Each year, the GeekWire Awards recognize the top innovators and companies in the Pacific Northwest technology scene. One of the categories is the Next Tech Titan, which aims to predict the next big tech company to emerge from the region. This year’s finalists include MotherDuck, a serverless data analytics platform; Rec Room, a virtual reality community and gaming platform; Statsig, a feature management and experimentation platform; Submittable, a social impact platform; and Zuper, a field operations software provider. These companies have shown significant growth and potential, with impressive funding rounds and revenue increases.
MotherDuck, for example, announced a $52.5 million funding round in 2023, bringing its total funding to $100 million. This platform uses open-source technology to make data analytics more accessible and cost-effective for businesses. Rec Room, founded in 2016, boasts more than 82 million lifetime users and received a $145 million funding round in 2021. Statsig, founded by a former Facebook executive, raised $43 million in 2022 and increased its revenue three-fold, showing promising growth potential. Submittable, a social impact platform, raised $47 million and has a seasoned tech veteran as its CEO. Zuper, a field operations software provider, raised $32 million in a recent funding round led by FUSE.
The past winners of the Next Tech Titan award have seen significant success in the tech industry. Tableau Software, the 2012 winner, was acquired by Salesforce for $15.7 billion in 2019. Avalara, the 2014 winner, was taken private in 2022 for $8.4 billion. Smartsheet, the 2016 winner, is now a publicly traded company valued at more than $5 billion. Rover, the 2019 winner, was taken private for $2.3 billion. While not all past winners reached the same level of success, many experienced significant growth following the award.
The Next Tech Titan award is determined through a combination of community voting and input from judges. Community voting will continue until April 12, with the winners being announced live at the GeekWire Awards event on May 9 at Showbox SoDo in Seattle. Table sponsorships are available for those interested in attending the event, with early bird pricing ending on March 31. The event is presented by Astound Business Solutions, a sponsor of the 2024 GeekWire Awards. The award aims to highlight the potential and success of emerging tech companies in the Pacific Northwest.
Overall, the Next Tech Titan award recognizes promising tech companies in the region and aims to predict which of them will become the next big success story. With finalists like MotherDuck, Rec Room, Statsig, Submittable, and Zuper showing impressive growth and potential, the competition is fierce. The past winners of the award have gone on to achieve significant success in the tech industry, showcasing the predictive capabilities of the award. Community voting will determine this year’s winner, who will be announced at the GeekWire Awards event in May.
