(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
GGV Capital is a global venture capital firm that invests in technology and they’ve just released their first ever list of growth and early-stage tech companies that “demonstrates both the breadth and depth of this sector and the enthusiasm of venture capital investors for these companies.” According to the firm, these companies have raised a combined $22 billion, so it’s not just the investors at GGV that are excited about their products.
I’m always on the lookout for hot technologies that can help our clients be more productive and profitable. To that end, I want to share GGV’s list, which I’ve further summarized and categorized.
So are any of these software applications worth considering for your company? It’s very possible.
Vertical Software and Platforms For Specific Industries
– Alloy — a fintech tool that help banks and financial services companies with decision management.
– Archive — a platform for resellers in the second-hand goods market that helps with re-branding.
– AutoLeap — an all-in-one platform for auto and repair shops.
– Boulevard– a booking and CRM platform for self-care shops.
– Brightwheel — an all-in-one platform for businesses in the childcare management industry.
– Carta — an all-in-one platform for companies in the venture capital, investment and financial services industries.
– GlossGenius — an all-in-one platform for salon and self-care businesses.
– Contra — an online marketplace for freelancers to sell themselves.
– EngineEars — a platform that connects musicians with sound engineers.
– Patreon — a popular platform for content creators to grow their audiences.
– Heard — an all-in-one platform geared towards therapy practices.
– Rupa Health — provides lab results from 30+ companies for medical practitioners.
– ServiceTitan — an all-in-one platform designed for both home and commercial service management businesses.
– Wrapbook — an HR and payroll system specifically for companies in the entertainment industry.
Internal Tools For Specific Jobs and Functions
– Airbase — expense and accounts payable management for companies who have lots of people sending in expense reports.
– Calendly — a popular online calendar booking system.
– Coast — an expense management platform for companies that have larger fleets of trucks and vehicles.
– MaintainX — an asset and facility maintenance platform.
– Maze — a product testing, research and development platform.
– Middesk — a platform that can be used by businesses that need business verification, underwriting, registration and filing help.
– Miro — a visual collaboration tool for teams.
– Mosaic — a platform specifically for internal finance teams that helps them integrate data, automate analytics and collaborate.
– Mvmnt — a logistics and freight management platform.
– Portex — offers a consolidated place to receive and evaluate freight and shipping quotes.
– Ramp — a corporate card and spend management platform.
– Vitally — a collaboration and communications platform designed specifically for customer service representatives.
Compliance Tools For Taxes And Certifications
– Complyant — a tax compliance platform for companies in the tax compliance industry.
– Drata — a compliance management platform specifically for SOC 2 or ISO 27001.
– Secureframe — a compliance management platform for companies with SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA and other certifications.
HR and Payroll Platforms
– Deel — an HR, hiring and payroll platform specifically for businesses with global employees.
– Gusto — a robust and user-friendly HR and payroll platform.
– Homebase — an HR, payroll and time tracking platform.
– Human Interest — a 401K administration and management platform.
– Justworks — an HR, payroll, and compliance platform.
– Papaya Global — an HR and payroll platform geared towards companies with global employees.
– Rippling — a one stop shop for managing HR, IT and employee expenses.
Marketing and Customer Service Platform Tools
– Apollo — a very interesting B2B lead database that I’m going to try out for my own company soon.
– Dovetail — a repository for customer research, feedback and insights for analysis and reporting.
– Klaviyo — an advanced behavioral email marketing platform.
– Topline Pro — an online marketing platform that builds websites, maintains social accounts and helps converts visitors into customers
– UserGems — monitors multiple sources for buyer and customer job changes to open new opportunities
– 1Password — password management platform, a must for every business and individual.
– Electric — an IT managed service provider.
– Linear — a project management platform specifically for software developers.
– Merge — a data synchronization tool that works with 170+ applications.
– Select Star — an advanced data management and analysis tool for database administrators.
Financing and Funding Tools
– Mercury — an online bank.
– Parafin — provides one click financing for manufacturers and distributers to offer to the sellers of their products.
– Stripe — a popular and powerful back-end payment processing platform for ecommerce sites
Some final thoughts about these applications:
I have not tested or dug deep into most of these applications. But they do look interesting and some have been around for a while. Given their financial backing, I would likely be recommending that clients with needs that can be addressed by these tools give them a deeper look.
I’m not sure how many of these are really suited to “small” or even “mid-sized” businesses. Some are really geared towards larger organizations with teams or specialized needs. Many of them list big brands as their customers which should tell you something. But that’s for you to decide.
Speaking of big brands, be careful not to fully buy into the claim that these brands are truly invested customers. I’ve seen many startups offer their products for free to big-name companies and then list them as customers when that’s not entirely the case. Just a warning.
Some of these companies are really, really niche and that always concerns me. Get plenty of referrals and investigate their cash situation. We all know about the financing troubles happening right now in the tech industry and you don’t want to wake up one morning to find a platform that you heavily rely on to have disappeared.
Also, did you notice that not once was “artificial intelligence” mentioned above? That doesn’t mean that these applications won’t be leveraging AI tools. They certainly will. But only as a means to improve their capabilities…and provide benefits to their customers.
