FX.co ★ Top 5 most promising US startups

Acorns

Founders: Jeffrey Cruttenden, Walter Cruttenden

Equity raised: $257 million

Acorns is a financial and tech startup launched by father and son in 2012. The main idea of ​​the founders is to automatically round up purchases made with Acorns credit or debit cards and then invest the money in the stock market. Acorns' smart portfolio algorithms were constructed by Harry Markowitz, a Nobel Memorial Prize-winning economist. Today, the company has more than 7.7 million users and $2.3 billion of assets under management. Each user of the system is charged a monthly fee of $1 per month. Nevertheless, the number of people willing to join and invest their "spare charge" in the stock market is mounting every day.

Algolia

Founders: Nicolas Dessaigne, Julien Lemoine

Equity raised: $184 million

Algolia operates primarily in the B2B sector. It is an assistant to those organizations that need to create software for the search engine on the website. In addition, the company enables its clients to increase productivity with the help of personalized search. Apart from that, Algolia generates and provides relevant analytics to its customers, including the information about users' search-related activity. In particular, its software is able to analyze the fact whether a user's search has eventually led to a purchase or not. Among Algolia's clients, there are such Internet giants as Google, Netflix, and Facebook. Therefore, there is no reason to doubt a promising future of the startup.

Andela

Founders: Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Ian Carnevale‏, Nadayar Enegesi, Jeremy Johnson, Brice Nkengsa, Christina Sass

Equity raised: $181 million

Andela is a remote workforce provider for the IT industry. The company specializes in finding scarce specialists in the United States, training similar employees in other regions, for example, in Africa, and then getting them remote jobs at various large companies, including Microsoft, Facebook, and Google. The coronavirus pandemic has had a rather severe impact on the company's activity. A number of projects have been frozen, including an active search for employees. However, the firm still has great prospects for the future.

Benchling

Founders: Ashu Singhal, Sajith Wickramasekara

Equity raised: $114 million

Sajith Wickramasekara came up with the idea for a cloud-based CRISPR design tool to help scientists in their work, including in biotechnology solutions. For over eight years, pharmaceutical companies and other laboratories have been using Benchling software to conduct their own research. However, the year 2020 and its coronavirus pandemic have made adjustments to the company's work. The firm still delivers its platforms to scientists but does not provide them with updates.

Capsule

Founders: Eric Kinariwala

Equity raised: $270 million

Eric Kinariwala, an entrepreneur from New York, decided to establish Capsule after spending an hour in a pharmacy line and unable to buy a drug because it was out of stock. This bad experience prompted him to develop a convenient app-based service that delivers same-day medicine throughout the city. This service almost immediately attracted consumers' attention. Moreover, it became a necessity for many consumers amid the coronavirus outbreak and its related quarantine measures. For now, Capsule offers its services in New York. However, the company has plans to expand its market.