On the rise again, the number of local employees at Austin’s 100 largest digital tech companies grew to nearly 60,000 in 2017. That’s an increase of about 7,000 techies — or an 11 percent bump — over 2016’s figures.
Fast-growing startups and Austin tech stalwarts alike contributed to this year’s growth.
Austin tech’s rising stars
Turnkey Vacation Rentals, founded by Austin tech veterans John Banczak and T.J. Clark, made the largest leap in this year’s ranking, doubling its employee count to 160 and jumping 23 spots to number 76.
Emergency data and software provider ESO Solutions also made moves this year, climbing 19 spots to No. 62 with 200 employees even. HR software developer TriNet saw the third largest bump, moving to the 77th spot after adding 68 new employees.
The world’s biggest tech companies continue to expand
While the jury's still out on whether Austin will land Amazon's much-publicized HQ2, the Seattle tech giant has clearly taken a liking to the Texas Capitol. Since last year, Amazon doubled its Austin employee base which is now estimated at 900 employees. Facebook has also taken a liking, adding nearly 300 employees since 2016 with more plans to expand through 2018.
Age is just a number
Twenty-three companies on this year’s Top 100 list launched within the last 10 years. The average founding year for all of the companies is 1999. Opcity claimed the distinction of being the list’s youngest company, founded less than two years ago in December 2015. The startup, which landed a cool $27M Series A this year, generates real estate leads using a matching algorithm that connects real-time buyers and sellers with agents.
Rank: 1 | Employees: 13,000 | Founded: 1984 | B2B
Rank: 2 | Employees: 6,000 | Founded: 1980 | Consumer
Rank: 3 | Employees: 5,416 | Founded: 1911 | B2B
Rank: 4 | Employees: 2,838 | Founded: 1976 | Software
Rank: 5 | Employees: 2,000 | Founded: 1986 | Software
Rank: 6 | Employees: 1,500 | Founded: 2005 | Consumer web
Rank: 7 | Employees: 1,400 | Founded: 2004 | Consumer web
Rank: 8 | Employees: 900 | Founded: 1994 | E-commerce/cloud
Rank: 9 | Employees: 758 | Founded: 2004 | Fintech
Rank: 10 | Employees: 700 | Founded: 1982 | Gaming
Rank: 10 | Employees: 700 | Founded: 2004 | Social media
Rank: 10 | Employees: 700 | Founded: 1991 | Gaming
Rank: 13 | Employees: 675 | Founded: 1995 | E-commerce
Rank: 14 | Employees: 650 | Founded: 1999 | Fintech
Rank: 15 | Employees: 637 | Founded: 1996 | Software
Rank: 16 | Employees: 634 | Founded: 1998 | Software
Rank: 17 | Employees: 600 | Founded: 1994 | Cybersecurity
Rank: 18 | Employees: 589 | Founded: 2005 | Marketing
Rank: 19 | Employees: 563 | Founded: 2005 | Marketing
Rank: 20 | Employees: 544 | Founded: 1919 | Edtech
Rank: 21 | Employees: 539 | Founded: 1999 | Software
Rank: 22 | Employees: 510 | Founded: 2010 | Marketing
Rank: 23 | Employees: 507 | Founded: 1998 | B2B
Rank: 24 | Employees: 497 | Founded: 2001 | Legal tech
Rank: 25 | Employees: 450 | Founded: 1998 | Web
Rank: 25 | Employees: 450 | Founded: 1997 | Marketing
Rank: 27 | Employees: 405 | Founded: 1998 | Cloud computing
Rank: 28 | Employees: 380 | Founded: 1995 | E-commerce
Rank: 29 | Employees: 378 | Founded: 2010 | B2B
Rank: 30 | Employees: 375 | Founded: 2005 | Cybersecurity
Rank: 30 | Employees: 375 | Founded: 2009 | Consumer web
Rank: 32 | Employees: 369 | Founded: 2002 | Software
Rank: 33 | Employees: 360 | Founded: 2005 | E-commerce
Rank: 34 | Employees: 350 | Founded: 2005 | B2B
Rank: 34 | Employees: 350 | Founded: 2006 | Social media
Rank: 36 | Employees: 340 | Founded: 2008 | Marketing
Rank: 37 | Employees: 330 | Founded: 2009 | E-commerce
Rank: 38 | Employees: 325 | Founded: 1998 | Fintech
Rank: 39 | Employees: 320 | Founded: 1981 | Edtech
Rank: 40 | Employees: 318 | Founded: 1994 | Software
Rank: 41 | Employees: 300 | Founded: 2008 | Marketing
Rank: 41 | Employees: 300 | Founded: 1995 | Data analytics
Rank: 41 | Employees: 300 | Founded: 2011 | E-commerce
Rank: 41 | Employees: 300 | Founded: 2006 | Cybersecurity
Rank: 45 | Employees: 280 | Founded: 2010 | Healthcare
Rank: 46 | Employees: 275 | Founded: 2003 | Entertainment
Rank: 47 | Employees: 250 | Founded: 1984 | Logistics
Rank: 47 | Employees: 250 | Founded: 1999 | E-commerce
Rank: 47 | Employees: 250 | Founded: 1999 | B2B
Rank: 47 | Employees: 250 | Founded: 2003 | Data analytics
Rank: 47 | Employees: 250 | Founded: 1999 | B2B
Rank: 52 | Employees: 247 | Founded: 2006 | Entertainment
Rank: 53 | Employees: 230 | Founded: 2003 | Communication
Rank: 54 | Employees: 227 | Founded: 1999 | Fintech
Rank: 55 | Employees: 225 | Founded: 2012 | Marketing
Rank: 56 | Employees: 222 | Founded: 1980 | Cloud computing
Rank: 57 | Employees: 220 | Founded: 2003 | Logistics
Rank: 58 | Employees: 219 | Founded: 2012 | Data analytics
Rank: 59 | Employees: 215 | Founded: 1939 | Software
Rank: 60 | Employees: 206 | Founded: 1989 | B2B
Rank: 61 | Employees: 202 | Founded: 2009 | Logistics
Rank: 62 | Employees: 200 | Founded: 2004 | Healthcare
Rank: 63 | Employees: 198 | Founded: 1997 | Healthcare
Rank: 64 | Employees: 196 | Founded: 1994 | Marketing
Rank: 65 | Employees: 194 | Founded: 1987 | Legal tech
Rank: 66 | Employees: 190 | Founded: 2005 | Cloud computing
Rank: 67 | Employees: 188 | Founded: 2005 | B2B
Rank: 68 | Employees: 183 | Founded: 2000 | B2B
Rank: 69 | Employees: 180 | Founded: 2003 | Healthcare
Rank: 69 | Employees: 180 | Founded: 2000 | B2B
Rank: 69 | Employees: 180 | Founded: 2007 | Cybersecurity
Rank: 69 | Employees: 180 | Founded: 2011 | E-commerce
Rank: 73 | Employees: 176 | Founded: 2005 | B2B
Rank: 74 | Employees: 162 | Founded: 2000 | B2B
Rank: 75 | Employees: 160 | Founded: 2012 | Consumer
Rank: 76 | Employees: 155 | Founded: 1988 | HR
Rank: 77 | Employees: 151 | Founded: 2015 | Data analytics
Rank: 78 | Employees: 150 | Founded: 2014 | IoT
Rank: 79 | Employees: 148 | Founded: 2011 | Edtech
Rank: 80 | Employees: 145 | Founded: 2006 | Cybersecurity
Rank: 80 | Employees: 145 | Founded: 2003 | B2B
Rank: 82 | Employees: 143 | Founded: 2013 | Data analytics
Rank: 83 | Employees: 140 | Founded: 2008 | B2B
Rank: 84 | Employees: 132 | Founded: 1999 | B2B
Rank: 85 | Employees: 125 | Founded: 2006 | Gaming
Rank: 86 | Employees: 124 | Founded: 2001 | Agency
Rank: 87 | Employees: 123 | Founded: 2009 | Cybersecurity
Rank: 88 | Employees: 122 | Founded: 1993 | Cloud computing
Rank: 89 | Employees: 120 | Founded: 2009 | Fintech
Rank: 89 | Employees: 120 | Founded: 2005 | Autotech
Rank: 91 | Employees: 119 | Founded: 2014 | Cybersecurity
Rank: 92 | Employees: 115 | Founded: 2000 | HR
Rank: 92 | Employees: 115 | Founded: 2013 | Logistics
Rank: 94 | Employees: 114 | Founded: 2003 | E-commerce
Rank: 95 | Employees: 111 | Founded: 2000 | Software
Rank: 95 | Employees: 111 | Founded: 2006 | B2B
Rank: 97 | Employees: 110 | Founded: 2007 | Cybersecurity
Rank: 98 | Employees: 109 | Founded: 2004 | Fintech
Rank: 98 | Employees: 109 | Founded: 1976 | Cloud computing
Rank: 100 | Employees: 108 | Founded: 2003 | B2B
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Built In Austin’s Top 100 is a ranking of the largest digital tech employers in the Austin area based on local, full-time employee count as of September 1, 2017. This ranking is compiled by submissions to the Built In Austin website and market survey as well as press releases, news coverage and other publicly available data.
To be eligible for inclusion, a company’s primary business and industry must be digital technology/innovation, including web and mobile applications, software, IoT, e-commerce, VR/AR and digital agency work. Employee numbers only include workers in Travis and Williamson counties and do not count part-time employees, interns, contractors or non-W2 workers. Both private and public companies have been surveyed.
Some companies that may have been eligible have been excluded because they have self-opted to not disclose headcount or have not supplied the required information requested in the survey.
