Cove is a co-working space competitor to WeWork and MakeOffices (previously named UberOffices). In late October, Cove opened its ninth national location in less than two years to follow an expansion to Boston just months prior. Cove now has 7 locations in the D.C. area and looks to add more in the coming year. CEO/co-founder Adam Segal previously told DC Inno that the company will be opening several locations throughout the DMV area in the next six months. With a slightly different model to WeWork, Cove offers a casual, base-rate membership specific fee that can get customers into any local location. These Cove spaces/locations typically appear more like a coffee shop than a traditional office scenario.
MapBox
- In June, D.C.-based maps API provider MapBox raised a $52.6 million Series B led by return investors San Francisco-based DFJ Growth. The round was seen as a massive and moreover, unique investment. But it's now the time for the company to live up to that figure. This story and company will offer an important window into how the mapping tech space is evolving and whether it can deliver the sales numbers that support such a large Series B. The fresh funding followed shortly after a landmark deal with MapQuest, and will be used for hiring, development and sales efforts.
Smart.ly
- As was first reported by DC Inno, Smart.ly is the smartphone education application company of former Rosetta Stone CEO Tom Adams. Smart.ly is a mobile-first business education startup that hopes to disrupt the entire edtech industry one “bite-sized” lesson at a time. Former Rosetta Stone director of R&D Alexie Harper and director of software development Ori Ratner are among those that joined Adams from Rosetta Stone. Though Smart.ly is currently bootstrapped, funded by Adams and a few unnamed outside investors, I fully expect this company to raise a significant seed round early next year. In conversation with multiple local venture capital investors, DC Inno has learned that Smart.ly is attracting wide interest.
TrackMaven
- TrackMaven is very much one of D.C.'s startup success stories. Mature enough to be no longer considered a small tech company but still led with a startup mentality, 2016 may be the year that this marketing data analytics startup graduates from middle-stage and becomes a nationally recognized brand. CEO and co-founder Allen Gannett, who is just 24-years-old, has everything it takes to make TrackMaven a D.C. tech pillar. While LivingSocial has clearly succeeded the title, TrackMaven could be the next company to employ hundreds of developers inside the District. TrackMaven has raised about $20 million to date, but did not receive investment during 2015. It's likely that the next round of investment, following a $14 million Series B in December 2014, will be substantial.
VisiSonics
- Much has been made of the rise of virtual reality technology and its consumer market potential. If 2016 is the year where virtual reality headsets become a widely used gadget then Visisonics will equally become a big player, locally. This startup, originally founded at the University of Maryland between a group of professors and outside veteran software developers, has created a product called 3D audio. Their biggest win of the year came when Visisonics was chosen by Oculus (owned by Facebook) to be the official 3D audio developer tool of platform game developers. In essence, Visisonics sells both hardware and software, but where they can rake in licensing deals and revenue is on the software side. Game developers who want to enter the virtual reality market with Oculus will use Visisonics' software to construct 3D audio environments. The result is a virtual game world that appear more realistic because sound is experienced from every direction depending on movement, speed and other factors.
Social Tables photo courtesy of the company.
