NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acadian Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm, launched its inaugural Future of Work 100 today. The Future of Work 100 is the first list to recognize the leading venture-backed companies that are enabling how work gets done in the future. The list showcases the top WorkTech companies who have demonstrated strong market capitalization combined with a focus on efficient growth.
The Future of Work has now become an existential topic for companies all over the world. As companies seek to optimize productivity and efficiency, they are turning to a new breed of work technologies that are revolutionizing the way we work. These technologies are enabling us to do more with less, automate repetitive tasks, and collaborate seamlessly across geographies and time zones.
The companies recognized on the Future of Work 100 have raised a cumulative $30 billion in venture capital financing, with a total valuation over $200 billion. Workrise, a leading workforce management platform for the skilled trades, tops the 2023 list. Additional highlights from the 2023 Future of Work 100 include:
- The world is flat. The Future of Work 100 is highly representative of the global nature of work today. Not only can you build a technology company anywhere in the world today but companies themselves are being staffed with employees globally. The ranking is represented by companies across 14 countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the USA.
- The end of Silicon Valley dominance. Silicon Valley has long been the breeding ground for unicorns. In this year’s list, 45% of the Future of Work 100 are based in Silicon Valley. But Silicon Valley represents only 34% of the Rising Stars and Up & Comers. More importantly, we have found in our research that companies located outside of Silicon Valley tend to build more durable companies. That essentially means those companies raise less money, they grow faster, and are more capital efficient.
- Survival of the unicorns? The lingering question regarding the 2023 list is how valuations will hold up over the next year and beyond. With the median ARR multiple at 19.8x, it is widely believed that most unicorn companies are overvalued when you compare similar, publicly traded companies that have a median ARR multiple of around 6x. We anticipate valuations, particularly with the unicorn companies, will reset over the next 12 months with many changes anticipated for our list next year.
“Our vision for the Future of Work 100 is to highlight the importance of work technologies and recognize the leading companies that are building the tools and technologies that will define work in the future,” said Jason Corsello, general partner at Acadian Ventures. “ We are thrilled to congratulate the honorees on the Future of Work 100 and their commitment to make work better, fairer, more meaningful, and ultimately more productive.”
“It's a pivotal time for companies to redefine how they work in the future and fully enable a globally distributed workforce,” said Tony Jamous, founder and CEO of Oyster. “We are honored to be recognized alongside the leaders that make up the inaugural Future of Work 100 as we continue to empower the world’s best workplaces.”
For the full list, methodology, company profiles, and more, visit www.futureofwork100.com.
About Acadian Ventures
Acadian Ventures is a global venture capital firm based in the USA and Germany. We invest in companies at their earliest days of formation that are leading the work revolution and reimagining how people work in the future. Founded in 2019, Acadian Ventures is led by industry veterans from Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, and Cornerstone OnDemand. More information can be found at www.acadianventures.com.
