The Forbes Cloud 100 returns for 2024

For nine years, Bessemer Venture Partners has collaborated with Forbes and Salesforce Ventures to bring you the Forbes Cloud 100, the definitive list of the world’s top 100 private cloud companies—plus 20 future contenders in the Rising Stars cohort. We are excited to share that nominations are now officially open for the 2024 Forbes Cloud 100 list!

Visit The Cloud 100 website to nominate a private cloud company.

The competition to earn a spot as a top 100 private cloud company continues to get steeper each year. At the time of publication, the average valuation of the companies on the 2023 Cloud 100 was $6.6 billion, and nearly two-thirds of the companies said they expected to be profitable by the end of the year. Already this year, we have seen businesses that graced the Cloud 100 list in 2023, like Rubrik, file their S-1s to go public.

After two years of market headwinds, the AI wave continues to usher in the next phase of cloud growth and acceleration. With OpenAI (#1) and Databricks (#2) leading this elite cohort of private cloud businesses in 2023, joining these ranks marks achievement in technological innovation, business growth, and high caliber leadership. We anticipate that many of the 2024 honorees will be those that have truly leveraged the power of AI to accelerate their product roadmaps and the experiences of their customers.

The Cloud 100 community is a source and a signal for what’s to come—new industry benchmarks and waves of innovation and growth across different sectors and areas of the globe. Cloud 100 companies are the leaders in the private cloud market and will be the public cloud companies of tomorrow. 

In addition, with our Rising Stars, we highlight 20 of the most promising startups that are growing rapidly in their early years. The all-star lineup includes entrepreneurs building around the world transforming the way we connect and collaborate through software. For example, last year’s Rising Stars included SmarterDx, the solution that utilizes AI to harmonize billing data with underlying clinical data; Rilla, the virtual ridealong software for outside sales and service; Langchain, the developer platform for large language model (LLM) applications; Harvey, the legal AI startup; and Qwak, the machine learning (ML) operations platform.

How to apply

The list of top private cloud companies is geographically diverse—international representation on the Cloud 100 list reached almost 30% last year. We recognize that the rise of the cloud is a global phenomenon, and we welcome international nominations. 

Private cloud companies are evaluated by their market leadership, people and culture, and operating metrics, including revenue, funding, and estimated valuation. The Cloud 100 judges, made up of the leading public cloud company CEOs, will once again determine the Cloud 100 honorees. Last year’s public CEO and CXO judges, including top leaders such as Frank Slootman formerly of Snowflake, Jenn Tejada of PagerDuty, and Eric Yuan of Zoom. The Cloud 100 judges’ qualifications precede them. Many of these CEOs were Cloud 100 winners before they were judges––they know how hard it is to build a business that makes this list.

Nominations for the 2024 Cloud 100 are open now at thecloud100.com and run through Tuesday, May 7 at 11:55 pm PT. In August, Forbes will announce the Cloud 100 and the 20 Rising Stars in Forbes Magazine and on Forbes.com. 

The Cloud 100 will celebrate list honorees by bringing together memorable discussions and thought-provoking ideas from CEOs, founders, and leaders on what’s driving today’s cloud economy forward. Every year, these 120 companies represent the best cloud technology leaders of today and tomorrow. We are honored to celebrate their massive achievements once again.

Best of luck to this year’s applicants!