9 Revolutionary Companies to Watch Nine little-known companies are working hard to bring game-changing tech to market.
By Peter Daisyme Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
This year is off and running with some extraordinary companies starting to make a name for themselves.
I attend countless conferences and meetups. Over the course of my travels I meet with some of the most promising companies in the world. They've lead me over the years to discover three billion dollar unicorns before anyone else had written about them. Rather than opting to emulate what's on the market, here are a few companies that have stood out to me and I believe could be unicorns in the future.
Check out these nine companies to watch this year:
1. My Size
This company has found a way to bring measurement tools for life to your smartphone to make so many tasks easier to handle. It's not like we carry around physical measuring tools like a tape measure in our handbag or back pocket (unless we happen to be a contractor or seamstress). Rather than having to second-guess, My Size lets you get an accurate reading. For example, their app, MySizeID, gives you, as an online shopper, a way to maintain a profile of your personal measurements to ensure that you get the right size every time you buy clothing or accessories no matter what the brand or size chart specifications. Retailers get the added benefit from such a revolutionary tool because the exact size means fewer returns.
Related: The Highest Paying Jobs in America, According to Glassdoor
2. POC Medical
This medical solutions provider recognizes that today's healthcare system is missing high-quality, affordable solutions for the early detection of diseases that can make a significant difference in the lives of so many people. POC Medical Systems has created a patented point-of-care testing product known as Pandora CDx that is currently used for early diagnosis of breast cancer. Not only is it easy to use for practitioners, but it also reduces the time between getting a test and results. Making it available to a much larger population is revolutionizing how people receive care and can potentially have a dramatic impact on the number of people who can be treated more effectively so that they might be able to beat cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
3. Delighted
Imagine getting feedback from your audience in minutes rather than the weeks it's always taken to send and receive surveys and compile the data. Delighted has revolutionized the entire customer feedback process through its use of the Net Promoter System that delivers a highly complex set of data points about what the customer thinks about their experience to an easy-to-read dashboard. Surveys include mobile, SMS, and Web options for further customization. The entire customer feedback platform doesn't require any technical know-how on how to collect the data and disseminate it. Customers value the convenience and willingly provide critical insights your business needs to enhance the overall customer experience.
Related: 4 Marketing Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From April the Giraffe
4. Brainly
This company is the largest online education P2P platform connecting more than 80 million students from around the world in a Quora-like environment, solely based on connecting students to help each other with their school work, all free of charge. Brainly is combing social media, online education and machine learning to change the way we see schools in general and classrooms specifically.
5. Riskified
With fraud becoming increasingly sophisticated and retail moving to online eCommerce, fraud prevention platform Riskified has developed a solution to protect eCommerce merchants from chargebacks, all the while mitigating the impact of false declines on retailers. Riskified's solution is based on self-optimizing machine learning that allows merchants to eliminate the need for any manual adjustments. The platform is able to detect fraud attempts in real-time by analyzing data with its machine learning models and sophisticated proxy detection methods.
6. Kiip
This company is set to revolutionize the mobile advertising market, offering a marketing and monetization platform that consumers actually respond to and enjoy. Kiip leverages what is known as "moment targeting" wherein rewards are offered to the mobile user to take advantage of a moment in time where they are more likely to act and redeem that reward. The app uses al types of analytics to create the moment and reward for that particular consumer, including page, screen, context, geolocation, and device. They are already having worldwide interest, including a strategic partnership with companies in China where consumers' mobile purchases are climbing steadily.
Related: 8 Movies That Increase Your IQ - #5 Will Test How Smart You Are
7. Clarifai
While much of what is going on with artificial intelligence is already revolutionary, this company is raising the bar on making the impossible a reality. Clarifai specializes in visual recognition and uses machine learning to help companies add this feature to their existing programs and solutions in order to build smarter, more intuitive apps that will, in turn, better serve their customers' needs. Think of it as a learning tool that does the learning for you so you can then reap the benefits of more effective apps that will boost your business much faster than if you left it up to your developers to try and figure it over a longer period of time.
8. AirMap
With the growth in drone usage, including many companies like Amazon testing delivery service routes, this company is capitalizing on the new need for airspace intelligence to ensure that drones can operate safely and efficiently within shared airspace. AirMap is creating a whole new technology solution for navigation and safety control related to this need, helping drone developers and commercial users to propel drone usage forward across numerous applications and industries.
Related: Being an Entrepreneur Means Finding Profit in Your Passion
9. Woo
Woo is looking to change the way companies hire new talent by using machine learning to match possible candidates with potential employees according to expectations like salary, work life balance and possible career growth. This is all done in a 100% anonymous environment, thus helping top tech giants like Uber, Lyft and Microsoft to hire the best talent. This approach helps companies to find "off market" employees that are not actively looking for a new position.Across numerous business niches, technology, innovation, and creativity are delivering incredible new solutions for common inconveniences and longstanding issues as well as addressing new problems that have emerged from technological trends and developments.
These nine companies represent some of the most revolutionary ideas that I've seen recently and capitalize on other ideas that are now becoming an integral part of business and life. It will be exciting to continue tracking their progress throughout the year and beyond.