The $5 Billion Startup Club: The 9 Highest Valued Startups That You Should Definitely Keep An Eye On

There used to be a time when a $1 billion valuation was considered a massive success for tech startups.

But in recent years, there’s been so many of them that billion-dollar valuations are almost starting to feel routine in tech.

So we’ve raised the bar and narrowed down WSJ’s “The Billion-Dollar Startup Club” list to companies that are valued at more than $5 billion.

These startups are transforming our lives and they’re definitely worth keeping an eye on moving forward.

Marketing Med NL

#9 Pinterest: “A visual discovery tool”

Valuation: $5 billion

CEO: Ben Silbermann

Founded: 2008

What it does: Pinterest allows users to share/store stuff online by “pinning” images and content.

Total funding: $762.5 million

Notable investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Rakuten

Intelligent HQ

#8 Square: “Start selling today”

Valuation: $6 billion

CEO: Jack Dorsey

Founded: 2009

What it does: Square is a mobile payments company that allows stores to accept credit/debit cards on their smartphones and tablets. Its business has expanded to online invoicing and deposits as well.

Total funding: $590.5 million

Notable investors: KPCB, Khosla Ventures, Citi Ventures, Sequoia Capital

Techinasia

#7 Jingdong (JD.com)

Valuation: $7.3 billion

CEO: Qiangdong Liu

Founded: 2004

What it does: Jingdong is one of the largest e-commerce sites in China. It used to be named 360buy.com.

Total funding: $2.2 billion

Notable investors: Tiger Global Management, Bull Capital Partners, Digital Sky Technologies

Palantir

#6 Palantir: “Products built for a purpose”

Valuation: $9.3 billion

CEO: Alexander Karp

Founded: 2004

What it does: Palantir is a software and services company that specializes in data analysis. Some of its biggest clients are government agencies like the CIA and FBI.

Total funding: $950 million

Notable investors: Founders Fund, Tiger Global Management, Glynn Capital Management

Xiaomi Malaysia

#5 Xiaomi: “Best Android phone”

Valuation: $10 billion

CEO: Jun Lei

Founded: 2010

What it does: Xiaomi is one of the biggest Chinese electronics brands that makes smartphones. Its smartphones are considered one of the best Android phones in the market.

Total funding: $347 million

Notable investors: IDG Capital Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Morningside Group

Holageek

#4 Snapchat: “Fast and fun mobile conversation”

Valuation: $10 billion

CEO: Evan Spiegel

Founded: 2012

What it does: Its photo messaging app allows users to send photos and videos that get deleted after a set period of time.

Total funding: $163 million

Notable investors: Benchmark Capital, Coatue Management, SV Angel

Boxcryptor

#3 Dropbox: “Your stuff, anywhere”

Valuation: $10 billion

CEO: Drew Houston

Founded: 2007

What it does: Dropbox allows users to easily store and share files on the web. It has over 200 million users worldwide.

Total funding: $1.1 billion

Notable investors: Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, Greylock Ventures

#2 Airbnb: “Welcome home”

Valuation: $10 billion

CEO: Brian Chesky

Founded: 2008

What it does: Airbnb offers a marketplace for people to rent out their homes to temporary residents. It’s currently available in 190 countries.

Total funding: $794.8 million

Notable investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners

Uber

#1 Uber: “Moving people”

Valuation: $18.2 billion

CEO: Travis Kalanik

Founded: 2009

What it does: Uber’s taxi-hailing app connects its users with drivers of private vehicles under Uber’s contact. It offers different types of cars, from full-size luxury cars to smaller vehicles.

Total funding: $1.5 billion

Notable investors: Benchmark Capital, Menlo Ventures, Google Ventures, KPCB

BONUS: Here are some other companies to keep your eyes on.

– SpaceX: The spacecraft company founded by Elon Musk, SpaceX has raised over $245 million since its founding in 2002, and is now valued at roughly $4.8 billion.

– Cloudera: The big data startup behind a technology called Hadoop, Cloudera has more than $1.2 billion in funding, and was last valued at $4.1 billion.

– Spotify: The Sweden-based music streaming service has more than 24 million users and it now valued at about $4 billion.

– Lending Club: It’s the largest online marketplace for loans in the US, and has already filed for a $500 million IPO. Its last valuation was $3.8 billion.

– Jawbone: The wearable technology and speaker manufacturer is now worth $3.3 billion.