From hundreds of companies nominated by venture capitalists, industry analysts, and beat reporters, CNBC has created the ultimate list of 50 innovators disrupting the marketplace and poised for hypergrowth.
Industries of Disruption:
Telecom | Travel & Leisure | Transportation | Retail | Media | Energy
Manufacturing | Enterprise/Security | Financial Services | Healthcare |
Taking on Corporate Giants: CNBC's Disruptors
Here are the companies that have been featured on air this week on the inaugural CNBC Disruptor 50 list. |
Here's a look at the 11-biggest venture-backed exits of New York companies and the notable VCs who backed them. |
In a battle between wildcatters in the shale boom and renewable energy dreamers, five companies may wield unique power. |
CNBC Transportation Disruptors are attacking the unsustainable transportation system. |
The financial services landscape has been long dominated by lazy incumbents lacking incentive to change. No longer. |
Health care has been a bad investment for Americans. Silicon Valley-backed startups intend to change that situation. |
Tech upstarts can challenge the biggest companies, thanks to the cloud. |
How will you shop in the future? CNBC spotlights those who see room to innovate the retail business. |
No incumbent in the media industry is safe from disruptors aiming to upend the established order. |
Energy Disruptors
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In a battle between wildcatters in the shale boom and renewable energy dreamers, five companies may wield unique power. |
Energy storage technology using compressed air to create heat energy, which can be stored and released onto the grid. |
An oil service company that is the largest provider of fracture monitoring services in the world. |
Opower is an energy efficiency software company that allows utilities to make customers smarter about usage. |
Information age provider to public and private sector players engaged in energy, climate policy and fracking debate. |
Telecom Disruptors
CNBC's Julia Boorstin takes a look at how small companies like Kymeta, Twilio, WhatsApp, and LiveU, are putting pressure on established telecom giants. |
A scalable satellite solution for continuous, high-quality broadband access anywhere in the world—air, land and sea. |
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A cloud-based platform that allows businesses lacking physical telecom infrastructure to create scalable communications. |
Travel Disruptors
Nordstrom reported disappointing sales, reports CNBC's Josh Lipton. Meanwhile CNBC's Julia Boorstin highlights disruptive travel and leisure companies, including AIRBnB. The firm's CEO, Brian Chesky, offers insight. |
Community-based travel marketplace connecting travelers and small lodging businesses in 34,000 cities and 192 countries. |
The social, location-based app is aiming to turn a community into a revenue-generating ad and search business. |
Migrating traditional console games to mobile devices. Games are offered free of charge (paid premium content model). |
A collaborative video game platform that is aiming to break the last “closed” platform in the gaming market: television. |
Healthcare Disruptors
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Health care has been a bad investment for Americans. Silicon Valley-backed startups intend to change that situation. |
Self-engagement technology for individuals aimed at bringing down health-care costs and providing better care. |
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Health care transparency technology for employers, offering pricing and quality information to drive purchase decisions. |
Technology that can model individual health patterns and behavior by collecting data through a simple mobile phone app. |
Free smartphone-based service that lets patients research doctors and dentists, and to book appointments. |
Transportation Disruptors
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CNBC Transportation Disruptors are attacking the unsustainable transportation system. |
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Financial Services Disruptors
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The financial services landscape has been long dominated by lazy incumbents lacking incentive to change. No longer. |
A crowdsourced funding platform for consumer businesses, an alternative to the traditional financing model. |
A new way to fund creative projects, from films, games and music to art, design and technology. |
A platform for lenders and borrowers competing with traditional loan services and investments. |
Enterprise/Security Disruptors
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Tech upstarts can challenge the biggest companies, thanks to the cloud. |
A computer security technology firm using a patented micro-virtualization (isolation as opposed to blocking) approach. |
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A free cloud storage service that lets you bring your photos, documents and videos anywhere and share them easily. |
Manufacturing Disruptors
The disruptions to the traditional manufacturing model have opened up a Pandora's box of possibility. |
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A collaborative platform for every aspect of product development—from original idea to manufacturing and marketing. |
Pioneering on-demand 3D printing marketplace and community to make, buy, and sell custom and personalized products. |
Media Disruptors
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No incumbent in the media industry is safe from disruptors aiming to upend the established order. |
An online news organization mixing original reporting across a wide variety of subject verticals, and native advertising. |
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A music service that is helping to change the way listeners think about the concept of a personal music collection. |
Real-time communications platform that invented the tweet, poised to reach $1 billion in advertising revenue in 2014. |
Retail Disruptors
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How will you shop in the future? CNBC spotlights those who see room to innovate the retail business. |
Social networking site to collect photos and link to products, create pinboards and follow the pinboards of others. |
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Shopify is an ecommerce platform that allows individuals and businesses to create online stores. |
Warby Parker is disrupting the overpriced eyewear market where a few large companies reap huge profits. |
More
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Here's a look at the 11-biggest venture-backed exits of New York companies and the notable VCs who backed them. |
"Inferior" companies in "inefficient" markets, such as consumer products start-ups, are often the best market disruptors. |
Even the most successful disruptors who shake up their industry don't always get it 100% right. Find out the surprising thing Microsoft founder Bill Gates said about spam -- and his desire to rid the world of it. |
Even the most successful disruptors who shake up their industry don't always get it 100% right. Find out the surprising thing the late Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, said about the music subscription model. |
Even the most successful disruptors who shake up their industry don't always get it 100% right. Find out the surprising thing legendary silent film actor Charlie Chaplin said about the movies -- the medium that helped make him famous. |
A successful disruptor often wins by playing the waiting game, like Apple with the iPod. |
.160x105.jpg?v=1366650355 "What Dooms Innovation to the Graveyard?")
It's one thing to promise disruption and another thing to deliver on that promise. |
Wearable technology needs to better integrate information into our lives to become a trend-setter. |
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All disruptions can be defined as innovations, but not all innovations are disruptive. Consider Netflix and IBM. |
