Forbes Cloud 100
An annual ranking of the top 100 private cloud and software companies worldwide, produced by Forbes with Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures. Founders and investors use it as a marker of late-stage private software leaders and likely IPO candidates.
- Reliability
- Grade C · 7/12
- Publisher
- Forbes
- Ranks
- Startups, Private cloud and software companies
- Editions
- 10 since 2016
- Method
- Mixed
- How items get in
- Free nomination
- Status
- Active
Editions
| Edition | Published | Top of the list | On record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | September 3, 2025 | OpenAI | 100 |
| 2024 | August 6, 2024 | OpenAI | 100 |
| 2023 | August 8, 2023 | OpenAI | 100 |
| 2022 | August 9, 2022 | Stripe | 100 |
| 2021 | August 10, 2021 | Stripe | 100 |
| 2020 | September 2020 | Snowflake | 100 |
| 2019 | September 11, 2019 | Stripe | 100 |
| 2018 | September 11, 2018 | Stripe | 100 |
| 2017 | July 11, 2017 | Stripe | 100 |
| 2016 | 2016 | Not recorded | At the publisher |
How the ranking works
Companies must be independent and private (no majority acquisition, PE buyout or IPO); those that have raised under $30 million go to the separate Rising Stars list. Applicants report market segment, financial metrics, culture and diversity data, and prior Cloud 100 or Rising Stars placement is considered.
For 2025, a judging panel of public cloud company CEOs and technology leaders scored companies on market leadership (35%, from peer CEO input), estimated valuation (30%, from third-party data), operating metrics (20%, revenue, growth and financial performance) and people and culture (15%). Forbes reporters then vet the results. Judges see scores rather than raw financials, which stay confidential.
Ranked positions: Each item has a position (1, 2, 3), with ties allowed. Companies are nominated or apply in a spring submission window and supply confidential financial and culture data; no fee was found. The list is co-produced with Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures, both active investors in cloud companies.
How far to trust it
Superscout grades every ranking on six criteria, each scored 0 to 2. Forbes Cloud 100 scores 7 of 12, grade C.
- Transparency 2/2
- Factors and weights are published (2025).
- Independence 1/2
- Co-producers invest in the sector being ranked.
- Evidence 1/2
- Mix of confidential financials, third-party valuations and CEO opinion.
- Stability 1/2
- Categories and weighting history before 2025 not verified.
- Coverage 0/2
- Applicants and nominees only.
- Track record 2/2
- Ten editions.
History
Bessemer Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures and Forbes launched the Cloud 100 in 2016. Stripe led most early editions (2017 to 2019, 2021 and 2022), Snowflake led in 2020, and OpenAI has been No. 1 since 2023. The 2025 edition marked the list's 10th year and was organized around 10 categories with AI at the center.
How it is received
The list is widely cited by software startups and investors as a status marker,. Because two of the three producers are venture investors in cloud companies and the market leadership score comes from peer CEO opinion, some readers treat it as partly a reputation measure rather than a pure performance ranking. No published third-party criticism was reviewed in this pass.
Strengths
- Published weighting across four factors.
- Tracks the same universe of private software leaders each year since 2016.
- Confidential financial data lets private companies participate.
- Clear eligibility rules (private, independent, above $30 million raised).
Weaknesses
- Co-produced by active cloud investors, a potential conflict of interest.
- 35% weight on peer CEO opinion adds a reputational component.
- Only nominated or applying companies are considered.
- Underlying data is confidential and cannot be checked.
Open questions
Facts not verified yet. They stay visible so they are not mistaken for settled facts.
- 2016 inaugural list: date, leader and entries not found (API empty, legacy URL 404).
- No 2026 edition found as of September 23, 2026 (API returned zero records and forbes.com/lists/cloud100 still shows 2025).
- Weighting history before 2025 not verified.
- Headquarters locations not captured (raw_location null).
Superscout describes Forbes Cloud 100 independently from the publisher’s own pages and outside coverage, linked below. The rankings belong to Forbes.