Washington D.C. is the place to find some of the hottest tech startups in the industry today.
Propelled by it’s college community, DC is home to a vibrant tech startup community that thrives off of ingenuity, innovation, and tech know-how. And as a reporter that writes for a tech staffing solutions company, I’ve been fortunate to see a number of these startups grow at a rapid pace.
With that said, as with everything in life, there are still those few that separate themselves from the crowd. And here they are, 7 scorching hot tech startups in DC. Let me know in the comments section if you think other startups should make this list.
1. Living Social
It’s probably no surprise to anyone that Living Social is at the top of the leader board. Since it’s launch in 2007, it’s become a favorite bookmarked destination to engaged city members and townies living on the outskirts of town. Founded by Tim O’Shaughnessy, Aaron Batalion, Eddie Frederick, Val Aleksenko, living social completed a 400 million dollar round of funding, making it’s estimated value over 3 billion dollars. This are looking up for the founders.
2. iStrategy Labs
Although they only have seven employees, iStrategy Labs is an extremely hot startup. Since its launch in 2007, this tech trailblazer has worked with a variety of companies, and even some big names, such as Disney, American Eagle, ABC, Microsoft, and ESPN. Their business model relies heavily on freelance work, but it’s top notch. If you’re interesting in working for this startup, then you’re in luck. They’ve been hiring at a rapid pace over the past year.
3. Citizen Effect
CitizenEffect lends power to the average citizen in order to help those in need all over the world. And through mass support, ingenuity, and clever campaigns, CitizenEffect and it’s legions of followers have raised between 1,000 to 10,000 for each of their causes, every year. There’s no cause that their not contributing to; thus, making this a pretty monumental feat for any company.
4. Clearspring
Are you a blogger and not using Clearspring ? Clearspring is a network for online content sharing which aids advertisers in their advertising decisions. They also aid publishers in marketing their books or magazines or stories online. And, most importantly Clearsping’s “Add This” button is used by some very prolific public figures, such as The White House and the Dalai Lama. It’s no surprise that this startup has over $58 million in total funding.
5. EventFarm
Do you work in the event planning industry? Then you need EventFarm. EventFarm is a web app that can help event planners promote and manage each event they produce. This app allows your contacts to buy tickets online, and it will even give you a website to host the details of your event. Although it’s mainly used by private event planners, EventFarm has worked with such heavy hitters as the BET network, Walmart, and DC Central Kitchen.
6. HelloWallet
Launched in 2006, Hello Wallet can help users manage their finances. Their target audience is the 80% of people that have never consulted a financial planner, and subscribers would pay a monthly fee to have access to online advisers whenever they want. And for every 5 people paying for a subscription, HelloWallet gives a free pass to a low-income family so to help with the planning of their finances. A great company, and in terms of it’s social reputation, its worth every bit of their $15 million in funding.
7. Koofers
With over $7 million in funding, tech startup Koofers is a force to be reckoned with. It’s target demographic is college students, and it offers these students access college course material for free. The company covers 400 universities and helps over 310,000 students in college.
That’s our list. Any other startups that I missed? Let me know in the comments section what you think.
