Seattle’s reputation as a technology and innovation hub was further cemented by the release of Deloitte’s 2021 “North American Technology Fast 500.” Deloitte’s rankings are a yearly account of the fastest-growing North American companies in tech, as measured by revenue growth from 2017 to 2020.
Not surprisingly, Silicon Valley is the dominant region on the list, with 21% of the “Fast 500” hailing from the tech mecca. But Washington state and Seattle are strongly represented, with companies in the Puget Sound region comprising 5% of the list.
Of the 26 Washington-based companies that made the cut, 24 are from the greater Seattle area, with Bellingham’s eXP World Holdings Inc. and Vancouver’s ZoomInfo rounding out the group.
Bellevue’s continued ascent is reflected in Deloitte’s ranking. There are eight Bellevue companies represented on the list, compared to 12 hailing from Seattle proper.
Another trend is Seattle’s software clout. Software and software-as-a-service companies represent 73% of the North American list, and 83% of the ranked Seattle-area companies are software makers, topped by Coinme, which saw a whopping 2,198% growth over the measured three-year span, good for 78th overall.
Read on to learn more about the Washington-based companies that made this year’s Fast 500.
No. 78: Coinme
The Seattle company, founded in 2014 with a vision of driving cryptocurrency access, started with a small number of bitcoin ATMs, and has since grown to support thousands of crypto-enabled units around the country through a partnership with Coinstar. More recently, the company announced plans to enable the MoneyGram International network, giving users the ability to exchange bitcoin for cash in the U.S., with a vision of expanding globally. Its enabled Coinstar ATMs are being introduced in a pilot program with Walmart.
No. 129: eXp World Holdings
Located in small but vibrant Bellingham, eXp World Holdings Inc. is the holding company of eXp Realty, Virbela, and Success Enterprises. At the beginning of the month it announced third quarter revenue of $1.1 billion, a 97% increase from the year prior. The company, whose cloud-based brokerage model arms real estate professionals around the world with tools for virtual collaboration and operational technologies, is currently preparing to launch its residential lending venture, SUCCESS Lending.
No. 136: Outreach
Outreach’s software is designed to help sales and revenue teams optimize workflow and drive predictable growth. Previously a finalist for Next Tech Titan at the GeekWire Awards, Outreach counts Zillow Group, Pandora, and Glassdoor among its customers. It is currently valued at $4.4 billion. In October it made its second acquisition, buying Indianapolis-based startup Canopy.
No. 146: Highspot
Another company oriented towards sales reps, Highspot aims to equip, train, and coach company sales teams through its software. The company boasts more than 70 certified integrations. Highspot this month announced the launch of the Highspot Spark Community to allow Highspot users to collaborate and share best practices through discussions, content, and events.
No. 151: Educative
Educative uses a text-based approach and hands-on coding to teach software courses to more than 725,000 developers and counting. It recently launched Educative Assesments, which aims to help developers track their skills and abilities, while making recommendations on how to widen or enhance them.
No. 163: Qumulo
Qumulo is a data storage platform for multi-cloud environments. In July Qumulo launched as a native service with Microsoft Azure, and the company recently paired up with the San Francisco 49ers. The NFL team uses Qumulo’s software to optimize data storage for the security of their venue, Levi’s Stadium. It scored a $1.2 billion valuation in its latest funding round, and last month GeekWire interviewed Qumulo CEO Bill Richter for the GeekWire Podcast.
No. 166: Flexe
Founded in 2013, Seattle-based Flexe posits that speed matters, a lot. It’s positioned itself to e-commerce sellers as the key to competing with retail giant Amazon, and offers retailers flexible logistics and cost savings through access to a huge distribution network of warehouses and carriers. The company raised $70 million in a Series C funding round at the beginning of the year, and its case to retailers about the benefits of flexibility has only grown stronger with the supply-chain mishaps of the last few months.
No. 209: Mason
Mason distinguishes itself among hardware developers by being a software developer as well. This allows Mason to cheaply and rapidly build products to custom specifications, from single-use prototypes to product lines, and to help businesses bring their hardware infrastructure to scale. The company was recently nominated for an Internet of Things Tech Trailblazers award.
No. 245: Remitly
Remitly, from the word remittance, helps immigrants who travel abroad for work easily and securely send money home to their families. The Western Union challenger is optimized for mobile devices, bringing into the modern era a service that workers have depended on for decades. Remitly went public in September at a $7 billion valuation and reported $121 million in quarterly sales last week.
No. 260: Influence Mobile
Kirkland’s Influence Mobile pairs its algorithm with app developers to maximize engagement and monetization of their gaming apps. The company acquired Blind Ferret for an undisclosed amount in July, and was ranked fourth behind powerplayers Facebook, Google, and Twitter, in the Appsflyer Performance Index XIII.
No. 268: Textio
Textio’s proofreading software helps companies build inclusive cultures through writing, from the language of internal communications to the wording of hiring announcements. It analyzes the patterns of organizational communications to maximize their inclusion and appeal to broad audiences. In September, Textio integrated its software with Linkedin.
No. 273: Quadrant Resource
With an impressive client list including Amazon, AT&T, Expedia, Microsoft, Nordstrom, Uber, Alaska Airlines, and King Country, among others, Quadrant is an IT service provider and consultant. The Redmond-based company now has 12 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, and its data and analytics team in India brought their expertise to build a COVID-19 update site. In September, Quadrant received Gold Partnership status with Microsoft.
No. 298: ZoomInfo
Vancouver-based ZoomInfo helps companies optimize data, from sales to enterprise and recruiting. ZoomInfo bought Chorus.ai for $575 million in July to boost its own product with conversation intelligence capabilities. The company also announced plans to move its headquarters to the Vancouver waterfront in 2025, indicating that more growth is on the way.
No. 306: Hiya
Hiya aims to secure your phone from the influx of spam calling that has swept the country, particularly since the onset of the pandemic. It added Salesforce President and CMO Sarah Franklin to its board over the summer, and its SaaS services, Hiya Connect and Hiya Protect, claim more than 200 million active monthly users. Hiya just released new tech that uses AI against illegal phone calls.
No. 342. Seagen
Seagen Inc., formerly Seattle Genetics, is a publicly-traded company with a current valuation north of $30 billion. The company develops and commercializes cancer therapies, with a specialty in antibody drug conjugates. Seagan studies a number of cancers and lymphomas extensively, and has three cancer medicines that have already been approved. It also has more than five other cancer-specific therapies in different stages of clinical and preclinical testing.
No. 352: doxo
Doxo helps people streamline the process of paying utility, housing, and credit card bills by allowing them to pay them all in a consistent format, in one place. doxo sells its services both to consumers and providers, enabling doxo to pair with a network of 100,000 service providers to give comprehensive coverage to its 6 million-plus users. doxo expanded its user base more than 70% last year, and is backed by Mohr Davidow Ventures, Sigma Partners, and Bezos Expeditions.
No. 353: BioLife Solutions
Biolife Solutions facilitates research and commercialization in cell and gene therapies by extending the shelf life and maintaining the health and function of biologic source material. Its products include CryoStor freeze media, HypoThermosol shipping and storage media, evo cold chain management, and a number of other freezing and thawing products.
No. 354: Headlight
Headlight, which raised $25 million over the summer, helps construction teams increase the accountability of their projects by allowing them to collect and use project data in real time. Headlight’s visual tools give project managers real-time images of every aspect of a job site. The company counts a number of state transportation agencies as its clients and partners, and appears to be in a promising position after the passing of the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
No. 382: Smartsheet
Founded in 2005, Smartsheet is a business efficiency software service that provides a dynamic, secure workspace to 80% of Fortune 500 companies. It reported $131.7 million in revenue, up 44%, for the most recent quarter. The Bellevue-based company, which has offices in Boston, Edinburgh, London, and Sydney, recently announced a shakeup of its executive team.
No. 386: Icertis
Icertis’s AI-powered contract intelligence platform “turns contracts from static documents into strategic advantage” in applications from clinical trial agreements to supplier onboarding. The privately held company, founded in 2009, was valued at $2.8 billion after raising $80 million in March. It counts Best Buy and Microsoft among its clients, and its software has engaged some 10 million contracts worth more than $1 trillion.
No. 412: Pushpay
Primarily serving churches across the world, Pushpay’s platform helps ministries and non-profits more easily fundraise online and better engage with donors. In August the company acquired streaming leader Resi Media, positioning the company to fully operate remote. Their ChurchStaq software allows leaders, staff, and volunteers to better gauge and streamline ministry impact. Pushpay trades publicly on the NYSE.
No. 437: Skilljar
The pandemic was great for Skilljar, a leading customer training platform that helps scale resources and increase customer adoption and retention by providing education and training to customers of their clients, including Tableau, Verizon, and Zenefits. Skilljar this week celebrated the end of its flagship conference, Connect 2021, by launching new integrations with Caveon and ProctorFree and announcing wins at Gong, Hopin, and Shopify.
No. 447: Zenoti
The company’s cloud-based software covers every aspect of the spa and salon management business, from booking and employee management to inventory and marketing. Zenoti currently serves more than 12,000 businesses and in September it acquired salon manager SuperSalon. It raised $80 million in June and is valued at around $1.5 billion.
No. 460: SirionLabs
Another contract management system, SirionLabs manages 5 million-plus contracts worth over $450 billion. At the end of October Sirion revealed that it had nearly doubled revenue in the last year and would be opening offices in Germany, France, and Australia.
No. 489: iSpot.tv
iSpot.tv is an ad performance measurement metric that tracks the performance of TV ads. The company has exclusive rights to 16 million Smart TVs and has direct integrations with hundreds of streaming platforms. Customers include P&G, Google, Bose, and Fox. In January it bought attitudinal measurement pioneer ACE Metrix, and in October iSpot.tv acquired DRMetrix.
No. 500. DigniFi
DigniFi, the financing platform for cars, motorcycles, and other powersport vehicles, has processed more than 300,000 applications since its founding in 2013. DignFi’s WebBank-backed credit program, ExpressWay, simplifies financing for their customers so that they can make repairs from which they otherwise would be dissuaded.
