As the financial telescopes of San Francisco, New York, and Palm Beach adjust their magnification on our “City in the Forest” — with Flock Safety most recently making the jump into the land of the unicorns — now is a good time to share and discuss who I believe will be in the next wave of Atlanta companies that rouse the rotation of the telescope in hopes of seeing early rainbow stripes and budding horns sprouting.
The limited filters include the following: a Series A raise or less. That takes out a massive cohort including the likes of Stord, PopMenu, and Relay Payments.
Between hosting the regular Atlanta Startup Convos MeetUp, Atlanta Healthcare Entrepreneurship Meetup, and the Atlanta Tech Village continuing the 15,000+ monthly MeetUp, Atlanta Startup Village the velocity of force is compounding when it comes to local company generation. Entrepreneurs regularly showcase their product and recruit talent out of our universities and Fortune 500’s while signing up those oh-so-tough first 10 unaffiliated paying customers.
As the most recent wave of unicorns are announced and lauded, the next swell is forming. Which ones will flourish? Timing and execution will tell but the following are companies poised for a good ride.
Cove.tool – We interviewed Sandeep on the Atlanta Story podcast and it’s clear she was meant to build an industry-transforming company in the architectural and construction market.
OrderNerd – Stephen and Justin have worked and learned from some of the best technology companies in Atlanta. The problem they are solving is real and the market is very large.
Neighborly – The definition of stealth in Atlanta. Chris and Jason have built a strong product that serves a very sticky industry.
Greenzie – CBQ and team have built software that takes the repetitive work out of outdoor labor. Check out their Instagram page to see it in action.
Staat – Engineering teams and managers now have visibility, coordination, and cohesion thanks to the company Amanda started.
Skipli – John and Sheryl have built a full service technology platform that powers restaurants’ revenue streams.
Reframe – Vedant and Ziyi are reducing consumer’s dependence on alcohol through community, content, and coaching in your pocket.
PrizePicks – Does anyone in Atlanta or better yet the East Coast know fantasy sports better than Wexler? Daily Fantasy made easy, simple, and fun.
Intown Golf Club – Michael, Clint, and Erwin are leading the charge to build the next generation of private golf clubs — and they happen to be indoor. Atlanta is the first of 20+ IGC’s across the country. Read about Michael’s journey here.
Flashtract – Blair and Ben are making it easy for builders, GC’s, and subcontractors to pay and get paid.
Sunday – After Sunday’s monster Series A round, they are building out their U.S. HQ right here in our backyard at the Atlanta Tech Village.
Zeto – Christian is making homeownership hassle free. Zeto’s private home management as a service is creating real value and he is only in the early stages of product development.
Voxie – Bogdan and the white-hot market of text marketing fits naturally into story arc around the strengths of Atlanta’s past marketing startup successes.
Saltbox – Maxwell, Tyler, and Paul are making co-warehousing for ecommerce simple and turnkey. Expansion cities are already underway.
Illuminarium – Alan Greenberg is generating waves with the Illuminarium. The first of several opened in Atlanta. Transport yourself to another world, right off the Beltline.
Yardz – Jason and team have built a tool to manage all your tool rental and equipment.
Strapt – Carly is reinventing the way tampons are dispensed with smart analytics, elegant hardware, and a slick mobile application.
Grayscale – Ty and Hubert are riding the texting wave marekt in the context of recruiting so no candidate slips through the hiring process.
The only certainty about this list is that I’ve missed several high-potential companies in Atlanta, but it’s always fun to at least get something on paper, tell a story or two, and let readers know we are building down / up / over here in Atlanta.