Welcome to the first Sunny Side Startups List. In this list, we’ve highlighted a dozen high-growth DMV startups that we think any job-seeking technologist should keep their eyes on.
As a firm that started in Virginia, the DMV list is one that we hold especially close to our heart. Every year, our team at hatch I.T. speaks with hundreds of engineering leaders and contributors at startups across the country. Our conversations and company research reveals startups that have outstanding growth, culture, and products.
This list highlights product startups in the Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland metro area. That means:
- The company is building a product (no service companies or agencies).
- Their total company headcount is under 500 employees.
- They are between Seed – Series C in funding.
Let’s jump in and highlight these good eggs.
Morning Consult
We’ve been named one of America’s Best Startup Employers by @Forbes for the second straight year. In the past two years alone, we tripled in size to 500+ team members.
Join our visionary leadership and cutting-edge technology: https://t.co/la8re1gXiC pic.twitter.com/RLDWFvrwtE
— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) March 8, 2022
While Morning Consult typically uses their research software to inform the news, you might’ve recently seen them in the news after their latest funding round that valued the company at over $1 Billion dollars.
What they do:
Morning Consult’s brand management platform collects survey research data from 15 countries to analyze alongside social media, news, and economic data to guide every strategic decision that organizations need to make.
Their survey research is regularly cited in top news outlets such as Politico, CNBC, and the New York Times.
Technical Team Growth:
Work at Morning Consult:
View their open roles or hear from team members on what it’s like to work at Morning Consult.
Sayari
Navigating various regulations on Chinese military companies can be a challenge for compliance teams. Follow these techniques to identify potential military end users in China using public data. https://t.co/KtZp4S8OS5 pic.twitter.com/HlsZUOSJng
— Sayari (@SayariLabs) October 27, 2021
Sayari secured a $40M Series C in September 2021 to continue its mission of increasing transparency in global trade flows.
What they do:
Sayari Graph analyzes commercial registries and government documents to produce the most accurate model of commercial and financial relationships on a global scale.
Their software supports missions that fight fraud and misconduct around the world, improving international security. They compile data into a dashboard that enables companies to have a complete picture of all stakeholders, including customers and competitors.
Technical Team Growth:
Work at Sayari:
Territory Foods
It’s Giving Tuesday! And we want to thank our healthcare heroes! ❤️
We’ve been donating meals through our #TerritoryServes initiative to show appreciation and fuel the frontline staff. Donate with us: https://t.co/9Ze0drOn1l! For every two meals donated, we’ll donate a third! pic.twitter.com/lwuVr2eFqR
— Territory Foods (@territoryfoods) December 2, 2020
Last year, Territory Foods raised $22 million in Series B funding to expand their meal delivery service into new cities.
What they do:
Territory Foods offers a locally-sourced meal kit delivery service that is specifically targeted towards those with personalized food preferences (whole30, gluten-free, paleo, ketogenic, vegan, vegetarian, etc).
They’re on a mission to deliver healthy food to customers from local and diverse chefs and small businesses.
Technical Team Growth:
Work at Territory Foods:
View their open roles or learn more about their product and tech team.
Prefect
Over the past two weeks each of our teams gotten together, some virtually and others together safely, to kick-off 2022!
LIKE ♥️ if you'd want to decorate office crocs with your team or RETWEET♻️if you'd rather have a team photoshoot with Marvin, the world's most gorgeous duck pic.twitter.com/2PRInUvb9C
— Prefect (@PrefectIO) January 20, 2022
Last December, Prefect Technologies shifted the maintenance of its integrations from its open-source community to its verified Premier Technology Partner Program, helping data engineers build better pipelines in less time.
What they do:
Prefect’s dataflow automation tools enable data scientists and data engineers to automate and orchestrate their dataflows. Their large open-source community (11,000+ users) is a testament to the value that data folks find in Prefect’s ability to automate development, testing, and running workflows.
Technical Team Growth:
Work at Prefect:
MarginEdge
Thank you @FSRMag for the shout out on our amazing news! We are so excited to be working with @QuickBooks to be able to provide this joint offering that furthers our mission of helping restaurants succeed!
Read the full article below:https://t.co/zuOHLbFQTA pic.twitter.com/EDo5OOBOzJ
— MarginEdge (@marginedge) March 1, 2022
MarginEdge recently made news for their partnership with Intuit (particularly their QuickBooks product) to offer even greater backend support for restaurant owners.
What they do:
Started by previous restaurant owners, MarginEdge seeks to take the paperwork out of the restaurant industry. Their platform connects with Point-of-Sales and invoice data to give restaurant owners a live look into their inventory, costs, and team.
Technical Team Growth:
Work at MarginEdge:
Shift5
What's a hybrid Holiday party without custom Christmas sweaters? If you look closely you will find planes, trains, and tanks 😉 #holidayparty #techstartup #culture #people #hybrid #team #christmassweater pic.twitter.com/Vfg4s8ChJM
— shift5co (@shift5co) December 2, 2021
Shift5 recently raised a $50M Series B to further improve cybersecurity against vehicle and weapon systems.
What they do:
Shift5 protects systems on trains, planes, and military equipment that were developed before modern cybersecurity solutions. Shift5 provides these operators with visibility into their networks and applies cybersecurity best practices to these vulnerable yet critical systems.
Technical Team Growth:
Work at Shift5:
Huntress
Don't clown around with your #cybersecuritystack. 😏 Layer up! pic.twitter.com/IO9em5ZvA9
— Huntress (@HuntressLabs) March 4, 2022
Last year, Huntress raised a $40M Series B round to grow its platform and software development team.
What they do:
Huntress provides 24/7 threat hunting to find ransomware and other cyber-attacks. They make threats easy to understand and respond to with automations and detailed action items.
Their dashboard gives you an overview of active incidents and investigations so you can detect and respond to threats in real-time.
Technical Team Growth:
Work at Huntress:
ChurnZero
We ♥️ our customers, and we love helping them fight their churn monsters! Meet the monsters that cause customer churn and learn how to easily identify them on customer accounts and woo them into renewal and beyond – https://t.co/vjyzwmxAh8 #CustomerSuccess #ValentinesDay2022 pic.twitter.com/EQsyThNJkn
— ChurnZero (@churnzero) February 14, 2022
ChurnZero recently launched “Success Insights”, a tool that enables B2B SaaS organizations to get detailed information on how customers use their software and which features increase customer retention.
What they do:
ChurnZero is building a real-time analytics platform to detect customer churn and provide tools to engage with customers.
They address the cost of churning customers with a real-time customer success platform that helps businesses understand their customer’s product usage, assess their health, and manage the customer experience.
Technical Team Growth:
Work at ChurnZero:
Tradeswell
Everyone has to eat – why not eat together? A midweek lunch at Tradeswell with everyone from original founders to our newest quants. pic.twitter.com/AzMt7Z6U75
— Incremental (@incrementalinc) August 4, 2021
Tradeswell recently partnered with Packable, a leading eCommerce company, to create an end-end solution for eCommerce brands with enablement and analytics.
What they do:
Tradeswell is an algorithmic trading technology built specifically to help digital marketplace brands grow sales and profits.
The enterprise software connects data sources and normalizes the data across the entire eCommerce landscape in one single view in order to reveal AI-driven insights, optimize for profitable growth, provide synchronous optimization across key eCommerce areas (marketing, retail, logistics, operations, etc).
Technical Team Growth:
Work at Tradeswell:
View their open roles or learn more about the company and tech stack.
SVT Robotics
We're proud to support a local high school as these future engineers compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition. After many of the team's tools were stolen while the school was closed during quarantine, we stepped in to help them get ready with mentorship & a $2,000 donation pic.twitter.com/v2m96OpWon
— SVT Robotics (@SVTrobotics) February 1, 2022
SVT Robotics raised $25M in a Series A to bring their plug-and-play robotics solution to market.
What they do:
SVT Robotic’s SOFTBOT™ platform makes it easier for companies to harness the power of enterprise robot technology. With powerful integrations and no-code dashboards, you can simply layout your custom design solution and deploy it.
Technical Team Growth:
Work at SVT Robotics:
Till
Learn more about our resident loyalty program that helps renters and owners unlock financial success. pic.twitter.com/6rfLztshvV
— Till (@hellotill) May 17, 2018
Till is on a mission to prevent evictions and make on-time rent payments possible for residents who need stability and help with their financial situation.
What they do:
Till’s Flexible Rent product uses cash flow data to determine the optimal rent payment schedule. With Flexible Rent, renters pay a portion of their rent each time you get paid, rather than on the first of the month.
They also bring products to landlords that improve their ability to understand and work with their residents while improving the resident’s ability to pay rent.
Technical Team Growth:
Work at Till:
View their open roles or hear what it’s like to work on their engineering team.
Fundrise
You’re likely trying to maximize your portfolio's return potential. But along with returns, risk needs to be monitored to ensure that you take on no more risk than is needed to earn the level of return you’re aiming for.
Here's how the 20% Rule can help: https://t.co/NECRQtQlQa. pic.twitter.com/IfdxCwUhal
— Fundrise (@fundrise) July 10, 2019
Fundrise recently invested $128M to expand Saltbox warehouses and add their co-working space for entrepreneurs into the portfolio.
What they do:
Fundrise seeks to make investing in real estate easier through its real estate investment platforms, portfolios, and funds.
They currently have over 200 real estate assets (valued at $5.1B) and over 210,000 users on their platform.
Technical Team Growth:
Work at Fundrise:
