Future of Work 100
2025
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The definitive ranking of companies transforming how we work, collaborate, and build the workforce of tomorrow.
The Future of Work has entered its next chapter.
After a decade of experimentation and excess, the WorkTech market has reset. What remains is a clearer signal of where durable value is being created. The companies on the 2025 Future of Work 100 are not riding hype cycles. They are building the operating infrastructure behind modern work.
This year's list reflects a market that has grown up. Valuations have compressed. Capital has become selective. Buyers have raised the bar. The result is a sharper, more investable set of companies that sit at the center of how work actually runs.
These businesses power hiring, payroll, collaboration, learning, wellness, and workforce management for millions of workers globally. They are not tools on the edge of the enterprise. They are becoming the system.
This year's list reflects a market that has grown up. Valuations have compressed. Capital has become selective. Buyers have raised the bar. The result is a sharper, more investable set of companies that sit at the center of how work actually runs.
These businesses power hiring, payroll, collaboration, learning, wellness, and workforce management for millions of workers globally. They are not tools on the edge of the enterprise. They are becoming the system.
2025 Market Trends
The Reset is Complete
The aggregate valuation of the 2025 Future of Work 100 is approximately $150B. That number is down from the peak, and that is precisely the point. The reset cleared noise from the market and exposed the platforms with real demand, durable revenue, and long-term relevance.
That shift is visible in the data. Median revenue multiples now sit around 5.6x, back in line with pre-pandemic levels and marking a clear move away from speculative pricing. In some cases, valuations were corrected. In others, companies simply grew into their peak valuations set in 2021 and 2022. Either way, fundamentals have reasserted themselves.
The companies that continue to lead are those showing efficient growth, strong retention, and expanding enterprise footprint. Capital is flowing toward execution, not narrative.
Takeaway: Execution beats narrative.
The companies that continue to lead are those showing efficient growth, strong retention, and expanding enterprise footprint. Capital is flowing toward execution, not narrative.
AI is Taking Over Workflow Not Work
Nearly every company on the list has built AI capabilities, but almost none sell it as a standalone feature. AI is now embedded directly into workflows across recruiting, HR, analytics, and collaboration.
Takeaway: AI is no longer the story. What you do with it is.
Platforms Beat Products
The highest valued companies consistently sit closest to execution. Systems of record and systems of action outperform point solutions that live on the margins of the workflow.
Takeaway: Ownership of the workflow wins.
How We Work is Changing
Companies are under pressure to prove real AI outcomes through revenue growth, cost savings, or both. As a result, data-rich parts of the work stack like benefits, payroll, and compensation are seeing the strongest traction. At the same time, organizational structures are becoming leaner as AI reshapes roles and responsibilities.
Takeaway: Execution beats experimentation.
Increasing Geographical Diversity
San Francisco remains the center of gravity, but Europe continues to produce category defining companies, particularly in HR, payroll, and compliance driven workflows. New York has emerged as a second major hub for workforce infrastructure and enterprise SaaS.
Takeaway: Great companies can be built anywhere.
The reset is now visible in the data. This year's Future of Work 100 reflects a meaningful repricing across the market and marks the early stages of a long-anticipated correction.
Over the past year, the reset has become visible in buyer behavior. This is not HR losing relevance. It is ownership moving up the org chart. Purchasing power has shifted away from experimentation and toward leaders accountable for budgets, compliance, and outcomes. CFOs, COOs, and functional owners are now driving decisions, concentrating spend around systems embedded in core workflows such as hiring, payroll, compliance, and compensation. AI is assumed and largely invisible.
What matters is whether it delivers measurable impact. The reset did not slow innovation. It clarified where durable value is actually being built.
Over the past year, the reset has become visible in buyer behavior. This is not HR losing relevance. It is ownership moving up the org chart. Purchasing power has shifted away from experimentation and toward leaders accountable for budgets, compliance, and outcomes. CFOs, COOs, and functional owners are now driving decisions, concentrating spend around systems embedded in core workflows such as hiring, payroll, compliance, and compensation. AI is assumed and largely invisible.
What matters is whether it delivers measurable impact. The reset did not slow innovation. It clarified where durable value is actually being built.
Purchasing power has shifted away from experimentation and toward leaders accountable for budgets, compliance, and outcomes.
Capital Concentration by Workflow (2025)
Capital concentrates where workflows are mission-critical.
Geographical Split (2025)
North America: 72%
EMEA: 20%
APAC: 8%
The Future of Work 100 is not a snapshot of momentum. It is a signal of durability. The companies on the 2025 list have survived a historic market reset and emerged with clearer positioning, stronger fundamentals, and deeper relevance inside the enterprise. They are no longer optional tools. They are becoming core infrastructure. As the market continues to consolidate, value will accrue to platforms that own execution, earn trust, and compound relevance over time. The future of work will not be built by the loudest companies. It will be built by the ones that quietly become impossible to remove.
In 2026, that dynamic will only intensify as consolidation accelerates and the work stack narrows around fewer, more indispensable systems.
In 2026, that dynamic will only intensify as consolidation accelerates and the work stack narrows around fewer, more indispensable systems.
As the market continues to consolidate, value will accrue to platforms that own execution, earn trust, and compound relevance over time.
Where We Are Most Bullish
Looking ahead, we are particularly excited about companies that:
- Sit at the intersection of HR, finance, and operations
- Own high frequency workflows with low tolerance for failure
- Expand naturally across adjacent buyer groups
- Use AI to reduce operational cost, not just enhance experience
The future of work is not about making work prettier. It is about making it run.
Key Stats
Unicorns
Companies valued at over $1 billion continue to reshape the future of work landscape.
Companies
36
Median Valuation
$2B
Median Capital
$383M
Rising Stars
Valued between $500M-$1B, these companies represent the next generation of market leaders.
Companies
30
Median Valuation
$780M
Median Capital
$142M
Up & Comers
With valuations under $500M, these emerging companies drive innovation at the grassroots level.
Companies
34
Median Valuation
$338M
Median Capital
$81M
The Complete List
100 companies transforming how we work, collaborate, and build the future
Avg Valuation
$2.3B
Median Funding
$192M
New Entrants
9
Top Category
Operations
#
Company
Founded
Segment
Headquarters
Employees
Capital Raised ($M)
No companies found matching your filters. Please try again.
Clear Filters1
Deel
2019
Operations & Management
San Francisco, USA
North America
5000
$979.00
2
Airtable
2012
Productivity & Collaboration
San Francisco, USA
North America
925
$1,360.60
3
Alan
2016
Health & Wellness
Paris, France
EMEA
1178
$756.10
4
Miro
2011
Productivity & Collaboration
San Francisco, USA
North America
2331
$476.30
5
Nomi Health
2019
Health & Wellness
Salt Lake City, USA
North America
369
$120.00
6
Rippling
2016
Operations & Management
San Francisco, USA
North America
5464
$1,847.00
7
Personio
2014
Operations & Management
Munich, Germany
EMEA
2030
$724.50
8
Glean
2019
Productivity & Collaboration
San Francisco, USA
North America
1099
$768.20
9
Staffbase
2014
Operations & Management
Chemnitz, Germany
EMEA
891
$306.00
10
Papaya Global
2016
Operations & Management
New York, USA
North America
769
$439.50
11
Notion
2013
Productivity & Collaboration
San Francisco, USA
North America
6521
$343.20
12
Lyra Health
2015
Health & Wellness
San Francisco, USA
North America
2491
$910.10
13
Handshake
2014
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
1047
$434.00
14
Mercor
2023
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
400
$483.60
15
Eruditus
2010
Development & Skills
Mumbai, India
APAC
2300
$740.50
16
justWorks
2012
Operations & Management
New York, USA
North America
1427
$143.00
17
Velocity Global
2014
Operations & Management
Denver, USA
North America
953
$500.00
18
Gusto
2011
Operations & Management
San Francisco, USA
North America
3541
$752.20
19
Spring Health
2016
Health & Wellness
New York, USA
North America
3192
$466.50
20
BambooHR
2008
Operations & Management
Salt Lake City, USA
North America
1732
$250.00
21
Workboard
2013
Culture & Engagement
San Francisco, USA
North America
121
$140.10
22
Guild
2015
Development & Skills
Denver, USA
North America
1240
$643.20
23
Clickup
2017
Productivity & Collaboration
San Diego, USA
North America
1371
$537.50
24
SmartHR
2013
Operations & Management
Tokyo, Japan
APAC
431
$273.70
25
Hibob
2015
Operations & Management
Tel Aviv, Israel
EMEA
1828
$574.00
26
Greenhouse
2012
People & Jobs
New York, USA
North America
875
$109.80
27
Checkr
2014
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
1541
$740.10
28
Mural
2011
Productivity & Collaboration
San Francisco, USA
North America
568
$191.50
29
Earnin
2012
Operations & Management
San Francisco, USA
North America
532
$190.10
30
Human Interest
2015
Health & Wellness
San Francisco, USA
North America
788
$628.60
31
Origin
2018
Health & Wellness
Boston, USA
North America
174
$72.00
32
Oyster
2019
Operations & Management
Charlotte, USA
North America
579
$288.20
33
Payfit
2018
Operations & Management
Paris, France
EMEA
838
$495.30
34
Sense
2016
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
465
$89.50
35
Seekout
2017
People & Jobs
Seattle, USA
North America
186
$188.30
36
Workrise
2014
People & Jobs
Austin, USA
North America
680
$708.00
37
Gloat
2015
People & Jobs
New York, USA
North America
196
$181.60
38
Gem
2017
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
438
$148.00
39
Granola
2023
Productivity & Collaboration
London, UK
North America
31
67.3
40
Headspace Health
2011
Health & Wellness
San Francisco, USA
North America
1515
$175.70
41
Phenom People
2010
People & Jobs
Philadelphia, USA
North America
1952
$161.00
42
Eightfold
2016
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
907
$396.80
43
Jobandtalent
2009
People & Jobs
Madrid, Spain
EMEA
3665
$915.30
44
Turing
2018
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
4566
$249.00
45
Wrapbook
2018
Operations & Management
New York, USA
North America
351
$150.60
46
CoachHub
2018
Development & Skills
Berlin, Germany
EMEA
1261
$375.00
47
Lattice
2015
Culture & Engagement
San Francisco, USA
North America
619
$330.30
48
Skillshare
2010
Development & Skills
New York, USA
North America
566
$108.80
49
Employment Hero
2014
Operations & Management
Sydney, Australia
APAC
1496
$505.50
50
Culture Amp
2011
Culture & Engagement
Melbourne, Australia
APAC
1066
$258.30
51
BetterUp
2013
Development & Skills
San Francisco, USA
North America
2779
$569.80
52
Deputy
2008
Operations & Management
Sydney, Australia
APAC
513
$143.00
53
Connecteam
2013
Operations & Management
Tel Aviv, Israel
EMEA
371
$158.00
54
DailyPay
2015
Operations & Management
New York, USA
North America
963
$263.80
55
HackerRank
2009
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
1930
$106.70
56
Multiverse
2016
Development & Skills
London, UK
EMEA
870
$414.00
57
GO1
2015
Development & Skills
Brisbane, Australia
APAC
680
$384.50
58
Front
2013
Productivity & Collaboration
San Francisco, USA
North America
505
$203.60
59
Charthop
2018
Culture & Engagement
San Francisco, USA
North America
59
$74.00
60
Scaler Academy
2016
Development & Skills
Bengaluru, India
EMEA
1500
$75.00
61
Visier
2010
Operations & Management
Vancouver, Canada
North America
572
$216.50
62
Quinyx
2005
Operations & Management
Stockholm, Sweden
EMEA
302
$103.00
63
Homebase
2014
Operations & Management
San Francisco, USA
North America
300
$159.00
64
Andela
2014
People & Jobs
New York, USA
North America
1323
$382.80
65
Workstream
2016
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
243
$120.50
66
Degreed
2012
Development & Skills
San Francisco, USA
North America
532
$337.50
67
Avature
2005
People & Jobs
New York, USA
North America
1666
$0.00
68
League
2014
Health & Wellness
Toronto, Canada
North America
489
$144.00
69
Check
2019
Operations & Management
New York, USA
North America
155
$119.00
70
Remote
2019
Operations & Management
San Francisco, USA
North America
9616
$494.00
71
Pave
2019
Operations & Management
San Francisco, USA
North America
250
$162.90
72
Ashby
2018
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
266
$115.00
73
360Learning
2010
Development & Skills
Paris, France
EMEA
471
$242.30
74
Simpplr
2014
Operations & Management
San Francisco, USA
North America
488
$131.10
75
Thatch
2021
Health & Wellness
San Francisco, USA
North America
120
$83.60
76
Teamtailor
2013
People & Jobs
Stockholm, Sweden
EMEA
531
$15.60
77
Findem
2019
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
213
$88.30
78
Rain
2019
Operations & Management
Los Angeles, USA
North America
287
$141.00
79
Beamery
2012
People & Jobs
London, UK
EMEA
292
$223.00
80
Merge
2020
Operations & Management
San Francisco, USA
North America
122
$74.50
81
WorkTrans
2015
Operations & Management
Shanghai, China
APAC
300
$229.40
82
Factorial
2016
Operations & Management
Barcelona, Spain
EMEA
2052
$299.60
83
Wonolo
2013
People & Jobs
Portland, USA
North America
825
$190.90
84
Buk
2016
Operations & Management
Santiago, Chile
North America
1911
$85.00
85
TestGorilla
2019
Development & Skills
Amsterdam, Netherlands
EMEA
321
$81.20
86
TechWolf
2018
Development & Skills
Ghent, Belgium
EMEA
127
$52.80
87
Karat
2014
People & Jobs
Seattle, USA
North America
373
$151.60
88
Glints
2013
People & Jobs
Singapore
North America
857
$82.30
89
Incredible Health
2017
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
156
$97.30
90
Darwinbox
2015
Operations & Management
Hyderabad, India
APAC
1401
$306.00
91
Syndio
2016
People & Jobs
Seattle, USA
North America
173
$81.80
92
Fountain
2014
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
384
$218.90
93
Instawork
2015
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
1998
$149.80
94
Modern Health
2017
Health & Wellness
San Francisco, USA
North America
907
$167.40
95
Kombo
2022
Operations & Management
Berlin, Germany
EMEA
38
$27.80
96
Compa
2020
Operations & Management
Los Angeles, USA
North America
51
$13.90
97
Zenjob
2015
People & Jobs
Berlin, Germany
EMEA
510
$106.10
98
Class
2020
Development & Skills
Washington DC, USA
North America
670
$164.10
99
WorkWhile
2019
People & Jobs
San Francisco, USA
North America
170
$39.50
100
Maki
2021
People & Jobs
Paris, France
EMEA
95
$42.40
Additional Insights
New Entrants (9)
Compa
Operations & Management
Findem
People & Jobs
Granola
Productivity & Collaboration
Kombo
Operations & Management
Maki
People & Jobs
Mercor
People & Jobs
Rain
Operations & Management
Thatch
Health & Wellness
WorkWhile
People & Jobs
Companies Dropped (9)
Apna
People & Jobs
Beekeeper
Productivity & Collaboration
Coda
Productivity & Collaboration
Omnipresent
Operations & Management
Paradox
People & Jobs
Sana
Development & Skills
SmartRecruiters
People & Jobs
Superhuman
Productivity & Collaboration
Truework
Operations & Management
Sector Distribution
Operations
34
People
31
Development
13
Health
10
Productivity
8
Culture
4
How We Built the 2025
Future of Work 100
Methodology
The Future of Work 100 is curated annually by Acadian Ventures using a proprietary dataset combining public disclosures and private market intelligence.
The list includes venture backed private companies operating across the WorkTech ecosystem. The Future of Work 100 comprises venture-backed companies that have built work-specific solutions. These solutions are predominantly business-to-business (B2B) applications that are adopted by companies of all sizes and marketplaces whereas the solution brings together a consumer and business (ex. job marketplace).
The Future of Work 100 is not a popularity contest. It is a view into where enduring value is being created across the modern work stack.
Data Sources
- Publicly available funding announcements and SEC filings
- Crunchbase as the primary source for company valuations, revenue estimates, and funding data
- Third-party databases as the primary source for company valuations, revenue estimates, and funding data incl.: Crunchbase, PitchBook, LinkedIn, Hiive
- Publicly available secondary market data, where available, incorporated for individual companies
- Acadian Ventures proprietary research and internal datasets, informed by direct company interactions and sector specialization
Key Ranking Factors
- Total capital raised and valuation metrics
- Revenue growth trajectory and market position
- Product innovation and technological differentiation
- Market size and competitive positioning
- Team strength and investor quality
Data Currency
Data as of December 2025 and intended to provide directional insight rather than precise benchmarking. The list is updated annually, with interim updates for significant funding events or company changes. Source: Acadian Ventures Research Team.