During the month of June, companies were moving up and moving off the GeekWire 200, our ranking of the top technology startup companies in the Pacific Northwest.
Those climbing up the list include Seattle online photo editing startup PicMonkey, which now ranks #4; and cosmetics startup Julep, which ranks #5.
Julep, led by former Starbucks exec and GeekWire CEO of the Year winner Jane Park, is flying high after raising a $30 million venture capital round in April. The increase in the company’s GeekWire 200 ranking was due in part to surpassing 200 employees. (Company size is one of several metrics used to calculate the index.)
Check out the full June update here.
The top three companies on the list remained constant over last month: game maker Big Fish; electronic signature powerhouse DocuSign and online real estate company Redfin.
Both DocuSign and Redfin have been mentioned as possible IPO candidates. But another company that’s climbing the list may beat them to the punch. Seattle pet insurance company Trupanion (#18) filed to go public last week.
Once a company goes public or gets acquired, it is removed from the GeekWire 200.
That’s what happened with Buuteeq, the Seattle hotel marketing startup which was acquired by Priceline Group earlier this month. The company had previously ranked #25 on the GeekWire 200 list.
Two other companies in the top 100 also recently fell off the list, but not for joyous reasons. Online music app Lively and online eyewear retailer Rivet & Sway announced that they were closing their doors this month. We’re also tracking reports of another closure in the top 100, and we’ll post that info as soon as we have it confirmed.
The GeekWire 200 uses publicly available data — including social media followings, approximate employee counts and inbound web links — to generate a ranking of 200 top companies from our broader list of more than 700 Pacific Northwest tech startups. It’s not a perfect ranking by any means, but we think it helps provide a better understanding of the startup landscape. It’s also a work in progress, and we are always looking for ways to improve the list.
To make sure your startup is eligible for inclusion in the GeekWire 200, first make sure it’s included in the broader Startup List. If so, there’s no need to submit it separately for the GeekWire 200. If your Seattle-area startup isn’t among the companies on that larger list, you can submit it for inclusion here, and our algorithm will crunch the numbers to see if your company makes next month’s GeekWire 200.
Apart from providing a quick survey of the startup landscape in the Pacific Northwest, the GeekWire 200 can be a useful tool for research. In addition to sorting between B2B and B2C companies, you can also sort by more than 20 different sub-categories, from gaming to advertising to education.
Special note for job seekers: We’ve added a new feature to the GeekWire 200, “We’re Hiring” buttons, supplementing our GeekWork jobs site to help connect candidates with employers. Companies interested in this feature can contact advertising@geekwire.com.
Editor’s note: PicMonkey CEO Jonathan Sposato is chairman of GeekWire.
