Boston, Massachusetts, is rich in nicknames and pop culture associations. However, it is best known for being a city of firsts and innovation. The city is a major tech hub and one of the US's best places for tech jobs. Find out how these 13 Boston top startups contribute to that status.
The Olde Towne is one nickname for Boston, Massachusetts, as it is one of the oldest cities in the US. Other nicknames refer to their rich historical and cultural influences. These include two it shares with Philadelphia: The Athens of America and The Cradle of Liberty.
The city is also known as Titletown and the City of Champions for its dominance in sports. Many fans know Boston as the home of top baseball, basketball, and ice hockey teams. They also know Boston for its famous baked beans, the Boston Marathon, and the setting for the long-running sitcom Cheers.
However, Boston is also one of the major hubs for startups in the US. As of this writing, entrepreneurs have set up 1,443 Boston companies since 2017, 641 of which are tech startups. Below are 13 Boston top startups contributing to the city's tech economy.
Listen to the Podcast Episode Featuring the Top Boston Startups
Top Boston Startups to Watch
Billboards and other types of outdoor advertising are a common sight in many cities. However, they are not always accessible to Boston companies. OneScreen.AI ensures all companies can not only locate but also benefit from this marketing strategy.
OneScreen.AI provides a marketplace for companies looking to buy and sell targeted and measurable out-of-home (OOH) advertising. The products range from blimps to connected TVs for restaurants and bars.
OOH is historically effective in engaging and catching the eye of potential customers. Anyone wanting to leverage the power of OOH can find what they need on the OneScreen.AI platform. It has AI-powered tools to help companies create impactful real-world marketing campaigns.
The brainchild of co-founders CEO Sam Mallikarjunan and CTO Andrei Oprisan, OneScreen.AI is a one-stop shop for your OOH needs. According to Fortune magazine, it's also a great place to work.
OneScreen.AI has raised $4.5 million in two funding rounds from 15 investors since 2020. Its latest funding was a Seed round raised on November 8, 2021.
Sam Mallikarjunan
CEO & Co-founder, OneScreen.AI
Startup Hustle spoke with Sam Mallikarjunan about "Out Of Home Advertising." Listen to the episode here.
It's common knowledge that Boston companies find it challenging to find the right people for various roles. The workforce dilemma is a problem not only for tech startups but also for companies in all industries.
Most might not be aware that the people they need might actually be right under their noses, or they could potentially lack actual experience for the role. AdeptID helps overcome these challenges.
AdeptID identifies diverse talent in the making, particularly those without college degrees or substantial work experience. Its skills-matching software uses machine learning (ML) to find and support hidden talent in the workforce. The software allows organizations to find people with transferable skills who may have earned them non-traditionally.
The software is similar to the recommendation engines used by other companies to match people with products. It looks at career paths and applicant pools to discover skills that might transition well from one industry to another.
The platform puts less importance on any apparent shortcomings in their education or employment history and more on skills they may have acquired. In most cases, companies may have people who can already fill the roles on their payroll.
The system also recommends any training a candidate may need to complete the skills they need for a job. AdeptID finds reasons to make an individual a good fit for a particular role instead of reasons to eliminate them.
The ML-powered skills gap software is the brainchild of co-founders CEO Fernando Rodriguez-Villa and Chief Data Scientist Brian DeAngelis. With their direction, AdeptID acquired $3.5 million in a Seed round raised on December 2, 2021.
Fernando Rodriguez-Villa
CEO & Co-founder, AdeptID
Startup Hustle spoke with Fernando Rodriguez-Villa about "Identifying Talent Based on Potential." Listen to the episode here or read the recap here.
Most people don't know that developers often need to work together closely with the same sets of data. Acho makes it easy to develop business processes and data apps, regardless of the geographic location of development team members.
Acho is an app development platform that connects, transforms, and productizes data in one location. It also provides development toolkits and data connectors that build blocks for application creation for developers.
On top of that, Acho allows users to transform data without coding into a readable format for collaboration. It has a complete set of cleaning and transformation tools that eliminate the need to write complex expressions or code. The company also offers cloud-based business intelligence tools, so it is not limited to data warehousing.
The tech startup is under the leadership of co-founders and CEO Vincent Jiang and Timothy Zhang. Acho has raised a total funding amount of $2.4 million in two funding rounds. Its latest funding was a Seed round raised on September 1, 2021.
Are you selling your home? Are you a real estate broker? Quality visual representation of a home is critical if you want to sell. Homebuyers expect professionally shot images, floor plans, and videos. You also have a better chance of selling if you can offer 3D tours on every listing.
You can use Aryeo to put your best foot forward. It is real estate photography software that is building the future of industry content. Aside from providing stunning visual content, it provides homeowners, photographers, agents, and brokerages with a centralized content system.
The platform handles thousands of properties annually in all 50 US states, Canada, and Australia. Aryeo operates under the eagle eyes of co-founders CEO Branick Weix and CTO Brendan Quinlan.
They've raised $7.2 million from two funding rounds and six investors since 2019. The latest funding was a Seed round raised on August 23, 2022.
E-commerce is burgeoning worldwide, with retail sales in trillions of US dollars, a significant amount of which is on Shopify. Shopify is a popular platform with 20% of the e-commerce market share. However, many high-SKU stores online on Shopify often struggle to manage product page content on their sites. That's where Because Intelligence comes in.
Because it helps Shopify store owners convert more site visitors by optimizing their product pages like Amazon. It is a SaaS no-code platform that integrates directly with Shopify and will soon integrate with other apps.
The platform automates the management of product page content for stores with an extensive product catalog. It uses product and site visitor data so e-commerce managers can update content across their site and control when and where to show key messaging.
Aside from managing content, it helps online stores create unique and dynamic product pages without requiring hours of development time because it allows marketers to create custom content based on data such as inventory, visitor location, and more without code.
Shopify store owners can thank CEO and founder Ashland Stansbury for the idea behind Because. The SaaS provider has raised $3.7 million from eight investors in two funding rounds since 2020. The latest funding was a Seed round raised on May 18, 2022.
Companies believe their development teams are infallible. However, dealing with code and different environments can result in many bugs and fixes. CloudTruth helps them manage systems from one platform.
CloudTruth is a configuration-as-a-service platform for developers. It provides access to parameters, secrets, and environment variables to build, deploy, and run software from a central location. It enhances existing tools and supports a variety of cloud platforms. As a result, developers can ensure the security and uptime of systems.
The platform coordinates configuration across stacks, helping prevent stale configurations that result in unplanned downtime. It isolates critical changes resulting from daily development tasks or during an outage. It also monitors security configuration files in a distributed and decentralized cloud environment. Developers can see and control systems and manage and update applications without pulling down and redeploying active systems.
CloudTruth operates under the direction of CEO Christian Tate and CTO and Co-founder Matt Conway. The company raised $5.3 million in three funding rounds from four investors since 2019. Its latest funding was raised on July 22, 2021.
It can be easy to overlook social obligations in the hustle and bustle of the fast-moving entrepreneur space. DipJar makes it easy for organizations to exercise their social conscience.
DipJar works with Boston companies and organizations to manage fundraising events, providing donors with a frictionless giving experience. It provides the platform and software to connect hardware with LTE wireless for safe and encrypted cashless collection.
Users can access the DipJar Dashboard and the tools an organization needs to track donations and manage donors. The DipJar-connected device is plug-and-play, so there is no learning curve to start accepting donations using credit cards. Small and big organizations can collect at face-to-face events without muss or fuss.
DipJar is under the leadership of CEO Chris Selland and VP of Marketing and Strategy Melissa Smith. The company has raised $2.8 million in two funding rounds from 11 investors since 2020.
Everyone and their uncle wants to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to scale their businesses. However, scaling AI requires many moving parts, including feature engineering. It is a fundamental aspect of machine learning, yet it is often the weakest link in AI deployment. FeatureByte addresses this issue.
FeatureByte provides a SaaS platform designed explicitly for feature engineering. It combines three areas of expertise—data science, data engineering, and domain knowledge—and helps prevent silos. Failure to bring together these three aspects of feature engineering can result in a lot of friction for companies.
The platform helps build a data-centric AI solution, radically simplifying data transformation for data scientists. FeatureByte is led by co-founders CEO Razi Raziuddin and CPO Xavier Conort. Founded in 2022, the company raised $5.7 million in a Seed round on July 28, 2022, from three investors.
Overjet is another Boston tech startup that leverages AI to provide better customer service. It developed a software platform for dental health providers that reduces costs and improves the quality of dental care.
The company uses computer vision and AI technology to process dental images and determine the most appropriate treatment for patients. Payers can avoid the costs of unnecessary or inappropriate treatment. In addition, Overjet's platform drives insurance company efficiency, increasing the accuracy of claims and providing automated and real-time processing.
Dental care providers also benefit from better diagnosis and treatment protocols, resulting in higher patient satisfaction. Overjet's AI platform detects decay and quantifies bone loss to drive clinical and operational improvements. The software increases the precision of diagnosis and improves case acceptance. It also delivers actionable insights and automates administrative tasks.
Overjet operates under the leadership of CEO and co-founder Wardah Inam and Chief Dental Officer Teresa Dolan. The company has acquired $77.4 million in three funding rounds and seven investors since 2018. Its latest funding was a Series B round raised on December 20, 2021.
Some entrepreneurs embark on tech startups, hoping to make them profitable enough to attract investors and make a good exit. Successful Amazon FBA sellers can look to Perch to make their aspirations come true.
Perch is a tech-driven commerce company that aims to acquire and operate Amazon FBA brands and companies. It has 100 brands under its belt, including CaliWhite, Satina, and Baby Merlin's Sleepsuit.
The company is always looking for sellers that enjoy consistent positive customer reviews and top-ranking products on Amazon. They focus on acquiring sellers of eclectic products, ranging from exfoliating brushes to reusable straws.
Perch has made smart acquisition choices under the leadership of CEO and co-founder Chris Bell and COO Matthew Montgomery. It has raised $908.8 million in four funding rounds from seven investors since 2019, including Spark Capital and SoftBank. The latest funding was a Series A round raised on May 26, 2021.
The world's population is slowly shifting towards older adults. According to the World Health Organization, there will be one billion people over 60 in 2020. By the time 2030 rolls around, one in six people will be part of that population (1.4 billion). Silvertree ensures the well-being of the 75 million older adults in the US.
Silvertree has developed next-generation wearable technology for older adults called Reach. It helps keep them safe without compromising their independence or dignity. Active older adults will likely resent any direct interference in their lives. With a Silvertree subscription, families can remotely keep tabs on their active seniors through a stylish wrist-worn device.
Subscribers can access wearable technology features that help families remain connected. It enables one-touch app connectivity and includes a GPS locator and fall detection alert. You can consider Reach the personal health and safety sidekick for older adults.
Silvertree is the brainchild of CEO Dan Josebachvili and Director Steven G. Chambers. Under their leadership, the company has raised $7 million from four investors in two funding rounds. Its latest funding was raised on August 31, 2021.
Many companies cannot afford to develop software and systems in-house, so they rely on SaaS providers for their needs. However, choosing the right one from many SaaS companies can be challenging. Vendr can help them with that at no risk.
Vendr is a SaaS buying and management platform helping companies discover, purchase, and manage their tech stack effectively at a fair price. Companies run no risk because the platform has a money-back guarantee.
The platform has the largest data set among SaaS buying category creators, with more than 1,300 suppliers. Procurement and finance teams can tap Vendr to streamline the purchasing and renewal processes. That includes searching for new tools, negotiating deals, and receiving notifications for renewals.
CEO and co-founder Ryan Neu, along with CFO and COO Jason Quinn, ensure the smooth running of the platform, and with much success. Vendr has acquired $216 million in five funding rounds from 11 investors. Its latest funding was a Series B round raised on June 16, 2022.
Don't you hate it when a store delays your order and doesn't inform you in advance? Most customers (76%) are unlikely to purchase again from a store if they have had a negative shipping experience. Wonderment helps retailers avoid this last-mile issue.
Wonderment is an order-tracking solution for Shopify and Shopify Plus stores. It provides shipment reporting, notification updates, and analytics to manage a customer's post-purchase experience. While shipping delays are typical, stores that use Wonderment can keep them to a minimum. They can effectively track shipments, detect patterns, and get actionable insights to improve their delivery process.
Over 80 carriers integrate with the Wonderment platform, enabling users to import data and generate valuable reports. Additionally, they can customize their order tracking page and SMS templates to reflect their branding.
Users can find delayed shipments quickly and update customers about the status of their orders. Keeping them in the loop can improve their overall experience and drive repeat customers.
Wonderment started as an idea of co-founders CEO Jessica Meher, Brian Whalley, and Wesley Abbey and bore fruit in 2020. The company has since acquired $6 million in a Seed round raised on January 31, 2022, from seven investors.
Boston Companies Go Beyond Beans
Boston has a long and fascinating history as one of the first cities in the US, but its future is equally bright. These 13 Boston top startups are only some of the many, many amazing tech startups bringing The City on the Hill into the 21st century.
We are always excited to learn about the movers and innovators in the entrepreneurial space at Startup Hustle. If you are a hustler in the Boston area, reach out and tell us your story!
That goes double if you need help building a dynamic software development team quickly and affordably. Full Scale, recently named among the 2022 fastest-growing companies in the US by INC Magazine, can help. Contact us so we can discuss the next steps for your company.
