Top 20 Most Promising Companies in America

How can one tell whether a business is on a sure, one-way road to success? Though predicting how a company will fare out in the long run is somewhat tricky, there are a few indicators we can assess in order to determine whether a business has a long-term sustainability or not.

Today, we would like to present you with a list we have compiled of the 20 most promising companies in America, based on the analysis published by Forbes Magazine in early January 2014. The experts at Forbes took several indicators into account, such as sales and personnel growth, management team, quality of investors, key partnerships, and market size. While these indicators can offer a rather accurate view of how each company is performing, predicting whether the following businesses will be the major corporations of tomorrow is somewhat of a gamble. Nonetheless, we feel confident that the following companies will be worth watching in 2014.

Curious to see which 2014’s most promising companies are? Let’s take a look at the countdown.

Note: the countdown takes into account only privately-held companies, with revenues under $250 million, operating within US territory.

No. 20: Yext (New York)

Yext

Industry: IT software and services

Revenue: $34 million

No. of employees: 250

No. 19: Craftsy (Colorado)

Craftsy

Industry: Consumer durables

Revenue: $23 million

No. of employees: 172

No. 18: Collective Bias (Arkansas)

Collective Bias

Industry: Business services and supplies

Revenue: $16 million

No. of employees: 87

No. 17: iCracked (California)

iCracked

Industry: Consumer durables

Revenue: $10 million

No. of employees: 39

No. 16: Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt (California)

Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt

Industry: Hotels, restaurants, and leisure

Revenue: $188 million

No. of employees: 98

No. 15: Thrillist (New York)

Thrillist

Industry: Media

Revenue: $83 million

No. of employees: 268

No. 14: CardCash.com (New Jersey)

cardcash

Industry: Retailing

Revenue: $56 million

No. of employees: 55

No. 13: iSend (Connecticut)

iSend

Industry: IT software and services

Revenue: $159 million

No. of employees: 15

No. 12: Tapad (New York)

Tapad

Industry: IT software and services

Revenue: $23 million

No. of employees: 82

No. 11: OnDeck (New York)

HireVue

Industry: Diversified financials

Revenue: $65 million

No. of employees: 240

No. 10: HireVue (Utah)

Industry: IT software and services

Revenue: $9 million

No. of employees: 149

No. 9: Yodle (New York)

Yodle

Industry: IT software and services

Revenue: $163 million

No. of employees: 1,157

No. 8: AnchorFree (California)

AnchorFree

Industry: IT software and services

Revenue: $35 million

No. of employees: 70

No. 7: uTest (Massachusetts)

uTest

Industry: IT software and services

Revenue: $24 million

No. of employees: 125

No. 6: Smashburger (Colorado)

Smashburger

Industry: Hotels, restaurants and leisure

Revenue: $228 million

No. of employees: 2,535

No. 5: Lending Club (California)

Lending Club

Industry: Diversified financials

Revenue: $98 million

No. of employees: 379

No. 4: Evolent Health (Virginia)

Evolent Health

Industry: Healthcare equipment

Revenue: $40 million

No. of employees: 479

No. 3: Suja Juice (California)

Suja

Industry: Consumer durables

Revenue: $18 million

No. of employees: 110

No. 2: Airpush (California)

Airpush

Industry: Media

Revenue: $98 million

No. of employees: 200

No. 1: Fuhu (California)

Fuhu

Industry: Consumer durables

Revenue: $175 million

No. of employees: 342