Frequently Asked Questions about Startups of The Year 2024

What is Startups of The Year 2024 by HackerNoon?

Startups of The Year 2024 is HackerNoon’s flagship community-driven event celebrating startups, technology, and the spirit of innovation. This year, in its third iteration, the prestigious internet award recognizes and celebrates tech startups of all shapes and sizes, with over 150,000+ entities across 4,200+ cities, 6 continents, and 100+ industries participating in a bid to be crowned the best startup of the year! Millions of votes have been cast over the past few years, and many more stories have been written about these daring and rising startups.

The event goes live on October 1st, 2024, allowing the Internet to nominate and vote for their favorite startups. The nomination period ends 1 month after the event begins, on October 31st, 2024. The voting period ends 6 months later, on March 31st, 2025 and winners will be announced in April 2025.

Startups of The Year 2023 received three times as much votes than in 2021 and concluded with 623k+ total votes, up from 215k+ votes in the inaugural startup competition. Check out last year’s winners below:

North America || Europe || Africa || Asia || South America || Oceania

What is HackerNoon?

HackerNoon is built for technologists to read, write, and publish. We are an open and international community of 45,000+ contributing writers publishing stories and expertise for 4+ million curious and insightful monthly readers. HackerNoon is run by a small, distributed team of 20-ish people passionate about making the internet a better place by publishing free high-quality tech stories - without paywalls, pop-up ads, or a sense of entitlement.

Which startups qualify for nomination?

The requirements are startups founded within the past 5 years, between $50k-$50M in yearly expected revenue and/or $1M-$100M in secured funding. The official HQ must be where the company city award nomination is. Each startup can belong to up to 3 different industry verticals.

Like HackerNoon’s editorial line, we prefer startups that add more value than they extract.

Some verticals we dig: machine learning, cloud comuting, automation, AR/VR, quantum computing, IoT, blockchain, DeFi, decentralization, software development, mobile-app-development, developer tools, energy solutions, space technology, renewable energy, climate tech, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, business intelligence, analytics, AI Wrappers, generative AI, chatbots, open source, IT services, operating system, devops, web development, software monetization, SaaS, cybersecurity services and products, access controls, network security, threat intelligence, data privacy and compliance, location services, VPN, film, blogging, games, music, social media, news & journalism, marketing, events, design, messaging & communications, art, publishing, media production, entertainment, writing/editing, business development, creative agency, fintech, crowdfunding, banking, venture capital, investing, leadership, entrepreneurship, project management, productivity, incubators, consulting, real estate, transportation services.

I’ve been nominated! Why.,.? and What’s Next?

Because you are one of the hottest startups in your region and/or vertical! HackerNoon appreciates the difference you are making, and we believe that you can be the Startups of The Year!

(but also: see above for “Which startups qualify for nomination?”)

Next steps are to claim, verify, and lastly PROMOTE the h*ll out of your startup. Don’t worry- detailed instructions will be provided to all nominees via email.

Next Step: Claim your Startup. Here’s how.

Contact us if you want to drop out from the competition 😞 or have any questions!

How can I edit my company information?

Simply click on Claim your Startup on your city/ industry page - fill out the information you want to show and submit it with your company email ID for review. If the provided info is valid, our moderators will approve and update your information.

Do nominees get benefits? Like what?

Apart from evergreen validation and acknowledgment from the coolest tech publication on the planet, you get:

1. Free interviews relevant to your industry, region, and funding.
2. Discounted packages exclusively designed for the nominated startups. Whether your goal is brand awareness or lead generation, HackerNoon has curated special packages for your marketing needs. Learn more about the Startups Specials here.
3. Notion’s Pro Plan with unlimited AI FREE for up to six months. Terms and conditions apply.

Can I pay to get nominated?

No, you can not, however, you can nominate your own startup! Here’s how:

1. Visit our website, and choose the region or industry you want to nominate from.
2. Click on 'Nominate Startup'
3. Fill out the form and submit your nomination. We'll review each submission and choose the top contenders.

For instructions + visuals click here.

I received an email saying that I was nominated for Startups of The Year, but I couldn’t find our listing. What should I do?

Sorry about that! Please search for the name of your city or startup (in all their different variations, if any) via our search bar on the top right of the site. There could have been a spelling mistake. If you still can’t find your startup, our apologies! Our database is not perfect, and there must have been an oversight. But no worries, feel free to nominate yourself (see above!).

How do I find companies and industries?

• Startups can be looked up via the search bar on www.hackernoon.com/startups.

  
  

• Startups can also be looked up by filtering the industry type and location.

  
  

• Simply select an industry (example: Marketing) and then location (example: New York City) via the dropdown menu to see Marketing Startups in NYC.

  
  

• Startups can also be ranked by most voted or recently voted within the industry and location filters.

How does voting work?

• Vote for your favorite startup by clicking “Vote” next to the company name.

  
  

• Startups can belong to up to 3 industries but only 1 parent category and 1 location. Click Parent Category & Industry Guide below for more information.

  
  

• One True Vote: You can only vote for a company once. If you vote for a company using one filter (e.g., a specific industry), your vote will not count again if in the same session you vote for the same company using a different filter (e.g., another industry, or via location). Once you’ve voted for a company - it will become a universal vote regardless of how you find the company through different filters. The good news? The chances that a startup is discovered and voted for this year is increased 4 fold!

  
  

• We weigh votes to elevate the voice of our contributing writers further, reward verified expertise, and prevent spam. HackerNoon published writers' votes count as 10, authenticated users' votes count as 3, and unauthenticated visitors have their vote count as 1 (pending spam reviews).

  
  

  The reasons for this are:

  
  

  • The contributing writer, by publishing their words and expertise on Hacker Noon, has earned the right to have their voice count the most when it comes to who deserves HackerNoon rewards.

  • Authenticated users have much lower spam rate so their vote should count more. We want to continue to ensure that anyone can vote. All users can vote once on each award in voting season.

    
    

Learn more on how to vote here.

When can I vote?

The voting period starts on October 1st, 2024, and ends on March 31st, 2025. People can vote once per day per award. ✅

When will the winners be announced?

The winners will be announced in April 2025 after the HackerNoon team reviews the results. (yes - people cheat every.single.year 😤)

Our advice is to promote the sh*t out of this nomination (no, but really) to improve your chance of winning.

What do the winners get?

1. Pride and validation from the HackerNoon team and community members.
2. Winner Interview.
3. Evergreen Tech Company News Page.
4. HackerNoon Merch for selected winners. Terms and conditions apply.

I’d like to put my company logo on the Startups of The Year page. Can I do that?

Of course, you can! If your company caters to startups, a win-win-win trifecta is ready to be created via banner/prizes/locational sponsorships. You can get Ad placements on the website, mentions and branding on HackerNoon posts, trigger emails, and social media posts.

You can book a meeting with us to learn more.

How do I build a custom award-voting site like this?

We built ours from scratch. If you'd like us to power a digital voting experience on your site, email [email protected].

Parent Category and Industry Guide

Startups can belong to multiple industries but only one parent category. For example, HackerNoon can fall under both ‘Marketing’ and ‘News & Journalism’ industries, but HackerNoon’s parent category will be “Media”. Browse parent categories and industries here.

Artificial Intelligence (AI): Machine Learning, Chatbots, Generative AI, AI Wrappers, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Robotics, Automation

Emerging Tech: Cloud Computing, AR/VR, Quantum Computing, Nanotechnology, IoT, Biotechnology, Climatetech, Renewable Energy, Space Technology, Energy Solutions

Web3: Blockchain, DeFi, Decentralization

Programming: Developer Tools, Software Development, Mobile App Development, Open source, IT Services, Operating System, DevOps, Web Development, Software Monetization, SaaS

Engineering: Electric Vehicles, Electronics, Aviation & Aerospace, Construction, Manufacturing, Logistics & Supply Chain, Hardware.

Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity Services & Products, Access Control, Network Security, Threat Intelligence, Data Privacy & Compliance, Location Services, VPN

Media: Film, Blogging, Games, Music, Social Media, News & Journalism, Marketing, Events, Design, Messaging & Communications, Art, Publishing, Media Production, Entertainment, Writing and Editing

Business: Business Development, Creative Agency, FinTech, Crowdfunding, Banking, Venture Capital, Investing, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Project Management, Productivity, Incubators, Consulting, Commerce Real Estate, Transportation Services, Risk Management, Non-profit, Professional Services

Commerce: Consumer Goods, E-commerce, Payments, Travel, Food & Beverages, Fashion, Recreation

Education: EdTech, Research, Training & Consulting, E-Learning, Educational Institutions, Cultural Institutions, Administrative, Think Tanks

Healthcare: Fitness, Health & Wellness, Healthcare Technology, Health Data Analytics, Neuroscience

Who can I contact about the Startups of The Year 2024?

Submit our contact form & make sure to select “I have a question about Startups of The Year”.

About HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year

Startups of The Year 2024 is HackerNoon’s flagship community-driven event celebrating startups, technology, and the spirit of innovation. Currently in its third iteration, the prestigious Internet award recognizes and celebrates tech startups of all shapes and sizes. This year, over 150,000 entities across 4200+ cities, 6 continents, and 100+ industries will participate in a bid to be crowned the best startup of the year! Millions of votes have been cast over the past few years, and many stories have been written about these daring and rising startups.

The winners will get a free interview on HackerNoon and an Evergreen Tech Company News page.

Visit our FAQ page to learn more.

Download our design assets here.

Check out the Startups of the Year Merch Shop here.

HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year is a branding opportunity unlike any other. Whether your goal is brand awareness or lead generation, HackerNoon has curated startup-friendly packages to solve your marketing challenges.

Meet our sponsors:

Wellfound: Join the #1 global, startup-focused community. At Wellfound, we're not just a job board—we're the place where top startup talent and the world's most exciting companies connect to build the future.

Notion: Notion is trusted and loved by thousands of startups as their connected workspace—from building product roadmaps to tracking fundraising. Try Notion with unlimited AI, FREE for up to 6 months, to build and scale your company with one powerful tool. Get your offer now!

Hubspot: If you’re looking for a smart CRM platform that meets the needs of small businesses, look no further than HubSpot. Seamlessly connect your data, teams and customers in one easy-to-use scalable platform that grows with your business.

Bright Data: Startups that leverage public web data can make faster, data-driven decisions, giving them a competitive edge. With Bright Data’s scalable web data collection, businesses can grow from a small operation to an enterprise by harnessing insights at every stage.

Algolia: Algolia NeuralSearch is the world's only AI end-to-end Search and Discovery Platform combining powerful keyword and natural language processing in a single API.