SaaS is the “fad” that hasn’t waned yet. It’s still the fastest-growing slice of IT, with Gartner’s 2025 outlook showing the industry will nab ~$300 billion this year, though it acknowledges that buyers are increasingly scrutinizing the benefits their subscriptions earn them and looking for more proof that spend is leading to results.
While the industry keeps growing, that increased scrutiny (and an impulse to consolidate an increasingly sprawling software landscape), the operating math for SaaS companies is changing.
Today, SaaS companies will have to tell a more concise story, deliver results, and build trust upfront. It takes more to find product/market fit, hone their message, decide on a more complicated marketing strategy, and then implement it at scale. What were once big jobs have become gargantuan ones — luckily, SaaS companies continue rising to the occasion.
We put our heads together and refined metrics on SaaS companies that have received lots of funding and are funded in the Silicon Valley ecosystem. This ranking sheds light on the hottest SaaS companies and allows for clear comparisons with similar funding and business models. It also applies the power laws to funding and company concentration in this space.
Top 25 SaaS Startups Ranking Table
We analyzed data from Crunchbase and Keywords Everywhere to uncover the top US SaaS companies with top investors from Silicon Valley.
| Ranking | Company | GFD Tech100 Final Score* | GFD Funding Score* | GFD Website Score* | GFD Branded Keyword Score* |
| 1 | OpenAI | 100 | 93.8 | 95.4 | 79.1 |
| 2 | EquipmentShare | 90.2 | 92.8 | 73.6 | 67.2 |
| 3 | Genesys | 82 | 77.5 | 75.3 | 66.7 |
| 4 | Eon | 81.9 | 81.2 | 65.3 | 68.6 |
| 5 (tie) | OpenEvidence | 80.9 | 73.2 | 83.2 | 63.3 |
| 5 (tie) | Peek | 80.9 | 72.1 | 81.5 | 67.2 |
| 7 | Persona | 79.8 | 64.1 | 88 | 72.9 |
| 8 | isolved | 78.8 | 69.9 | 77.6 | 67.7 |
| 9 | PandaDoc | 78.3 | 67.9 | 82.4 | 65.3 |
| 10 | Motive | 78.2 | 66.9 | 80.6 | 68.9 |
| 11 | Alembic | 77.1 | 74.2 | 65.5 | 65.1 |
| 12 | Global Work AI | 76.8 | 54.7 | 80.9 | 87.7 |
| 13 | Boulevard | 76.4 | 62.4 | 79.8 | 71.9 |
| 14 (tie) | First Due | 76.1 | 69.9 | 72.2 | 63.5 |
| 14 (tie) | Employee Navigator | 76.1 | 63.8 | 85.7 | 62.1 |
| 16 | Artera | 75.7 | 73.9 | 64.6 | 61.8 |
| 17 (tie) | Netomi | 75 | 69.2 | 73.7 | 59.5 |
| 17 (tie) | Pendo | 75 | 68.8 | 73.5 | 60.4 |
| 17 (tie) | Entrata | 75 | 65.1 | 80.3 | 61 |
| 20 | MaintainX | 74.9 | 64.9 | 76 | 65.4 |
| 21 (tie) | Harness | 74.8 | 82.6 | 75.2 | 30.5 |
| 21 (tie) | Substrate | 74.8 | 69.6 | 63.1 | 68.3 |
| 23 | AlphaSense | 74.5 | 63.8 | 74.6 | 67.6 |
| 24 | Valence | 74.4 | 63.6 | 73.3 | 68.9 |
| 25 | Statsig | 74.3 | 60.5 | 75.6 | 72.5 |
*GFD’s Tech100 score is a final composite score of the Funding Score, Website Score, and the Branded Keyword score.
Key Takeaways:
- The three hottest SAAS companies in January 2026 are OpenAI, EquipmentShare, and Genesys due to the volume and freshness of their funding, the recent performance of their website, and the growth trends of their branded keyword.
Ranking the Top Startups by Funding Score
Funding is huge. This breakout highlights those firms that have raised the most venture capital rounds, ranked by a combination of date and volume. Note we are also including post-IPO raises as well. These are worth considering because they’re all part of the competitive system that all SaaS startups are competing in.
| Ranking | Company | Total Funding Amount | Most Recent Funding Amount | Last Funding Date | GFD Funding Score* |
| 1 | OpenAI | $79.00B | $1.00B | 12/11/2025 | 93.8 |
| 2 | EquipmentShare | $6.29B | $2.75B | 12/3/2025 | 92.8 |
| 3 | Harness | $775M | $200M | 12/11/2025 | 82.6 |
| 4 | Eon | $497M | $300M | 12/2/2025 | 81.2 |
| 5 | Genesys | $2.98B | $1.50B | 7/31/2025 | 77.5 |
| 6 | Hardline | $2M | $2M | 1/1/2026 | 76 |
| 7 | Alembic | $275M | $145M | 11/13/2025 | 74.2 |
| 8 | Fireworks AI | $327M | $230M | 10/28/2025 | 74.1 |
| 9 | Artera | $110M | $65M | 12/3/2025 | 73.9 |
| 10 | OpenEvidence | $517M | $200M | 10/20/2025 | 73.2 |
*GFD’s Funding Score captures funding volume and velocity by combing total funding with recent funding amount and recency.
Key Takeaways:
- When accounting for funding volume and freshness, EquipmentShare leads the industry as it is the saas company with the highest total funding of $6.29B and has recently in the past two months received a funding amount of $2.75B.
- EquipmentShare leads the saas industry with a total funding amount of $6.29B.
- Hardline is a rising company within the saas space that has been heavily funded in the past month. Their most recent funding amount was $2M and this funding amount accounts for more than half of their total funds.
1. OpenAI
GFD Funding Score*: 93.8
Total Funding Amount: $79.00B
Most Recent Funding Amount: $1.00B
Days Since Last Funding: 22
Out of our 486 ranked Saas companies, OpenAI ranks #1 in funding. The company’s total funding is $79.00B and the last time they were funded was on December 11, 2025 for $1.00B. The last funding type was Corporate Round. The total amount of lead investors that OpenAI has is 11 and their top investors are: Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, TPG, NVIDIA, Khosla Ventures.
2. EquipmentShare
GFD Funding Score*: 92.8
Total Funding Amount: $6.29B
Most Recent Funding Amount: $2.75B
Days Since Last Funding: 30
Out of our 486 ranked Saas companies, EquipmentShare ranks #2 in funding. The company’s total funding is $6.29B and the last time they were funded was on December 3, 2025 for $2.75B. The last funding type was Debt Financing. The total amount of lead investors that EquipmentShare has is 10 and their top investors are: Gaingels, Insight Partners, Y Combinator, BDT & MSD Partners, Wells Fargo.
3. Harness
GFD Funding Score*: 82.6
Total Funding Amount: $775M
Most Recent Funding Amount: $200M
Days Since Last Funding: 22
Out of our 486 ranked Saas companies, Harness ranks #3 in funding. The company’s total funding is $775M and the last time they were funded was on December 11, 2025 for $200M. The last funding type was Series E. The total amount of lead investors that Harness has is 9 and their top investors are: Menlo Ventures, Gaingels, IVP, Norwest, Battery Ventures.
GFD Website Score Breakdown
Website traffic and traffic growth is important but doesn’t always line up perfectly with other attributes and events like funding. We were curious as to which of these companies saw the strongest website traffic and growth. The website score we captures the volume of recent website visits and combines it with the companies’ website growth trends.
| Ranking | Company | Last Month Total Visits | Average Visits (6 Months) | Monthly Visit Growth | GFD Website Score* |
| 1 | Signifyd | 9.0M | 1.9M | 1331.29% | 100 |
| 2 | OpenAI | 730.1M | 918.1M | -0.1567 | 95.4 |
| 3 | Stripe | 151.4M | 155.0M | -0.0596 | 91.8 |
| 4 | Persona | 13.8M | 8.5M | 0.4894 | 88 |
| 5 | ClickUp | 40.0M | 41.5M | -0.1418 | 87.9 |
| 6 | Greenhouse Software | 29.4M | 33.1M | -0.2029 | 86.7 |
| 7 (tie) | SheerID | 25.2M | 22.9M | -0.1793 | 86.2 |
| 7 (tie) | SmartRecruiters | 17.9M | 18.0M | -0.0911 | 86.2 |
| 9 | Employee Navigator | 2.7M | 1.3M | 1.0626 | 85.7 |
| 10 | beehiiv | 12.7M | 12.9M | -0.0482 | 85.6 |
*GFD’s Website Score captures the volume of recent website visits and combines it with the companies’ website growth trends.
Key Takeaways:
- The Saas company with the most average monthly website traffic over the last six months is OpenAI with 918.1M visits per month.
- Two Saas industry leaders with the most average monthly website traffic volume over the last six months are OpenAI and Stripe.
- Two companies in the Saas space with fast growing websites over the past month are Signifyd and Employee Navigator. Both companies have seen their website traffic increase by 106.00% over the last month.
1. Signifyd
GFD Website Score*: 100
Last Month’s Total Visits: 9.0M
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 1.9M
Monthly Visit Growth: 1331.3%
Out of our 486 ranked Saas companies, Signifyd ranks #1 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 9.0M total visits and increased by 1331.3% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 1.9M.
2. OpenAI
GFD Website Score*: 95.4
Last Month’s Total Visits: 730.1M
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 918.1M
Monthly Visit Growth: -15.7%
Out of our 486 ranked Saas companies, OpenAI ranks #2 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 730.1M total visits and decreased by -15.7% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 918.1M.
3. Stripe
GFD Website Score*: 91.8
Last Month’s Total Visits: 151.4M
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 155.0M
Monthly Visit Growth: -6.0%
Out of our 486 ranked Saas companies, Stripe ranks #3 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 151.4M total visits and decreased by -6.0% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 155.0M.
SaaS Startups with Strongest Branded Search Growth
A great way to measure brand growth is by analyzing keyword growth for the company across a period of time. We sourced Google Search keyword data for companies on the list and ranked by a score that accounted for total keyword search as well as search volume change over the last year.
| Ranking | Company | Total Keyword Search Volume | Average Monthly Search Volume Change (1 Year) | 1 Year Trend Positive or Negative? | GFD Company Keyword Ranking* |
| 1 | Global Work AI | 1K | 376 | + | 87.7 |
| 2 | Dedalus Labs | 880 | 275 | + | 81.7 |
| 3 | Adopt AI | 4K | 1K | + | 79.2 |
| 4 (tie) | OpenAI | 9.1M | 150K | + | 79.1 |
| 4 (tie) | Refold AI | 590 | 175 | + | 79.1 |
| 6 | Dialogue AI | 8K | 2K | + | 76.8 |
| 7 | SheerID | 110K | 11K | + | 75.4 |
| 8 | Tabs | 1.5M | 40K | + | 75.1 |
| 9 | SalesPatriot | 720 | 175 | + | 74.8 |
| 10 | Rillet | 7K | 1K | + | 74.7 |
*GFD’s Branded Keyword Ranking is a metric that combines monthly branded keyword search volume with a 1-year linear trend that is observed weekly and adjusted by search volume.
Key Takeaways:
- Global Work AI is the fastest growing branded keyword in the saas industry. It has an average monthly increase of about 376 searches.
- OpenAI is the company among the top ten companies for branded keyword search for saas that has the most volume. It has a search volume of 9.1M searches.
- Two fast rising companies in the saas space are Global Work AI and Dedalus Labs according to their branded keyword search trends.
1. Global Work AI
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 87.7
Total Keyword Search Volume: 1K
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 376
Out of our 486 ranked Saas companies, Global Work AI ranks #1 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 1K. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 376, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
2. Dedalus Labs
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 81.7
Total Keyword Search Volume: 880
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 275
Out of our 486 ranked Saas companies, Dedalus Labs ranks #2 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 880. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 275, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
3. Adopt AI
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 79.2
Total Keyword Search Volume: 4K
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 1K
Out of our 486 ranked Saas companies, Adopt AI ranks #3 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 4K. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 1K, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
Methodology and Sources
- Methodology: We collected data for 10k+ companies from Crunchbase and aggregated it into a set of scores through the use of quantitative transformations and expertly curated weighted averages.
- Sources: Crunchbase, Google Trends, and Keywords Everywhere
Update Log
- January 2nd, 2026: Monthly update.
- December 1st, 2025: Monthly update.
- November 1st, 2025: Monthly update.
