Ride-sharing company Lyft is having a strong year. In addition to a $600 million funding round and reaching a valuation of $15.1 billion, Lyft has landed the top spot on LinkedIn's list of top startups for 2018.
Last year, the company's biggest competitor, Uber, took the top spot. But the ride-sharing company did not make the ranks for this year's list.
For consideration on this year's list, companies needed to be privately-held, seven years or younger and have 50 or more employees. LinkedIn then looked at the activity of its more than 500 million users to factor in employment growth, engagement with employees, and the company's ability to attract the best talent from well-known employers on its top companies list.
In addition to Lyft, a few other young popular companies made the top ranks including Coinbase, Glossier and Ellevest.
Take a look below to see the full list of the top 25 start-ups in the U.S.
Global headcount: 150
Headquarters: New York, NY
Gemini Trust Company is a financial services startup that was founded by the two of the first bitcoin billionaires, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Recently, the startup expanded its leadership team by bringing on board NYSE CIO Robert Cornish to lead its technology efforts.
24. Affirm
Global headcount: 390
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
This lending startup lives by an open book policy where each year it released a report that breaks down the diversity of its company and the steps its taking to improve hiring practices, reports LinkedIn.
23. Aha!
Global headcount: 80
Headquarters: Remote
Even though this product roadmap company is fully remote, all new employees get an hour of virtual one-on-one time to talk with CEO Brian de Haaff and they are assigned a coach to lead them through a five-week training process, reports LinkedIn.
22. Drift
Global headcount: 190
Headquarters: Boston, MA
This company, which recently received $60 million in funding from Sequoia Capital, creates pop-up chat windows for companies so they can better interact with customers on their website. According to LinkedIn, the company plans to use this new money to expand internationally and to acquire voice and video companies that can help to improve its services.
21. Zoox
Global headcount: 550
Headquarters: Foster City, CA
While many companies are racing to build a successful self-driving vehicle, Zoox is using its $800 million of venture funding to create a new driving vehicle without a steering wheel, according to LinkedIn.
Global headcount: 510
Headquarters: San Mateo, CA
Within the past year, this cloud-based data storage company raised $263 million and doubled its headcount, according to LinkedIn. So far, its employees hail from more than 35 different countries.
19. InVision
Global headcount: 705
Headquarters: New York, NY
Despite employees working remotely at this digital product design company, communication seems to be super tight amongst its staff. According to LinkedIn, staff members at InVision use a Slack channel to share photos and tips from their travels and they've set up an informal housing exchange program for colleagues who like to travel internationally.
Global headcount: 135
Headquarters: Columbus, OH
According to LinkedIn, this 3-year-old insurance company, which raised $100 million in funding, uses A.I. to determine if a driver is good enough to warrant auto insurance coverage.
17. Argo AI
Global headcount: 350
Headquarters: Pittsburgh, PA
Despite Ford's $1 billion investment into this autonomous car company, Argo remains independent with its own board members and directors and is planning to work with other car industry partners.
16. Samsara
Global headcount: 485
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
According to LinkedIn, Samsara has hired more than 50 employees LinkedIn's Top Companies list. More than half of those hires, including the company's founders, are former employees of Cisco.
15. Outreach
Global headcount: 285
Headquarters: Seattle, WA
Outreach's CEO Manny Madina wants to make sure his presence is known throughout the company. That's why he spends the first hour of each morning fist-bumping each employee.
14. Ellevest
Global headcount: 65
Headquarters: New York, NY
This 3-year-old company was started by Wall Street veteran Sallie Krawcheck as a solution to closing some of the financial gaps women face in the workplace. Already, the digital platform has more than $140 million in assets under management.
13. Flexport
Global headcount: 850
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
By the end of the year, this 5-year-old company plans to hire more than 500 employees across its nine offices, according to LinkedIn.
12. TripActions
Global headcount: 250
Headquarters: Palo Alto, CA
According to LinkedIn, TripActions recently raised $51 million in funding, making it one of the highest capitalized travel startups. The company plans to use the money to expand its global team and grow its employee count to more than 800 employees by 2020.
11. Puls
Global headcount: 80
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
According to CEO Eyal Ronen, getting a job at this smart-device consultant company isn't easy as the company only accepts 8 percent of its applicants.
10. Rubrik
Global headcount: 1,200
Headquarters: Palo Alto, CA
According to LinkedIn, in 2017 this cloud data management quadrupled its customer base, tripled its employee count and became a startup that's worth $1.3 billion.
9. Aurora
Global headcount: 160
Headquarters: Palo Alto, CA; Pittsburgh, PA and San Francisco, CA
According to LinkedIn, Aurora's co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson previously led Google's self-driving car initiative and has been named an inventor on more than 60 patents.
8. Glossier
Global headcount: 280
Headquarters: New York, NY
This 3-year-old beauty company recently raised $52 million in funding, which it says will go towards improving its overall customer experience. Unlike many beauty brands that are surprisingly male-dominated, Glossier has a staff and board that is predominantly female.
7. Ripple
Global headcount: 250
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
This 6-year-old startup uses blockchain technology to help speed up the process of sending money internationally across banks, according to LinkedIn. With more than 100 customers using its service, including large banks like Santander and Standard Chartered, this startup plans to hire an additional 75 people by the end of the year.
6. Robinhood
Global headcount: 250
Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA
According to LinkedIn, Robinhood is a 4-year-old investment app that offers commission-free stock trades and now cryptocurrency options. Its co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev explains that the company comes up with new product ideas by studying what its users search for, but fail to find on the app.
5. Bird
Global headcount: 380
Headquarters: Venice, CA
This electric scooter startup company has been around for a little over a year and operates in more than 30 cities, according to LinkedIn. Contractors for the company are paid money to find and recharge scooters, meanwhile customer rides with the company cost $2-$3.
4. Noodle.ai
Global headcount: 130
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
According to LinkedIn, this 2-year-old company, which offers "A.I. as a service," raised $35 million in June, helping to triple its total funding.
3. Coinbase
Global headcount: 500
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
The growing frenzy around bitcoin has led to significant growth for the digital currency platform Coinbase. The company currently manages more than 20 million accounts and plans to double its headcount by the end of the year.
Global headcount: 100
Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA
Last year, Halo Top Creamery beat out Ben & Jerry's to become the best-selling ice cream in American grocery stores. According to LinkedIn, the 6-year-old Los Angeles-based company has no set office, as employees are allowed to work remotely or in co-working spaces.
1. Lyft
Global headcount: 3,000+
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
According to LinkedIn, Lyft now controls 35 percent of the U.S. ride-sharing market, which is an increase from 20 percent in 2016. In addition to making plans to expand its services to include bicycles and scooters, the company has also implemented new mental health benefits for its employees.
Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube!
Don't miss: These are the 25 most attractive employers in America, according to LinkedIn
