California-based startup Proxy ($PRIVATE:PROXY) could be headed to unicorn territory one of these days.
The company raised more than $13 million from a cadre of boldface name investors, including Kleiner Perkins, to turn phones into proximity-based applications that do things like unlock doors, at places like WeWork ($PRIVATE:WEWORK), which is a Proxy client.
But it's not just door-locks; next Proxy aims to unlock achievements in identity verification for business applications like ridesharing and event check-ins, according to Forbes, which anointed the startup one of the "Next Billion" companies this summer.
Our first chart shows headcount has been steadily rising over time. We can track headcount for private companies, especially startups, through the number of staffers who identify Proxy as their current place of employment on LinkedIn. In this case, headcount is up 33% from April through mid-August.
Proxy's not done growing yet, either. Co-founders Denis Mars and Simon Ratner are aiming to scale the business to new applications - and job postings have also risen in 2019.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- Airbnb is still growing - and still on the IPO track
- Candid is moving in on SmileDirect and Invisalign territory
- Gusto doubles its valuation on impressive data trends
