- While best known as the headquarters of Amazon and Microsoft, experts believe the Seattle area is on the precipice of a major startup boom because of a confluence of factors including a critical mass of talent, and the increasing availability of venture capital and angel investments.
- Business Insider compiled a list of the Seattle area's top enterprise startups based on nominations from industry leaders and venture capitalists.
- Eighteen enterprise startups - meaning private companies that haven't sold a majority stakes - made the cut.
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The Seattle area is known for Amazon and Microsoft - except when the companies are mistakenly referred to as "Silicon Valley giants" - but the region also punches above its weight when it comes to enterprise startups.
While the Bay Area is unlikely to be knocked off its perch as the top tech hub in the world, early Amazon investor and cofounder of Seattle's most prolific venture firm Madrona Venture Group Tom Alberg said, Seattle is a clear No. 2.
"You've got Amazon and Microsoft - two of the five most valuable companies in the world," Alberg said. "The other three are in the valley. There are none in New York - I love this - none in Chicago, none in L.A., none in Austin."
The other three - Apple, Google, Facebook - have huge offices in the Seattle area. Facebook's largest engineering outpost is here, and the company is quietly laying the foundation for its own HQ2-style expansion by leasing enough office space for 20,000 employees in the region.
Since Amazon went public in 1994, 31 startups founded in Seattle have reached valuations in excess of $1 billion, according to an analysis from a Madrona Venture Group venture capitalist.
The Seattle area is on the precipice of a major startup boom because of a confluence of factors including a critical mass of talent, increasing availability of venture capital and angel investments, and STEM education through the University of Washington, as two artificial intelligence experts wrote in a recent guest post for Seattle-based tech news site GeekWire.
Business Insider compiled the following list of the Seattle area's top enterprise startups based on nominations from industry leaders and venture capitalists. Here are the startups to watch in 2020:
