As we welcome the new year and get geared up for top trends at CES 2015, it’s interesting to take a look at the top 5 tech sectors and their rising stars. This is where top VCs will be looking to make big investments in 2015. If your startup fits into one of these categories, 2015 could be your year!
- “Now Time” Social Media – As social media and connective platforms continue to grow, those that share your “past” such as Twitter (thoughts) and Instagram (sights), will be augmented with platforms that share your “now”. Stream is an app that turns your smart phone into a live streaming video camera, and allows your followers to see what you see, as you see it. Services like Stre.am are heralding a new era of global human connection and VCs know there are fortunes to be made with companies pioneering this space.
- Bitcoin – Despite incredible odds, crypto-currency continues to gain traction as a viable electronic currency. This massively disruptive movement provides incredible opportunity for awesome players like BitStash, a recently funded startup that provides ultra-secure BitCoin wallets at an affordable price, which will help more people get comfortable using BitCoin. Early movers like BitStash have a unique position that make VCs take notice.
- 3D Printing – The ability to create a prototype of anything you can imagine, in your home, is disrupting the world, and VCs know it. So it’s not surprising that companies like AstroPrint are making a big splash in the early-stage funding world. AstroPrint allows users to slice, store, and print 3D files from any web enabled device, like a smartphone. In addition, you can monitor your 3D printer and organize designs in the cloud. Products like AstroPrint are making 3D printing more mainstream, and that means more users, which means big opportunity, something every VC loves!
- The Internet of Things – Connected devices, especially the connected car, are changing the way we live, and startups like Zubie, which recently received several millions of dollars in venture capital, are at the forefront of this movement. Through a neatly-inserted device below your dashboard, Zubie instantly turns your ride into a smart car connected to the cloud and allows you to see everything from maintenance reports to driving habits. As our world becomes more connected, VCs are eager to find gems like Zubie.
- Data Acceleration – With the onslaught of the Internet of Things, there is a huge market need for more bandwidth, but it will take years for the required fiber optic upgrades. AccelerationSystems.com, a startup that just closed a seven-figure Angel round, offers a patented cloud based internet acceleration solution with a novel approach to solving the big data transfer problem, increasing transfer rates by almost 100X. Companies like AccelerationSystems.com will be obvious short-term acquisition targets by big data aggregators, making them particularly attractive to the VC community.
These 5 technology sectors are going to be on fire in 2015, and you can expect Venture Capitalists to fanning the flames!
