The newest startups in the world. The best startups in Russia and around the world
Startup- this is the name of both a company that is planned to be created and an existing enterprise in the development stage. Usually this is a project with an original idea that has not yet been brought to life.
Business angel- a private investor who often invests personal funds in risky projects.
"Writing in the Sand"
An online service that allows you to order a memorable inscription on the sand of any beach in the world as a gift.
Starting capital: $100
The idea for a startup came to 23-year-old Anton Velikanov when he moved to Costa Rica. Financial investments were minimal. Anton completely developed the website in four days and wrote all the popular Russian names on his beach with his own hand. After a couple of months of working on the project, users had the opportunity to order confessions and wishes. There were photographers who were ready to fulfill individual client requests. During the first year of operation, several joint campaigns were carried out with coupon sites, which brought recognition to the project. Also, the startup “Inscription on the Sand” was one of the first to receive a StartFellows grant.
"Social Alarm Clock"
A free service with which you can order a wake-up call for yourself or wake someone up yourself.
Starting capital: $100 000
Hrachik Ajamyan, a student and owner of a small website development company, had a hard time forcing himself to get up in the morning. But when he received calls from unknown numbers, he immediately got up, thinking that it was a new client. This is how the idea emerged that calls from strangers are effective alarm clocks.
At the very beginning, the startup team consisted of five people. The development of the service was carried out almost 24 hours a day, the guys were so enthusiastic that they hardly slept. The starting capital was the team's own funds. They were spent mainly on salaries of employees and on telecom. Not a single ruble was spent on advertising the startup. After it was decided to participate in the startup competition, the first business angel appeared. He invested $500,000 in the project.
"To Each Other"
This project helps to correctly realize other people's desires and find good fulfillers of your own.
Starting capital: $50 000
The authors of the original idea were four graduates of St. Petersburg State University. They decided that they would choose the desire of a particular person and fulfill it themselves. But then the idea was transformed: now users themselves make each other’s dreams come true. Before participating in the Startup Weekend, not a penny was invested in the project. Then the creators sent an application to the Glavstart company and received the first investments. In addition, this idea received a grant of $25,000 from StartFellows. The first version of the site took three months to develop and was not very successful. The second option was done in one and a half. Coming soon new version: a startup involves constant improvements and moderation.
"Life Button"
Mobile system for calling help for the elderly, as well as for everyone who needs it.
Starting capital: $10 000
Dmitry Yurchenko and Irina Linnik decided to do mobile system help, invested money, bought equipment. Then we found an investor and participated in startup competitions. Even without starting sales, they won the “BIT”, “Telecom Idea”, and “Business Success” competitions. The company faces many difficulties. The main one is sales, because many people do not know what a medical alarm is. Despite this, the creators plan to enter the regions and develop their own unique equipment.
Here are ideas from abroad:
Super Marmite, super-marmite.com, “Super-marmite.”
It's simple: you prepare a dish at home, post a photo of it on this site, set a price, indicate the address and wait for hungry customers.
HighScore House, highscorehouse.com - "Model House."
A chance to turn routine household chores into a game for children. Parents themselves determine what prize the child will receive for completing the task.
Never Liked It Anyway, neverlikeditanyway.com - “I didn’t like him anyway.”
Here you can sell some gift from your ex, and at the same time tell how bad this ex is, and get comments from sympathetic users.
What's new
If you have a startup or an idea, you can:
Get advice or initial investment by participating in StartupWeekend, or contact the organizer - the Glavstart company - to receive a grant.
russia.startupweekend.org, glavstart.ru;
Participate in the BIT entrepreneurial competition, which is held almost throughout Russia.
bit-konkurs.ru;
Submit your startup to the Telecom Idea competition.
telecomideas.ru;
Get a startup grant from StartFellows.
milnerdurov.com;
Nominate a project from any field of activity for the “Best Startup” nomination in the “Business Success” competition.
opora-credit.ru/conference;
Take part in the Harvest work weekend and turn your idea into a startup.
greenfield-project.ru/harvest;
Nominate your company for the “Startups of the Year” nomination of the Runet Award.
premiaruneta.ru;
Fill out the form to participate in the “Technovation Cup” project competition.
technocup.ru.
Prepared by Anna Grineva
Polina Todorova
Startups serve as the spark that ignites the engine of the economy. The most successful of them, such as, and, also change our way of life.
Forbes, with the support of the venture capital firm TrueBridge Capital Partners, has compiled a list of 25 American startups that can revolutionize their field, they are already showing real results and have attracted tens (and in some cases hundreds) of millions of dollars in investment.
BitSight Technologies
Founders: Stephen Boyer, Nagarjuna Venna.
Investments received:$95 million.
$30 million.
Key investors: Globespan Capital Partners, Menlo Ventures, GGV Capital
What he does: Uses complex algorithms that produce a daily security rating, which is essentially a "credit history" in . The startup was founded in 2011 and has already signed contracts with more than 450 companies, including Ferrari, Hess and Lowe’s. The office is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Boxed
Boxed Warehouse in Edison, NJ. Photo: Forbes
Founders: Chieh Huang, Jarezh Yaman, Christopher Cheung, William Fong.
Investments received:$133 million.
: over $100 million.
Key investors: DST Global, GGV Capital
What he does: Offers direct delivery services for packaged goods in giant packaging using an app or website. In 2013, the startup was a garage in suburban New Jersey. Two years ago, the company's annual revenue was $8 million. This year it exceeded $100 million.
“Packaged goods are one of the biggest drivers of the economy, but only 1.5% of them can be ordered online,” says CEO Huang. “Isn’t this crazy?”
Checkr
Founders: Daniel Janiss and Jonathan Perichon.
Investments received: $50 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$150 million.
Notable investors: Accel, Y Combinator
What he does: Sells background checks of job seekers to companies like Uber, Instacart and Warby Parker. Checkr produces reports in the form of an API that their employee data system can recognize. The startup was founded in 2014. It now has more than 4,000 clients and 90 employees. Its founders, Janisse (28 years old) and Perichon (26 years old), are from France. They came up with his idea while working at delivery service Deliv in Palo Alto, where they needed to do background checks.
“I was amazed at how weak the technology was and how terrible the interface was,” Janiss said. “And I thought we could do better.”
Payal Kadakia. Photo: Forbes
Founders: Payal Kadakia, Mary Biggins, Sanjeev Sanghavi.
Investments received:$84 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$180 million.
Key investors: Google Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Thrive Capital
What he does: An application that allows its subscribers to sign up for an unlimited number of different fitness courses - from Pilates, cycling and boxing to aqua exercise classes, aerial yoga and striptease lessons. The application has already become very popular in 31 cities in the US and 8 cities in the UK, Canada and Australia. To date, more than 20 million people have signed up for various classes with its help. CEO and co-founder Payal Kadaria is an MIT graduate. She is a professional Indian dancer. The idea for a startup came to her in 2010, when she was looking for a good dance studio in New York. In 2013, she launched a startup called ClassPass.
Collective Health
Founders: Ali Diab and Rajai Batniji.
Investments received:$150 million.
Approximate income for 2016: $15 million.
Prominent investors: Founders Fund, Google Ventures
What he does: This San Francisco-based startup is already three years old. He is dedicated to providing his clients with data that helps them optimize their plan health insurance. The project sells assistance services and a program that clearly explains all the advantages of insurance and makes it easier to fill out insurance claims. Thus, the process of obtaining insurance is reduced to several days. In addition, the program tracks progress in treatment, such as stages of chemotherapy. Therefore, the patient receives fewer refusals to pay for treatment than when contacting conventional insurers. Ali Diab, the startup's CEO and co-founder, previously worked as a product manager at Yahoo and at AdMob, a mobile advertising company. The idea for Collective Health came to him after he underwent emergency surgery for a volvulus and was denied $200,000 in health insurance claims.
"The service was insultingly bad," he said.
The startup's second founder, Rajai Batniji, is an assistant professor of internal medicine at Stanford Hospital.
Doppler Labs
Founders: Noah Kraft, Fritz Lanman.
Investments received:$50 million.
Approximate income in 2017 i 2016 report not available year:$100 million.
Key investors: Acequia Capital, The Chernin Group, Wildcat Capital Management
What he does: Develops a miniature ear computer. The founders of the startup hope that in the future it will become as popular as the iPhone. This device, called Here One, is now up for pre-order ($299). Owners of this device can learn new information (for example, listen to live commentary during a baseball game), adjust the level of ambient noise (to fall asleep or better hear the words of the interlocutor). Here One essentially creates augmented audio reality.
“We want to put a computer in every person's ear,” says project CEO Noah Craft.
Freshdesk
Founder: Girish Mathrubootham.
Investments received:$95 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$65 million.
Notable investors: Accel, Tiger Global Management, Google Capital
What he does: Sells cloud-based customer support software that companies can use to contact regular customers using different communication channels - for example, through email, by phone, through the website, forums or social networks. Technical support workers just need to log into Freshdesk and they will see all tickets and requests. The company also sells Freshservice for the company's internal help desk. The startup Freshdesk was founded six years ago in the Indian city of Chinnai. Girish Mathrubootham decided to create it after he moved from India to the USA. During transportation, his TV was broken, and the carrier ignored his complaint. Girish managed to get compensation only after he complained on an online forum. Freshdesk differs from its larger competitors like Zendesk in that it is primarily aimed at small and medium-sized businesses. Freshdesk is currently headquartered in San Bruno, California. The startup has 850 employees worldwide and has offices in Chinnai, Berlin, London and Sydney.
Fuze
Founders: Steve Kokinos, Derek Yu.
Investments received:$200 million.
Approximate income for 2016: more than $150 million.
Key investors: Bessemer Venture Partners, TCV, Summit Partners
What he does: Helps collect all corporate correspondence (in text, audio or video format) in the cloud. For many companies this is very important, but unfortunately not easy to implement.
“People use a lot of apps even though they end up having terrible experiences,” said Steve Kokinos, co-founder and executive director startup, “We came up with the idea of a startup when we realized what a mess was going on in this area.”
The startup was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts ten years ago and was originally called ThinkingPhones.
Roger Dickey. Photo: Forbes
Founders: Roger Dickey and Debo Olaosebikan.
Investments received:$12.5 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$30 million.
Notable investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator
What he does: Offers a platform where companies can hire vetted freelancers in the fields of programming, design and project management. The startup is already two years old, its main office is located in San Francisco. Gigster charges a 25% commission on the transaction. Its clients include IBM and MasterCard. Dickey is a software engineer by training - at age 23, he founded the company that developed the popular multiplayer social networking game Dope Wars (it was sold to Zynga in 2008). The second founder of Olaosebikan was a rapper from Lagos, Nigeria. There he also once founded two startups. Dickie and Olaosebikan met at a conference in San Francisco.
Rob Solomon, CEO of GoFundMe. Photo: Eric Mylett, Forbes.
Founders: Brad Damhouse and Andy Bollister.
Investments received: at least $300 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$100 million
What he does: He runs the largest and most successful crowdfunding platform. The startup takes a 5 percent commission on fees for “individual cases.” Additionally, there is a 2.8% credit card processing fee and a 0.30% fee for each donation amount. The project started in 2010. Within five years, the total amount of donations exceeded a billion dollars. In July 2015, the company entered into a venture deal and received a valuation of $600 million. After this, the amount of donations reached almost $2 billion.
Guardant Health
Helmy Eltoki. Photo: Forbes
Founders: Helmy Eltoki and Amir Ali Talasaz.
Investments received:$200 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$30 million.
Notable investors: Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, OrbiMed Advisors
What he does: Offers her cancer patients a blood test without the risk and pain that typically accompanies a routine tumor biopsy. The “liquid biopsy” developed by this company has been on the market since 2014. It uses fragments of cancer DNA that can be found in the patient's blood. Using the analysis, you can track the development of the disease and the presence of gene mutations and prescribe the necessary medications. According to one of the founders, many companies offer such analysis, but Guardant dominates the market, with a 95% share. The startup is headquartered in Redwood City, California, and has approximately 190 employees and counting. Guardant's blood test costs $5,800, but the company matches that price with patients' health insurance.
HotelTonight
Founder: Sam Shank.
Investments received:$81 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$60 million.
Notable investors: Coatue, Battery Ventures, US Venture
What he does: Using the startup's website or mobile app, you can book a hotel room at the last minute. Project founder Sam Shank believes that when searching for a hotel, people want to see no more than 15 options, not all 500. HotelTonight shows rooms with discounts of up to 20% in hotels located in more than 2,500 cities North America and Europe. At the beginning next year Shank plans to make a public offering of the company's shares. This is his third startup for travelers. In 2004, he launched a website with hotel reviews, TravelPost, which he sold two years later to the SideStep project. He also created the travel search engine DealBase, from which the idea for HotelTonight came.
InVision
Founders: Clark Wahlberg and Ben Nadel.
Investments received:$135 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$40 million.
Key investors: FirstMark Capital, Tiger Global, Accel, Iconiq Capital
What he does: Sells software that allows designers to quickly prototype websites and proposals without having to wait for engineers to build custom back-end tools for them. The startup InVision has already attracted a number of serious clients, including Airbnb, Salesforce and . InVision plans to collaborate with large banks and traditional companies that pay a lot of attention to design.
Scott Crouch. Photo: Forbes
Founders: Scott Crouch, Matthew Polega, Florian Meir.
Investments received:$41 million.
Approximate income for 2016: over $15 million.
Key investors: General Catalyst Partners, Spark Capital
What he does: Helps improve police performance through custom programs and data analytics. Although getting the police to accept changes is not easy, Mark43 has managed to secure contracts with some departments. The startup recently won its first bid to supply its services to five Los Angeles County police departments. The startup's CEO Scott Crouch, 25, founded the company with his two best friends, while still studying at Harvard College. Now the trio is included in the list of 30 successful businessmen under 30, according to Forbes.
Opendoor
Founders: Eric Wu, Kate Raboys, JD Ross, Ian Wong.
Investments received:$110 million.
Approximate income for 2016: over $50 million.
Key investors: Access Industries, GGV Capital, Khosla Ventures
What he does: Offers a new way to sell and buy homes. Every year, 5.5 million Americans try to sell their home. They all have to navigate the confusing selling process and all those real estate agents. As a result, they simply do not understand how long all this will last. A San Francisco startup is looking to change all that with technology that shows the price of a home and offers to buy it right away (with an 8% commission).
Owlet Baby Care
Three founders of the company. Photo: Forbes
Founders: Kurt Workman, Georgian Monroe, Zach Bomsta, Jacob Colvin.
Investments received:$15 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$20 million.
Key investors: Azimuth Ventures, Eclipse, ff Venture Capital, Eniac Ventures.
What he does: Makes devices that monitor a child's health. When Kurt Worman was studying at university, he decided to take up family planning and thought about the safety of his unborn child. So, he and his comrades created Owlet, a device that uses heart rate data to tell parents if their baby suddenly stops breathing, or if their heart rate suddenly speeds up or slows down. The device fits into a child's sock and sells for $250.
Procore Technologies
Tooey Courtemanche. Photo: Forbes
Founder: Tooey Courtemanche.
Investments received:$129 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$55 million.
Key investors: Bessemer Venture Partners, Iconiq Capital
What he does: Sells software, which allows customers to monitor the progress of construction - from viewing drawings to direct communication with subcontractors online or by phone. The main feature of Procore, because of which customers choose it: with the help of this software, they can better monitor their projects, which means the number of errors and cost overruns will be reduced.
Rubicon Global
Founder: Nate Morris.
Investments received:$96 million.
Approximate income for 2016: more than $300 million.
Key investors: Goldman Sachs, Wellington Management
What he does: Connects independent waste collection and recycling companies with large stores, restaurants and hotels using modern technologies. This way, customers of waste collection companies can schedule waste removal in a timely manner. Thanks to the competitive basis and the presented wide choice different garbage collection companies, Rubicon customers can significantly reduce their waste collection costs. More than 5,000 organizations used the service. The startup is gradually expanding and offering its services to individuals.
Rubrik
Founders: Bipul Sinha, Arvind Jain, Soem Mazumdar, Arvind Nitrakashyar.
Investments received:$112 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$50 million.
Key investors: Greylock Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners
What he does: Sells software that helps store and transfer terabytes of information between data centers and the cloud. Example: One of the startup's clients, Driscoll's, has a wealth of information about the genotypes and types of berries it grows. Rubrick helps protect and store this data throughout our global operations. If a corporate server suddenly goes down, Rubrik can instantly restore all data. The founders of this Palo Alto startup are: former employees Oracle, Google and Facebook, and its CEO Bipul Sinha was once a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a fund that participated in Snapchat's early investment.
Sumo Logic
Founders: Christian Bigden, Kumar Saurabh.
Investments received:$160 million.
Approximate income for 2016: more than $50 million.
Key investors: Greylock Partners, DFJ Growth, IVP
What he does: Sells cloud service analysts. The Redwood City-based startup works with companies from different areas, for example, with AirBnB, Anheuser-Busch and Twitter. It helps them understand some of the digital data that they wouldn't otherwise pay attention to. The startup was founded six years ago by veterans of ArcSight, a cybersecurity agency owned by Hewlett-Packard. It is now run by 44-year-old Ramin Sayyar, who took over as CEO in 2014.
“I would say that the Sumo project is still a baby,” says Saillard. “We’re still clumsy and trying to figure everything out.” And in my opinion, this is the most pleasant time for the company.”
ServiceMax
Founders: David Yarnold, Athani Krishna, Hari Subramanian.
Investments received:$204 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$60 million.
Key investors: Meritech Capital Partners, Premji Invest
What he does: Automates the work of maintenance personnel in the field (for example, repairmen of a forklift or an oil production installation). Instead of taking a phone call, manually filling out a work order, and waiting for the customer to send a paper check, service personnel can now use the ServiceMax program. It can also be used to monitor equipment maintenance and manage maintenance schedules. The program records parts availability and tracks problems using CT scans. When the equipment needs to be repaired, the program sends a special notification. The startup's two founders, Athani Krishna and Hari Subramanian, moved from India to the United States nine years ago to work as software engineers. ServiceMax has big competitors in SAP, Oracle and Salesforce, but the global field service market is worth $18 billion. The startup has offices in India, the UK and a dozen other countries.
Sisense
Founders: Eldad Farkash, Aviad Harell, Guy Boyangou, Adi Azaria.
Investments received:$94 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$50 million.
Key investors: Bessemer Venture Partners, DFJ Growth
What he does: Sells analytical programs that deal with huge amounts of data - from production efficiency, inventory numbers and sales numbers to warranty periods and profitability levels. The startup's clients include Motorola, General Electric, Target and a number of small and medium-sized businesses. The project was founded in 2005 in Tel Aviv, now it has two offices - in Israel and New York.
“It all started with five guys and one dog who sat in a garage and dreamed of incredible technology,” says CEO Amir Orad.
They released their program in 2010, and since then “things have taken off.”
Talkdesk
Founder: Thiago Paiva.
Investments received:$24 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$30 million.
Key investors: 500 Startups, DFJ, Salesforce Ventures, Storm Ventures
What he does: Sells a subscription to a customer service program. A year ago, Talkdesk's customer base numbered 500 people; now it has increased to 1,200. Initially, the founder of the project, 29-year-old Paiva, counted only on small and medium business. His current client list includes , Box, Shopify and Peet’s Coffee. Paiva is originally from Portugal. After graduating from college, he opened his own company in Lisbon. However, he soon moved to San Francisco - one of the Californian investors saw a commercial for his company on YouTube and offered him $10,000 if he agreed to move.
Tenable Network Security
Founders: Ron Gula, Jack Huffard, Reno Deraison.
Investments received:$280 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$125 million.
Key investors: Accel, Insight Venture Partners
What he does: Creates programs that allow their large corporate clients like NASDAQ and the US Department of Defense to scan their computer networks for hacks. The software monitors vulnerabilities on mobile phones, cameras, computers and tablets. For the first ten years, the startup was self-sufficient and only attracted venture capital investments in 2012. The company has grown rapidly over the past two years after moving away from selling licenses to an annual subscription system.
Yapstone
Founders: Tom Villante, Matt Golis.
Investments received:$50 million.
Approximate income for 2016:$235 million.
Key investors: Accel, Meritech Capital Partners
What he does: Offers secure payment systems for booking vacations and renting housing through services like HomeAway and VRBO. Although there are major players in the online payments market like PayPal and Square, Yapstone operates primarily in its own niche area. According to CEO Tom Villante, the startup plans to increase its revenue to $1 billion by 2020.
Ideas for startups: the “freshest” ideas from all over the world - 3 keys to success + TOP 5 ideas from all over the world + 3 startup ideas from Russian developers.
Why startup ideas are they becoming increasingly popular in the business sphere and bringing owners a lot of capital?
First of all, because they offer completely new, innovative solutions to people’s pressing problems.
Therefore, it is quite logical that in search of inspiration for creating your own startup, you should not rush “deep into history.”
Follow trends, fashion trends, what is actually in demand now.
This article, which brings together the main business trends and forecasts regarding future discoveries in the entrepreneurial “art” market, can help you with this.
What is a startup?
Before talking about startup ideas, it’s worth defining what we mean in general.
Most people have only a general understanding of startups. That’s why some believe that this is the name given to new resources on the Internet, while others believe that this is a business created by young people without experience.
There is some truth in this. However, the concept itself is broader.
Startup is a business idea that is based solely on the use of innovative technologies or the introduction of completely new products.
That is, the composition of the team and the format of the company do not matter (startups often begin to develop without being officially registered).
The main thing is that the team helps solve some problem of humanity by offering something unique.
Also distinctive features of the startup are:
- limited money to start;
- starting work from scratch;
- Most often, startup partners were previously connected by some kind of relationship (worked together, studied together).
And although the world learns about such companies in their first steps, when the market position is not yet strong, only those companies that have already manufactured a product can be called startups.
The development or “raw” project is only the basis for creation, but not the startup itself.
What is the key to success of a startup idea?
If you analyze the ideas behind startups that have been particularly successful, you can identify several common features.
Conventionally, they can be called “secrets of success.”
Factors on which the success of a startup idea depends:
What exactly do you think about the idea that became a startup?
Do you think it can bring in a lot of money?
Or are you really “on fire” and confident that this business will be useful to people and become innovative?
Only in the second case does the startup really have a chance of success.
If you don't have a genuine interest, you can quickly burn out.
Moreover, startups rarely bring immediate profit.
A lot depends on the team.
It is obvious that a team of like-minded people working on the same wavelength can do more than one person.
Don't try to put everything on your shoulders.
You should not calculate how many people will have to divide the profit, but take care of the perfect quality of every detail.
Youth is a plus.
Let this statement sound like discredit.
But the fact remains: investors are more focused on investing in the young and ambitious.
Let people with experience do their job - lead large organizations and share knowledge with others.
For those who no longer consider themselves a “young man”, but are eager, let us clarify: success in business has no age restrictions.
Do you have any doubts? Look at this picture:
TOP 5: global startup ideas
As a rule, startups are concentrated in the field of IT technologies. We decided to create a selection of ideas that were created and brought to life by ordinary people.
This step is intended to inspire you to implement your own ideas, even if you do not have any special education or many years of work experience.
1. An eco-friendly idea: a special shampoo
"Nephentes" looks like an enema or something.
In fact, this startup idea can have a significant impact on the environment.
Few people think about it, but ordinary plastic bottles from "" are harmful to environment product. The decomposition period of one bottle can be hundreds of years!
Do you remember how much you use them throughout your life?
According to the idea of this startup, manufacturers produce products in huge containers, pouring the required portions into customers’ “Nephentes” bottles.
It is curious that the design does not even involve the use of a lid! The neck is simply bent and inserted into the compartment.
Another plus: you can finally use 100% of the product, including what usually remains at the bottom.
2. Indian startup idea
If you think that all that India can do is dance and make films, then you will be surprised - quite a few startup ideas have been created in this country.
Interestingly, there is even a kind of analogue of the American Silicon Valley.
In addition, India is really interested in the issue of the huge amount of garbage on the streets. Innovative ideas appear regularly.
For example, an edible spoon is an excellent alternative to plastic utensils. After eating, you can eat it as a dessert or, of course, just throw it away.
Obviously, such “material” as flour decomposes as quickly as possible and is absolutely harmless to nature.
The creators also assure that vegetarians can safely eat the product. And in the future there are even plans to develop a gluten-free version.
3. Idea for junk food lovers
Who among us is not familiar with such a problem: you carefully take chips or something else greasy, and your fingers get so dirty that you have to go wash them.
And you need to be extremely careful not to catch or stain anything!
A startup has appeared in Italy, the idea of which is to create finger pads. They are very thin, but the latex fits tightly around your fingers.
Thanks to this, consumers can safely enjoy the goodies and then simply throw away the “attachments.”
It is assumed that these devices will not be sold on their own, but as a set with chips, nuts or similar food for which they were invented.
4. Startup: “folding” napkins
But the idea of this startup is designed for higher cuisine – that is, for restaurants. It appeared as a reaction to the fact that ordinary napkin holders are already becoming an obsolete item.
But napkins pressed into a small round “puck” are a different matter. To use such a thing, visitors must immerse the “tablet” in an antiseptic solution.
And immediately the fabric unfolds, acquires a pleasant smell, and even becomes a “killing weapon” for harmful microbes on your hands.
Don't immediately assume the increased costs for owners: these towels are not disposable. So the startup idea will not harm your wallet or the environment.
5. Startup idea with social value
Often startups are still called upon to solve global problems, and not just improve the already comfortable life of consumers.
For example, a special supermarket was created in Denmark – “WeFood”. Its concept is that they sell goods here that cannot be displayed on “decent” shelves.
Incorrect labeling, torn packaging, an approaching expiration date, or even being out of date - all of these are usually reasons for writing off, returning, or even disposing of goods.
Meanwhile, even in Denmark there are many people who have to save on everything.
The supermarket idea not only helped low-income people eat more nutritiously. It also revealed a 25% reduction in the amount of food wasted across the country!
This is such a useful and, oddly enough, profitable startup.
What about Russia: 3 domestic ideas for startups
Although the words “conditions of economic decline” have already become classic words for the reality of Russian entrepreneurship, in the field of startups everything is not so bad.
The “buy and sell” guideline is gradually giving way to an innovative approach.
Original solutions still do not have such powerful state support, as in other countries.
However, their number is increasing, and investors are ready to invest their funds. This is especially clearly seen in the variety of startup ideas in 2016.
1) A startup you've definitely heard of
Have you seen the original photo processing on Instagram that turns an ordinary frame into an artistic canvas? Most likely, you already know what we are talking about.
For the rest, let’s clarify – the “Prisma” application is a service that allows you to process user photos in an original way.
It will come as a surprise to many that Prizma was developed by Russian programmers. Moreover, its creator is a former employee of the well-known mail.ru.
The peculiarity of the program is that it does not simply impose some filters on top of the card.
Thanks to the use of neural network algorithms (which you may also have heard a lot about), Prizma analyzes the frame and then creates it from scratch. But already in the form of a painting.
The fact that almost everyone now knows about this application is already an indicator of success. It remains to add that the Facebook administration banned the use of the program on its network only because it considered it competitive.
2) Idea for a startup on cards
It is believed that various savings and discount cards are gradually becoming a thing of the past. At a minimum, because no one wants to carry dozens of options with them without knowing which one they need.
The developers of the startup “Cardberry” came up with the idea of creating a device that can accommodate all kinds of cards.
We won't go into technical details. The bottom line is that any user cards are, as it were, entered into the memory of this electronic device.
Every time a person needs a certain card, he goes into a special application and selects it.
“Cardberry” adapts to your choice and becomes a full-fledged replacement for the required card.
For your attention, we offer a cool video
about the 10 most successful startups in the world:
3) Startup idea for a comfortable life
You may not be familiar with the SVET company yet, but you have every chance to hear about them.
As the name suggests, the team offers lighting equipment. What makes this startup idea innovative?
The fact is that the light bulbs from this company are designed to imitate ordinary natural lighting.
Moreover, the device settings can be adjusted (for example, according to the time of day or night).
This startup idea is not only original and adds more comfort to everyday life. But it also has a beneficial effect on human health.
There is perhaps only one downside to the idea: at the moment one device is priced at $70. The amount is too significant for Russians. However, the startup is in demand abroad.
Collected above ideas for startups They only emphasize: anyone can create a business based on an innovative idea. The field of startups is not limited to the field of IT technologies.
The main thing is that you bring something new and useful to the world.
And if the idea is worthwhile and the execution is diligent, it can make you rich, no matter how trivial it may sound.
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Greetings, dear readers! Today anyone can start a successful business who has interesting idea in any field. You can verify this by reading about best startups world of recent years. I’ll say right away that the selection is subjective, since there are a lot of equally successful projects. In addition, I will write about interesting startups more than once, so today’s absentees can be greeted later
Let me remind you about the concept...
But still, the newly minted startup businessman must find the bulk of the funds himself. To find investors, special startup exchanges have been organized, where “ideas and money find each other.” If the idea seems interesting to the investor and profitable in the long term, he can provide financial assistance, claiming in the future for the agreed profit or equity participation in the business.
As a result, today there are many Russian young entrepreneurs who have managed to bring their fresh idea to life. The most successful startups in Russia and globally are among the leaders.
- NeuroMama is a search engine that is capable of self-learning. New principles of organizing search have been applied without using conventional ranking algorithms. At a certain stage in its existence, the stock price was higher than many well-known American companies.
- Cardberry is a single medium that combines information from different discount cards. Data about all discounts and bonuses are stored on one electronic card.
- LinguaLeo is a learning application that allows you to gradually master a foreign language in an accessible form.
- ImageAiry is a marketplace for sharing images obtained using satellite or aerial photography. The service has made it easier to access such a service and expanded the ability to search for customers and clients in this area. The only project of its kind in the world.
- MoneyMan is an online service that allows you to apply for and receive a quick loan without leaving your home. The project is an example of a foreign idea successfully adapted to the Russian market.
What ideas bring quick and big profits?
If you take apart all the most successful projects, it is easy to see that most of them are all kinds of applications that can be used from mobile devices. Some of them make familiar things more convenient, others are just fun. And your phone probably contains many examples of profitable startups. Take a look at the contents of your gadget. Maybe the new application you invented is missing there?
Here are examples for inspiration that raised millions of dollars in the first months of operation (write in the comments if you recognize the product):
- A program that allows you to accept payments from bank cards through mobile devices
- This service allows you to stream music
- One of the options for cloud file storage
- The best application for selecting any property around the world
- An application in which an ordinary photograph is turned into a masterpiece painted using the technique of the selected artist
As you can see, ideas for a startup can concern anything. Especially popular today:
- Applications that accumulate offers different companies in the selected type of service (food stores, beauty salons, taxis, fitness clubs, animal care, repairs, etc.)
- Programs for processing, storing and sharing photos and videos.
- Platforms on which customers and performers of any activity can find each other.
- Educational applications (foreign languages, programming, for photographers, etc.)
Startups in the medical field are also successful. For example, with the help of Guardant Health, test results for cancer can be obtained simply by donating blood, without a biopsy or other complex procedures. And thanks to Collective Health, communication about health insurance becomes simple and clear.
Useful inventions that are used both in everyday life and in scientific activity: from the multicube, a pocket TV projector for showing cartoons, to SpaceX, a project in the field of space technology, which plans to deliver cargo to Mars. 
No less profitable are the development of tools for doing business, recruiting personnel, monitoring work processes, analyzing and systematizing various databases. If you know how to help big bosses work comfortably, create a suitable program and sell it to a couple of large corporations. Fast payback is guaranteed.
A startup is a risk, as it is an investment in something new without any guarantee of a positive result. But it’s the new ones fresh ideas in business can make their author incredibly rich and successful person.
For dessert, look at Cardberry. Awesome topic! The video is from two years ago, but now the project is already in full swing!
With respect and faith in a bright future, Alexey Zaitsev.
The best startups in Russia include:
A popular online training service that helps everyone who wants to master English language or increase the existing level. Now more than 14 million people around the world use it. Each new “student” can take a test and choose the level they need, receive a set of exercises and educational materials for mastering it. The application allows you to train your understanding of not only written speech, but also its listening comprehension. Educational materials are provided in both audio and video formats.
This is an educational platform with game elements that provides the opportunity to learn linguistic skills from native speakers.
The animated lion mascot gave the service its name - Leo. The idea to use this particular character, lost in the jungle of knowledge, came to the developers on the exotic island of Koh Chang, where the founder and a team of programmers worked for about six months to create a new service. Five years later, the founder, Ainur Abdulnasyrov, entered the top hundred Russian millionaires.
Google included LinguaLeo in its list of the best Android apps in 2015.
LinguaLeo - learning English can be funDoctor at work
The virtual community of professional doctors is a startup by Andrey Perfilyev and Stanislav Sazhin, which appeared in 2009. They created a space that most closely resembles a closed club, within which people of the same specialty can exchange experiences and gain necessary information, ask colleagues questions, find a job.
Gradually, with growing popularity, the network expanded significantly. Now both medical students and pharmacists can use it. They, like doctors, got the opportunity not only to communicate, but also to improve their skills for free.
Half of all medical workers in Russia, with higher education, are its registered users. In terms of participant activity, Doctor at Work ranks first in the world. For several years in a row, the project has occupied more and more honorable places in the ranking of the best startups in Russia - Russian Startup Rating.
Most doctors in Russia use their own social network"Doctor at work"
MoneyMan comes to the rescue very quickly when it comes to micro-loans
Who hasn't dreamed of a flash drive with unlimited capacity? Alexey Churkin, founder of the Flashsafe startup, was able to solve this problem. It was he who came up with the idea of a “dimensionless” drive - a flash card connected to a cloud file storage system. Through special electronic devices the information is placed in the repository and resides there absolutely anonymously, without being tied to a specific user. This makes it possible to obtain the necessary files without necessarily using passwords or keys. Such a device cannot be hacked; it guarantees complete security and confidentiality of information.
Alexey raised it with his own funds and grants, successfully presented his project in Skolkovo, after which 1.5 million rubles were collected in pre-orders. Gradually, investors were found, and the project repeatedly appeared on crowdfunding platforms. On August 30, 2016, sales of the “endless” drive started.
Flashsafe combines flash drive and infinity
The fastest startup, which became the best startup project in just a few days, is among the best startups of 2016 in Russia. The creators were forced to artificially restrain the powerful growth in the popularity of the project. is a mobile application that appeared quite recently, in the summer of 2016, and allows the user to turn any photo into an image made in the style of famous artists. It became possible to turn an ordinary frame into a work of art in just a couple of seconds and clicks. His success was simply dizzying. In 10 days, the new photo editor became the most downloaded product.
Investors valued the entire project at more than $10 million. The founder of the service, Alexey Moiseenkov, has become no less popular than his brainchild and tries “not to give more than one interview a day.” In them, he says that about two months were spent working on the mega-popular application and the investments were made “within the framework of salaries.” Now Mail.ru has already become an investor in Prisma, which allows us to evaluate the success and prospects of the project.
With Prisma, anyone can become a great artist
MULTICUBE
A Russian project that won the Startup Village competition in the summer of 2016. The startup ran a successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo and successfully presented itself at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York in 2016. Mikhail Bukhovtsev is the founder and CEO of Multikubik.
The project is an interesting technical novelty for the youngest users. We are talking about mini-projectors in the shape of a cube, with cartoons and filmstrips inside. You can project an image onto any flat surface. The creators claim that this is a “healthier” alternative to a child watching entertainment content on a tablet, the best option for quality family leisure.
Participant of the Skolkovo and API Moscow platforms. More than $105 thousand was raised to launch sales. Currently, the company management plans to develop a premium version of the projector, more budget option will go into production very soon.
Multicube - a classic in new packaging
This is a list. Some of them are already known abroad, have found investors there and are planning to enter the international market. What can we say about the current situation in this area on a global scale? What are the best startups in the world?
10 best startups in the world
The best startup projects around the world include:
Slack
A popular corporate messenger that appeared in 2013. It provides very great opportunities for online teamwork; it is especially suitable for small and medium-sized companies. Slack makes official email correspondence between employees and complex internal document flow unnecessary. This service was ideal for communication between employees at work, but it also made it possible to create communities of interest, business or leisure. That is why another opportunity to use Slack is to search for the right specialists; HR workers actively use this.
The fastest growing business application in history, now valued at nearly $3 billion.
The application was created by Cambridge Philosophy graduate Stuart Butterfield. Over seven rounds of investment, his startup was able to raise about $350 million and become one of the best such projects in the world. It is especially popular in the USA and European countries. On the first day of testing, more than 8 thousand organizations registered in the Slack system.
More than a million users have already appreciated the benefits of Slack
Uber
One of the most famous and scandalous startups in the world, which indignant competitors regularly try to catch up with and are desperately trying to somehow cope with its expansion. At the same time, the project is very successful; investors value it at $64 billion.
The idea of linking a taxi order to a mobile application turned out to be simply golden. It belongs to Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp. The idea was born to one of the founders in Paris, when he could not get a taxi.
Having appeared in 2009, Uber brought huge profits to its creators. The world's leading venture financiers fought for the right to invest money in the service. This is understandable, since the company’s daily revenue now amounts to several million.
Now mobile taxis under this brand operate in more than 80 cities around the world, the number of trips using Uber in America has grown by 250%. The company continues to actively explore the global market and expand.
Uber is one of the best startups in the world in recent years
Zenefits was founded in 2013 by entrepreneur Parker Conrad, who until recently served as its CEO. Over the course of a year, the project went from an unknown startup to a dynamically developing business. It took him less than two years to become a company with a capitalization of more than $1 billion. Zenefits boasts some of Silicon Valley's biggest names (like Andreessen Horowitz) and is valued at $4.5 billion.
The project offers innovative software for HR departments of enterprises, which significantly simplifies personnel management and document management in companies. The service allows you to automatically calculate employee salaries, calculate benefits, bonuses, labor productivity factors, and determine vacation dates.
In February 2016, Zenefits changed its director, David Sachs, who took emergency measures to maintain the high assessment of the project by investors. Despite the fact that the company is now experiencing some difficulties, the number of its customers still numbers 20 thousand people.
Zenefits - a fundamentally new approach to work in the field of personnel management
Porch
One of the best startups in the world, which appeared in Seattle in 2013. The project was created to connect professionals who can perform home or appliance repair work with people who need their services. A convenient interface and ordering system allows you to find the right specialist very quickly, which was immediately appreciated by numerous Porch users. During its existence, the company managed to raise $99 million in 3 rounds of financing.
Porch is:
- 3 million professionals with work experience and reviews
- 140 million completed transactions
- over $100 million in venture capital
The company gives all clients a guarantee of $1000 if the quality of the work performed does not satisfy the customer.
The founders of Porch claim that their business continues to grow and develop, has excellent prospects and big plans for the future.
Porch - repairs are best left to professionals
A new type of social Internet service founded by Ben Silberman in 2008. With its help, each user can create their own unique virtual “boards” on which they collect and store images grouped by various topics. Very quickly, Pinterest has become a worldwide catalog of ideas and inspiration for a very large global audience of creative people and ordinary users. The project is especially popular among women. For example, brides looking for a wedding style or young mothers organizing photo shoots for their babies. Of course, all specialists in the artistic field also appreciated it.
It took this startup less than a year to attract its first 10 thousand users. Zilberman says that he personally drafted and sent invitation letters to the first 5 thousand. This figure now represents 70 million per month in the US and 150 million worldwide. The project has now surpassed Twitter in terms of audience size. Financially, it is also very prosperous, having attracted $1.3 billion in investments since its founding.
Pinterest - you can't have too many beautiful photos
An incredibly successful online service offering mattresses and other sleep accessories. A practical and serious approach to even the most ordinary household items, it turns out, can bring creators both money and fame. The manufacturer and seller of unusual sleep accessories was able to attract the attention of buyers and investors, the latter valuing the project at $550 million.
The authors of this startup approached the matter with a scientific approach and organized a real laboratory in which they experimentally established the parameters and characteristics of an ideal mattress. Now they sell only one type of it, but in different sizes.
Pleasant bonuses that successfully complement high quality Casper:
- fast delivery
- compact packaging
- possibility of testing and returning goods
At the same time, the cost of a standard size mattress starts at $500, but the company provides a 10-year guarantee on it. The project successfully withstands competition, although the price of their goods is approximately twice the average.
This startup relied on comfort
It turns out that startups also exist in the field of space technology. One of the most successful projects in this area belongs to the CEO Tesla to Elon Mask, who decided to create the first private transport company for space cargo transportation. In particular, the creator saw the immediate goal of delivering cargo to Mars during its colonization. The project turned out to be successful and now the company is a real space concern.
The first steps in implementing this grandiose plan began in 2002, and 8 years later SpaceX became the first private company, which launched the spacecraft. In 2012, one of its unmanned rockets docked with the International Space Station. After this, management signed a contract with the US Air Force and NASA.
SpaceX is considered the most progressive and promising space carrier, while offering some of the most low prices in the market for similar services.
The path from idea to successful space production
The third most valuable startup in the world is a mobile application that allows you to send messages with attached photos and videos. Created by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Frank Brown.
According to statistics, 200 million users of the application send 700 million messages daily. In general, during its existence, the company has raised more than $1 billion and continues to actively develop.
The head of the company, Evan Spiegel, is trying to make Snapchat a competitor to Facebook and Twitter. Most likely, he will succeed. An ambitious entrepreneur from the “golden youth” is confidently moving forward. The application content continues to be updated and improved, gradually adding new features.
Rapid growth, thoughtful, bold marketing and an audience under 30 are the key to Snapchat's success, which has allowed the company to become the third most capitalized startup in the world.
Evan Spiegel is the founder of Snapchat
Jibo
The creators of the first family robot, led by MIT professor Cynthia Breazeale, raised money for it using a crowdfunding platform. The project was so successful that in just a few days about 900 thousand dollars were received, although 100 thousand were required.
Now you can purchase an electronic friend for all family members and receive from him not only practical help in the form necessary information, but also a couple of funny stories or anecdotes.
Jibo recognizes people and finds its own approach to everyone. He cannot move, but he can speak and show emotions. The first samples have already gone on sale. The creators of Jibo do not stop there; the design of the robot has already been improved with the investments that the project was able to attract.
Jibo - home robot has become a reality
One of the fastest growing internet startups of 2015, born in San Francisco.
The project was created as an online service for delivering food to private customers from nearby stores. The buyer selects all the necessary goods online from the lists of local supermarkets uploaded to the site, and receives his order by courier very quickly, within an hour.
Instacart is now available in several major cities USA and continues to capture the market, and the company's revenues have increased 15 times. The startup is developing rapidly, funds and private investors are confident in Instacart's success, although competition is growing noticeably every year. The project with enviable consistency attracts more and more hundreds of millions of dollars of investment (see Investments in startups: attraction, rules, important points). Total funding for the service over two years is about $150 million. The successful startup's investors include Sequoia, Khosla Ventures, Canaan Partners, Horowitz and many others.
Even going to the store can make you rich
A variety of projects are among the best startups in Russia and around the world. Some of them are created by one enthusiast, while others are developed by several thousand different specialists. Sometimes it takes a month or two from the idea to the finished product, and sometimes it takes years. Each project has its own secret of popularity and its own fascinating story of rise.
