There’s never been a more meaningful, dynamic moment to jump into the SaaS industry thanks in part to the global pandemic. With 71% of Americans working from home since the outbreak of the virus, the need to make work documents and work-related software available anywhere, any time has come into sharp focus. Enter the software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model: a cloud-based platform for running cutting-edge software and storing data.
With the industry booming, scores of startups are clamoring to find their footing in a prosperous market. Ranging in business from artificial intelligence and voice cloning to hosting business meetings and storing work documents, the world of SaaS is wide and diverse. Here are the top 14 startups to keep your eye on this year:
#1 Persefoni
Designed to help businesses measure and reduce their carbon footprint, this real-time SaaS platform turns emissions records into actionable data. By monitoring an organizations’ consumption and emissions through carbon counting, carbon planning and forecasting, and monitoring investor sustainability disclosures, Persefoni can point organizations toward tangible ways of lowering their carbon footprint from a Scope 1 to a Scope 3 with total compliance to GHG Protocol.
With AI features built into the platform, Persefoni connects its users to carbon performance data in real-time, on demand. This solution is an excellent option for organizations whose stakeholders are interested in their carbon output.
#2 Frankie Health
This mental health resource implements personalized mental healthcare for employees using predictive models to proactively implement tactics in order to keep mental health on track. This SaaS platform connects employees to therapists and can even recommend exercises for building mental resilience.
Designed to combat familiar workplace conditions like stress, anxiety, and burnout, Frankie utilizes end-to-end encryption for its users’ security and confidentiality and even integrates well with other tools like Slack and Google.
#3 StudyFree
Designed to connect students with study abroad opportunities in 34 countries, this platform offers perks such as providing recommendations to enhance your profile, assisting with preparing necessary documentation, and providing mentors who can help their students transition abroad. Broken into 116 factors measuring admissions success including test scores, research history, and professional experience, StudyFree evaluates user profiles then customizes a tailored monthly action plan to bolster students’ strengths and set its users in good standing to apply wherever they wish.
This tool also helps students to save significantly on tuition fees as well as offering flexible financing solutions for those who do not intend to pay out-of-pocket.
#4 Orders.co
This Los Angeles-based platform streamlines food delivery for restaurant owners by connecting different delivery applications to one dashboard as well as offering restauranteurs a place to adjust their customer-facing menus. This service manages incoming orders and also enables the user to create their own ordering website for maximum efficiency and clarity.
By optimizing order-taking in this way, restaurants can reduce their instances of costly errors and focus instead on making a delicious, quality product. In an industry where the margins are extremely tight, increasing profits and decreasing unnecessary expenses is key to a business’ success; this sets Orders.co apart from the host of other food delivery applications and puts them at the forefront of the new dining experience.
#5 Shopify
With over 1 million merchants selling their wares on Shopify, this platform is one of the frontrunning eCommerce platforms available today. Shopify enables small- and medium-sized business owners to set up virtual shop and manage their inventory. With no design skills necessary, a business’ website through Shopify is completely customizable with pricing as low as $29 per month.
The expected total revenue for Shopify in 2021 is $1 billion, so keep an eye on this major player in the SaaS industry!
#6 Prodly
Hailing from Palo Alto, California, this end-to-end low-code development platform offers automated development with minimal coding knowledge needed so non-developers can configure the application and alleviate pain points in the process. With IT governance to mitigate bugs, this product is designed to eliminate wasted time and increase productivity within a company’s allotted time for a project.
By making applications more agile as well as simplifying coding needs, businesses are able to create and release applications simply and quickly. It’s no wonder Prodly’s already raised $7 million in seed money thus far!
#7 RightBound
This all-in-one sales optimization solution automates customer research, multi-channel outreach of prospective clients, and segmentation for a seamless sales experience. Designed to simplify the work of sales staff, agents are provided with real-time notifications about user engagement, personal follow-up regulations, and previous customer information. With attention to channel, content, frequency, and timing, this service intelligently adjusts multi-channel outreach in the means most likely to find your customers.
Through the help of AI technologies and scores of databases, RightBound optimizes customer outreach to the tune of 300% ROI in 2 months. With over $3 million raised in seed money, this sales optimization tool is one to keep your eye on!
#8 FeatureSpace
Honored with both an Industry Achievement Award and a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in international trade, FeatureSpace is a SaaS solution offering state of the art adaptive behavioral analytics. By spotting and tracking anomalies in behavioral data, FeatureSpace can offer system security for organizations and help them to prevent and detect fraud. With solutions ranging from credit card fraud prevention to gaming fraud prevention to anti-money laundering, FeatureSpace is a leader in predicting, preventing, and managing financial crime and enterprise fraud.
With over $20 million in backing funds, FeatureSpace has stepped into the global market and has attracted the attention of organizations like Business Weekly, IBS Intelligence, and more. This company is undoubtedly a SaaS business to follow.
#9 Qobra
Based in Paris, this young startup helps agents to automate sales commission calculations by establishing counting rules, controlling workflows, and managing disputes. With Qobra, it’s also possible to forecast future revenue based on a compensation plan as well as motivate agents through personal awards dashboards. This optimization tool focuses on strategic sales and operations with an emphasis on reducing sales force churn and positively driving profitable behavior.
Qobra’s analytics and reporting, commissions forecasting, and clear compensation plans allow employees to build intra-agency trust as well as empower them to handle their finances with prowess and good faith. This software solution has received a pre-seed investment of €100,000.
#10 Skipr
This all-in-one solution offers business expense and travel management so employees can experience effortless mobility when traveling for work. Starting with the budget definition and working all the way through to financial reports, the Skipr portfolio includes a mobile app, a payment card, and a web dashboard. With its centralized employee policies and HR tool connections, it’s easy for businesses to equip their traveling workers with the implements they need to succeed.
This software aims to save businesses time, hassle, and money by keeping track of funds for employees and planning, booking, and paying for accommodations and transportation. With ride-hailing via Uber to utilizing local public transportation, businesses can rest assured their employees’ travel worries are all but over.
#11 Setapp
Frequently pronounced the Netflix of apps, this subscription service for Mac applications bundles together over 140 different apps, most of which are related to productivity. Some star players it offers include MindNode for brainstorming, AnyTrans for file transfer, Ulysses for writing, PDF Search and more. With apps ranging from writing to cleaning to fixing to drawing, Setapp covers a wide array of available apps designed to save users time and improve quality of life. Plus, with their family sharing and team suite option, you can add more than one device on each account.
Over 30,000 customers later, Setapp has been described as conceptually identical to Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade subscription services, and charges users a flat fee of $9.99 per month.
#12 ClickUp
A startup designed to optimize teamwork, ClickUp offers a platform for process management and crew collaboration with a litany of different ways to customize your workflow. With the ability to add custom statuses, notifications, and editing, ClickUp integrates nicely with other productivity platforms such as Dropbox, GitHub, and Slack, and will even import your work from other compatible applications to its platform in minutes. Some of its features include a library of checklist templates, the ability add task dependencies, a people sidebar, and milestones.
With its guarantee of saving one day a week in efficiency, ClickUp has already raised over $37 million in seed money.
#13 Funnelll
A platform for tracking conversion and optimizing market campaigns, Funnelll bonds to its customers’ ad accounts with no coding necessary and integrates with analytics tools like Slack, Google, Twitter, and Facebook. With its customer journey visualization features, Funnelll highlights gaps in your marketing campaigns quickly as well as identifies profitable and unprofitable aspects within them. Funnelll supports other tools and platforms such as Squarespace, WordPress, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, and others.
Intended to prevent extra marketing costs as well as to optimize a business’ website and marketing tactics, Funnelll has raised $75,000 in seed money and will be a SaaS startup to watch.
#14 Virtually
This fully customizable, all-in-one online learning platform offers student management tools, robust chat facilities, and streamlined payment processing through Stripe. With the option to hold training camps and live classes via Zoom, education facilitators can customize their domain, add color schemes and themes, and stamp their brand on the white-label platform. Virtually’s emphasis on cohort-based learning offers students clear outcomes, relationship building, and built-in support while educators find benefit in minimization of drop-outs.
Founded in Seattle, Washington, this startup has raised over $120,000 in seed investments thus far.
Summary
Especially in the post-corona virus economic landscape, SaaS-type business models are uniquely predisposed to thrive in the coming years. Movers and shakers in the industry are producing software which ranges in function from food delivery to individually tailored mental health plans.
In looking at the wide array of startups in 2021, there emerges a significant theme: any startup which can act as a one-stop shop for organizations looking to simplify their management, marketing, sales, or accounting systems is going to remain competitive in a growing market.
While specialized startups contribute to the health of the diverse ecosystem of the SaaS industry, those with a more generalized touch may yet prevail.