Today Bessemer Venture Partners, Forbes, and Salesforce Ventures announced the 2023 Cloud 100 List, the definitive ranking of the top 100 private cloud companies. And this year’s list feels different – is different – for two core reasons.
First, for the first time ever, the aggregate Cloud 100 list value actually contracted in value year-over-year. Last year, the bar for inclusion in the Cloud 100 was incredibly high: not only did all the 2022 Cloud 100 honorees reach the $1 billion valuation milestone, but also the average Cloud 100 valuation skyrocketed to $7.4 billion. However, 2022 was one of the most challenging years in recent history for the cloud economy as companies dealt with macroeconomic uncertainty, tightened IT budgets, elongated sales cycles, layoffs, and valuation multiple compression. These headwinds combined and made 2023 the first year in which the aggregate value of the Cloud 100 contracted year-over-year to $654 billion, down 11% versus the 2022 list value.
Second, despite this bleak backdrop, AI emerged as a shining light for the cloud ecosystem. The AI revolution propelled many of the movers and shakers on the 2023 Cloud 100 list. OpenAI not only made the list for the first time, but it also replaced Stripe in earning the top spot as #1 on the list. Databricks, another company making big investments into AI, also moved to the #2 spot. Embedded AI catalyzed growth in the highest-valued cloud category, “Design, Collaboration, and Productivity”, and AI-Native was by far the most highly valued category of new entrants to the list. These shake-ups make this year’s Cloud 100 list one of the most dynamic in history, and we believe the cloud economy will continue evolving as we enter the Age of AI.
With eight years of Cloud 100 data behind us, in this year’s Benchmarks Report we reveal Bessemer’s analysis and insights into the 2023 Cloud 100 cohort and what it tells us about the exciting future ahead for the cloud economy.
Top highlights:
The 2023 Cloud 100 list represents an astonishing $654 billion of equity value, with an average company valuation of $6.6 billion. Still, this is the first year in which the cumulative Cloud 100 list value contracted year-over-year, largely due to down rounds. (Note that the total list value of The Cloud 100 excludes Midjourney's valuation, as it has not conducted a publicly reported financing.)
Despite this backdrop, 2023 was one of the most competitive years in history for honorees to make the Cloud 100 list, since there was only one graduate off of the 2022 list, design software company Figma. [Adobe announced](https://news.adobe.com/news/news-details/2022/Adobe-to-Acquire-Figma/default.aspx#:~:text=Under the definitive agreement%2C Adobe,stock%2C subject to customary adjustments.) its $20 billion acquisition of Figma in September 2022, though the acquisition is still in process. Adobe’s proposed price valued the company at 50x current ARR, representing one of the highest acquisition multiples in history. While the deal has not yet closed, it exemplifies that best-in-class cloud companies can command a valuation premium even in tough economic conditions.
20 newcomers and returners nonetheless earned their spots on the 2023 Cloud 100 list, largely fueled by the AI revolution. In a testament to the rise of AI, the highest-ranked new entrant was OpenAI, which earned the #1 spot on this year’s list. Stripe has had a stronghold on the top spot for four of the last five years, having briefly been replaced by Snowflake until its IPO in 2020. Alongside OpenAI, other newcomers and returners include Dialpad (#25), Appsflyer (#27), Zoho (#41), Druva (#49), Komodo Health (#56), Browserstack (#58), Retool (#64), ContentSquare (#66), Anthropic (#73), Abnormal (#80), Vanta (#82), Midjourney (#85), Brightwheel (#86), Tekion (#87), Moveworks (#92), Orca Security (#95), Cribl (#96), Hugging Face (#98), and DeepL (#100).
The biggest mover title for 2023 went to cloud security company Wiz, which moved up +67 spots to #15 on the Cloud 100 list. Wiz closed its latest $300 million financing in February 2023, valuing the company at $10 billion. The strength of this financing is notable given the overall decline in list value as well as the backdrop of muted VC fundraising activity, especially at the growth stage. Months before that, Wiz announced that it had reached Centaur status—$100 million of ARR—in a record-breaking speed of just 18 months!
The top 10 Cloud 100 companies represent $211 billion of equity value alone, accounting for 32% of the list’s aggregate value. New entrant OpenAI earned the #1 spot with its multi-billion megaround led by Microsoft earlier this year at a $29 billion valuation. Another big move within the Top 10 was Databricks, which moved ahead of Stripe, last year’s #1. Databricks is another company that has embraced AI over the last year, having recently announced its acquisition of MosaicML, its launch of its own large language model (Dolly 2.0), and its launch of the Lakehouse AI platform. Last year’s #1, Stripe, rounds out the Top 3. Joining them in the top ten are Canva, ServiceTitan, Klaviyo, Grammarly, Talkdesk, Rubrik, and Miro. The top 10 average a $21 billion valuation individually, up +$18 billion from the inaugural 2016 list.