Braze is excited to announce that it has been named to the Forbes Cloud 100 for the third year in a row! This year Braze moved up the list, coming in at #56. This honor recognizes innovative companies that are leveraging the cloud to drive transformation within their respective industries.

This year saw COVID-19 overwhelm the lives of billions across the world. As the lockdowns caused by the pandemic forced consumers into an increasingly digital-only way of life, many brands were also forced to rethink their customer engagement strategies. During this period, Braze found itself at the center of many digital transformation initiatives, enabling brands to directly connect with consumers and demonstrate empathy in their customer engagement strategy. This year’s inclusion of Braze in the Cloud 100 reflects how important it is for brands to keep a real-time pulse on changing customer preferences and address customer needs, something that will continue even in a post-COVID world.

The Forbes Cloud 100 is produced in partnership with Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures. As part of the rigorous selection process, they received hundreds of submissions from the top cloud startups. With that data, the Forbes Cloud 100 judge panel— which includes the majority of public cloud company CEOs—selected and ranked the top 100 eligible companies from all over the world. Braze and its fellow selectees were selected based on four factors: Market leadership, estimated valuation, operating metrics, and people and culture.

“The private cloud ecosystem continues to mature in light of rapid digital transformations, making the competition to land one of the coveted spots on the Cloud 100 list steeper than ever,” said Byron Deeter, top cloud investor and partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. “Private cloud valuations are getting bigger as the market’s appetite for cloud continues to grow. Over the past five years, the average Cloud 100 valuation has grown by a tremendous 2.5x, from $1 billion in 2016 to $2.7 billion in 2020. In fact, our 2020 Cloud 100 includes over 87 private cloud unicorns! These founders represent the absolute best in cloud computing today, and they will most certainly follow in the footsteps of our esteemed Cloud 100 alumni. More than a third of the companies of the Cloud 100 have exited either via strategic M&A, financial M&A or Initial Public Offering. Congratulations to these cloud leaders!”

We feel incredibly proud of Forbes’ ongoing recognition of Braze as a leader in the cloud space. Thank you to every Braze employee who made it possible for us to receive this honor for the third year in a row.

Interested in becoming part of our team as we build the leading customer engagement platform in the world? We’re hiring.