[November 19, 2020]

Cloud Investor Battery Ventures Reveals the 25 Highest-Rated Public and 25 Highest-Rated Private Cloud Computing Companies to Work For During the Covid Crisis

Battery Ventures, a global investment firm that backs cloud companies, has revealed the 25 Highest-Rated Public Cloud Computing Companies to Work For, as well as the 25 Highest-Rated Private Cloud Computing Companies to Work For During the Covid Crisis, with data specifically provided to Battery from Glassdoor*. The list-a twist on Battery's annual list of highest-rated cloud firms, in terms of employee satisfaction-is based on data collected during the first six months of the pandemic (March through August) and includes many companies that successfully raised financing and grew revenue during the period.

The companies on both lists represent those where employees report the highest levels of satisfaction at work, according to employee feedback shared on Glassdoor, a worldwide leader on insights about jobs and companies.

This year, videoconferencing company Zoom, whose usage has soared as more people work remotely, took top honors in the public-company rankings. Other companies focused on workplace collaboration-a key theme during this work-from-home period-also won places on the list. They include Slack, DocuSign, Box (News - Alert), Microsoft and Dropbox.

On the private side, 10 of the top 25 companies, including No. 1 company Dataiku, announced financing rounds during the pandemic (through Nov. 1). These financings amount to more than $1.9 billion combined, according to Crunchbase-demonstrating another potential link between positive company culture and overall corporate performance and growth, said Neeraj Agrawal, a Battery general partner who specializes in cloud investing.

"In my 20 years as a venture-capital investor, I've seen several tough markets, but never a period of such unique uncertainty. Today, the cloud companies that are succeeding are ones with great technology and product-market fit, but also those with savvy management teams who understand how to motivate employees during difficult circumstances," Agrawal said. "This was true before the pandemic but is even more true now. CEOs need to be flexible and embrace new strategies--including distributed C-suites, all-remote onboarding processes, and mental health coverage as a company benefit-as they build cohesive cultures for the long term."

Florian Douetteau, the CEO of No. 1-ranked private company Dataiku, says his firm has deployed dedicated "happiness managers" to check on employees one-on-one. The company also ordered desks and computer monitors for all employees' home offices and set up new communication channels to shore up morale, including an internal podcast and small fireside chats, in addition to larger employee meetings. "We don't have all the answers by any means, but we know that we must continue to go the extra mile to keep our employees focused as we continue to grow our company," he said. "We are humbled and honored that our employees ranked us so highly and allowed us to earn top honors on this list."

Battery last released its highest-rated cloud companies list in the spring of 2019 and focused on employee ratings from the previous 12-month period. This time, "we knew that any data collected before the pandemic would not be very consequential, since the virus has turned most companies upside down. So, we delayed the release of our list and focused on how employees rated companies from March through the end of August, when culture was particularly critical," Battery's Agrawal said.

Thirteen of the top 50 private companies on the 2019 highest-rated list have since gone public or been acquired; they are: Zoom, Asana, Sonatype, Sprout (News - Alert) Social, Segment, nCino, Looker, Slack, Health Catalyst, ThousandEyes, PagerDuty, Snowflake and Cumulus Networks*. Two of the companies on this year's private-company pandemic list, Unity Technologies and Asana, staged public listings earlier this fall, after the close of the 2020 list's data-collection period.

Agrawal added that all the innovative companies on this year's lists are powering the trend of businesses increasingly turning to the cloud to run critical technology systems and software-a trend that has actually accelerated during the pandemic. The highest-rated companies on both lists sell cloud technology in a range of areas, including sales-and-marketing, collaboration, development tools and finance.

To qualify for the list, private cloud companies were required to have 200 or more employees; at least 20 employee reviews on Glassdoor during the six-month collection period; and have raised funding since July 2016. Public companies required at least $500 million in total enterprise value as of the end of Q3 2020, according to CapIQ. (A more detailed explanation of the list methodology is below.)

The reports also include data from Glassdoor on how employees rate their companies' senior leadership teams and gauge their views on how their companies' businesses will perform in the next six months (though these additional data points did not impact the overall company ratings or rankings).

"Glassdoor is on a mission to help people everywhere find a job and company they love through greater workplace transparency-a mission more important than ever in today's uncertain economy," said Christian Sutherland-Wong, Glassdoor CEO. "The insights on Glassdoor that Battery has analyzed are provided by those who really know a company best - the employees - and their feedback during these times has proven immensely helpful to anyone looking for a job or a new employer."

For reporting simplicity, the company ratings below are rounded to the nearest tenth of a point, though actual calculations extend beyond the thousandth decimal place to determine rank. The ratings are based on a five-point scale, with 1.0 denoting "very dissatisfied", 3.0 indicating "OK" and 5.0 signaling "very satisfied."

Many third-party studies show that companies with high employee satisfaction often post stronger financial performance.

Here are the highest-rated public and private cloud-computing companies to work for during the Covid crisis. The public list includes only the top 10 companies. Full lists of the 25 Highest-Rated Public Cloud Companies and the 25 Highest-Rated Private Companies can be found here.

Employees at these highly rated companies commonly mention in online reviews that they enjoy working for mission-driven companies with strong and unique company cultures; employers that embrace and promote transparency; and companies with experienced senior leadership teams who regularly and clearly communicate with employees. Here is a sample of what employees have to say:

• "Great people, great product. Starts with Eric the CEO. He's customer focused, genuine, passionate, and happy! His attitude, work ethic, and passion trickles down throughout the entire company." - Current employee, Zoom

• "Great leadership and culture! It's been great to experience first-hand what a great place it is to work. Dataiku has a great work life balance and you immediately feel a sense of community when you join. It's refreshing to work at a company where you're encouraged to share your ideas and you feel heard . . . I'm proud to be a part of such a great company." --Current employee, Dataiku

Glassdoor offers millions of the latest job listings online, paired with more than 70 million workplace reviews and insights for over one million companies around the world. Currently, the average company rating on Glassdoor is 3.5. When an employee submits a company review on Glassdoor, he or she is asked to give their opinion on some of the best reasons to work for their employer (pros), any downsides (cons), and is encouraged to provide advice to management. Employees are also asked to rate how satisfied they are with their employer overall, among several other workplace attributes employees can rate and review.

Methodology: The private- and public-company reports identify cloud computing companies that are highest rated on Glassdoor, based on company ratings shared by employees, from 3/1/20-8/31/20. To be considered, a cloud company must have received at least 20 company reviews on Glassdoor during this timeframe. The private-company report tracks independent, non-public cloud companies that, according to Battery research and data from research service Crunchbase, are based in the U.S.; have a B2B business model; are categorized as SaaS, software, cloud computing and/or enterprise software, according to Crunchbase; have more than 200 employees as of 8/28/2020, according to company data provided to LinkedIn (News - Alert); and have raised funding on or after 7/01/2016. The public-company report tracks public cloud companies with a B2B business model that have at least $500 million in total enterprise value as of the end of Q3 2020, according to CapIQ.

A company's senior-leadership rating and positive business outlook rating-indicating the percentage of employees who believe their employer's business will get better in the next six months-was not taken into account to determine rank or overall company rating on either list, though we display these added data points for additional insight into each of these companies.

*By a company name denotes a current or past Battery investment. For a full list of all Battery investments and exits, please click here.

**Denotes a private company that went public or was acquired after 8/28/2020

***Next to a senior-leadership team rating or positive business outlook rating denotes that data is based on less than 20 ratings.

The information provided is solely intended for the use of entrepreneurs, corporate CEOs and founders regarding Battery Ventures' potential financing capabilities for prospective portfolio companies. The information is current as of the date it was published. The contents are not intended to be used in the investment decision-making process related to any product or fund managed by Battery Ventures. No assumption should be made that the investments identified above were or will be profitable. It should also not be assumed that recommendations made in the future will be profitable or equal the performance of the companies identified above. Battery Ventures has no obligation to update, modify or amend the content of this report nor notify its readers in the event that any information, opinion, projection, forecast or estimate included, changes or subsequently becomes inaccurate.

About Battery Ventures

Battery partners with exceptional founders and management teams developing category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, enterprise infrastructure, online marketplaces, healthcare IT and industrial technology. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at all stages, ranging from seed and early to growth and buyout, and invests globally from offices in Boston, San Francisco, Menlo Park, Israel and London. Follow the firm on Twitter (News - Alert) @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery's portfolio companies here.

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