Google is one of the largest technology companies on the planet. Its significant size also translates to a massive workforce. Over 70,000 people have worked at the Mountain View Googleplex and other company offices since its establishment. The company management encourages its employees to be entrepreneurial and innovative. However, Google has its fair share of employees leaving the company to start their own companies. Some of these ex-Googlers, on leaving the company, decided to scale down and start-up new enterprises to great success.
Initiatives founded by ex-Googlers have had heads turning around the globe. Some of them have already been acquired by Google itself or her competitors. Examples include Twitter, founded by ex-Googler Evan Williams and Instagram, founded by ex-Googler, Kevin Systrom. The two companies are both billion-dollar companies that are now challenging Google for advertising supremacy.
The number of ex-google entrepreneurs raising funds from angel investors worldwide is also incredible. Quora lists 49 such businesses. Thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit nurtured in Google employees, ex-Googlers easily identify business opportunities within the technology space when they leave the company. Here are some the top 5 startups to watch that were launched by ex-Googlers and are quickly getting traction.
1. Upstart is a lending platform that goes beyond credit scores to offer loans. The mobile app development company was established by ex-Googler Dave Girouard, who is the CEO. The company launched its operations in 2012. The mobile app development company has a proprietary underwriting model that helps it identify high-quality borrowers regardless of credit scores. It evaluates variables such as school attended, study skills, academic performance and work experience. Early this year, the firm raised $32.5 Million in new funding, to bring its total funding to $85 Million. The CEO says that this fiscal year, the company will be profitable. The company is also considering leasing its technology to banks as a new revenue stream.
2. Leap.ai was founded by two ex-Googlers Richard Liu and Yunkai Zhou. Liu was the head of engineering for Project Fi at Google. Leap.ai is a custom web development company that designs, develops and personalizes a job seekers resume. To achieve this, Leap.ai collects employment-related information concerning an individual. Such information includes past employers, skills, and qualifications. The custom web development company has built-in tips on the system that continuously improves the candidates’ resume’s compatibility score. In addition, The duo created a system that recommends the right firms for candidates. Leap.ai has a list of partner companies on their system database. Job seekers are connected directly to human resource managers in the partner firms. Unlike other employee placement service providers, the website assures an individual response to all job applications. Last year, Leap.ai secured $ 2.4 million in seed funding. Notable investors include ZhenFund and Sequoia Capital China. The funds enabled Leap.ai to acquire 10 employees and 50 customers including Dropbox, Zoom and Uber.
3. Yet another ingenious custom software development firm established by ex-Googlers is DotDashPay. The company was founded by current CEO, Sean Arietta. Before launching, the firm had won $250,000 courtesy of Pejman Mar Ventures. The company designs custom payment and loyalty software for different retailers worldwide. The custom software development firm helps retailers improve customer experience as well as accept payments. Special price tags accompany items for sale on the shelves. At the counter, interactive screens and price scanners enable customers to pay easily. The custom software development firm also installs software in self-service machines to allow payments. DotDashPay is suitable for any product distributor including gas stations, drive-through windows, and retail stores.
4. Some ex-Googlers are certainly experts in software development in NYC. One such company established to offer this service is Zenysis. It was launched in 2015 by Ian Webster, a Tech Lead and Senior Software developer at Google for over two years. The company secured $2 million last year in seed funding. Notable investors were Y-Combinator, 500 Startups and Omidyar Network. The firm creates software for governments and international organizations. Its use has helped increase access to public health services. The software also enables quick response to large-scale humanitarian emergencies. Moreover, the software has helped minimize the effects of other unpredictable and complex challenges that governments must solve. The firm targets governments of developing countries. Zenysis is currently estimated to serve over 100 Million people around the world.
5. In the field of app development services, ex-Googler Joe Sriver made his mark. He launched his company, Doapps in March 2007. Joe Sriver was Google’s pioneer user interface designer. Doapps designs and creates applications for various consumers and businesses. The app development services are available for websites, desktops, and mobile devices. The applications are designed to help users do important things, increase their productivity as well as improve their online experience. With over 500 customers on the Doapps platform, the company has developed over 1,500 mobile apps for the news publishing and broadcast industry. An example is the Whoopie Cushion App, a popular joke and prank app.
It’s evident that ex-Googlers are shaping the entrepreneurship landscape. Present Google employees should definitely think about partnering with colleagues or fellow tech employees from top leading companies like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Pinterest. After Google, a whole world of entrepreneurship in the tech space awaits, just like it did for those before them. Do you work at a major tech company like Google, Apple, Facebook or Amazon and are looking to build your next startup? We would love to hear about your project. In the last 2 years, our software development team at Venture Aviator has produced four successful exits to billion-dollar companies– acquiring companies include Amazon and Magento. Our software development team is looking forward to helping you with your next startup project!
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