Winter Tech Watch: 10 San Francisco Companies to Track

Winter is arriving in San Francisco. Whether you’re skating the iconic outdoor ice rink at Union Park, picking out a fresh Christmas tree at Clancy’s, or enjoying a bedazzling performance of the San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker, it might also be a good time to catch up on the movers and shakers in your local tech scene — and Built In San Francisco has curated 10 noteworthy companies to get you started.

What’s more: Many of the city’s tech employers are developing upgrades to the breadth, depth and inclusion of their company culture, tech stacks and benefits.

The Bay Area-based companies we featured are special in many ways, but all 10 have one thing in common: They are innovative, people-first organizations with intriguing perks — and well worth keeping on your radar in the winter season ahead.

 

 

What they do: Unity’s platform allows artists, architects, game designers, filmmakers and other creators to make and operate real-time 3D content.

 

 

Advancing diversity: “Besides the regular leadership training and materials Unity provides to all employees, we have multiple spaces organized by ERGs and the inclusion team that allow people to exchange experiences and help each other out,” Julia Perdigueiro, lead, software development, accessibility, told Built In this August. “Leadership constantly talks about inclusivity, and it’s noticeable that there’s an effort to hire and retain a diverse workforce. Here, there are people from all around the world, from all different genders and backgrounds. I can see the difference from other companies.”

 

 

 

 

What they do: Online shopping platform Instacart connects busy people across North America with local grocers and retailers to purchase fresh groceries and everyday essentials, available for same-day delivery and pickup services.

 

 

Continuous inspiration: Senior Product Designer Cody Reppert enjoys attending Instacart Design Talks, where each month a company design leader hosts a virtual chat with someone from the industry who inspires them. “Attending these talks has given us a great chance to get inspired and get to know our design leaders better,” Reppert previously told Built In. “It really feels like there’s an effort to foster a sense of camaraderie on our team, especially when we’re all working from home.”

 

 

 

What they do: Datadog is a monitoring and security platform that integrates apps, systems and services into one centralized location, providing metrics and capabilities that give teams full visibility over their operations.

 

 

Strength in diversity: “Datadog values a curious, humble mindset and approach to problem solving,” Director of Internal Communications and DEI Mayumi Worgotter previously told Built In. “We also recognize that diverse experiences and perspectives are critical to helping us stay innovative and agile. This intersection of curiosity, humility and inclusion have enabled us to create a low-ego culture where individual employees can easily share feedback and ideas.”

 

 

 

What they do: Aerospace company Astra is on a mission to improve life on Earth from space by creating a healthier and more connected planet. After its founding in 2016, the space launch company delivered its first commercial payload into Earth’s orbit five years later.

 

 

Expanding teams: Engineering, operations, project management and finance departments are growing now.

 

 

 

 

What they do: Point is a fintech company that offers home financing options to homebuyers through a shared equity process.

 

 

Aligning team culture: “What sets Point apart is the amazing people I have the pleasure of working with,” Technical Lead Ryan Minniear previously told Built In. “Great people are part of the company's DNA and this is largely the result of our stellar leadership. For product and dev specifically, this translates into a highly collaborative team combining their talents and efforts to create products that have real impact on the lives of our customers.”

 

 

 

What they do: EquityBee aims to help startup employees exercise their stock options and take ownership of their shares.

 

 

A hybrid approach: “The hybrid model we use at EquityBee has proved to be advantageous over the traditional work models,” co-founder and CEO Oren Barzilai previously told Built In. “With a global team, the hybrid and remote model has facilitated powerful collaborations and connections. When navigating multiple time zones is the norm, we have seen our team become more mindful of schedules and deadlines. We host weekly all-hands meetings and virtual water cooler chats so that the full team can spend more time engaged with one another.”

 

 

 

What they do: Aalto is a real estate tech company aiming to build a marketplace where buyers and sellers can connect to accomplish their homeownership goals through a secure, flexible and transparent experience.

 

 

Endless opportunity: “I remember one of my first conversations with our CEO — he had huge goals for where we were going to be in two, five, ten years,” Infrastructure Staff Engineer Danny Garcia previously told Built In. “It was a solid pitch that spoke toward equitability, reinventing the way an industry works and disruption. Four years in, we’ve hit every goal he pitched me and more. As big as our CEO can dream, we’ve brought on individuals who are just as aspirational and push us even further. I haven’t felt this kind of fulfillment in a role in a very long time.”

 

 

 

 

What they do: Sendbird builds scalable chat APIs that empower engagement in apps over chat, voice and video.

 

 

Curious candidates welcome: “Communication is at the heart of any good relationship,” Enterprise Account Executive Narayan Mani previously told Built In. “A Sendbird salesperson has to be curious about the client’s pain points and how best Sendbird’s products can help address them. Curiosity helps establish a win-win relationship: The customer understands how Sendbird can solve their problems, and Sendbird can win business and solve customer issues.”

 

 

 

What they do: Courier provides notification infrastructure for businesses to add to websites, apps and desktops. Businesses can design notifications and send them across multi-channels like push notifications and emails.

 

 

Well-funded future: In June, Courier announced that it raised $35 million Series B funding to provide engineering teams with standout notification infrastructure. “We could not have made it to where we are today without all of our fantastic customers and many others who share our belief in the value of delivering a great product notification experience,” CEO Troy Goode said on the company’s website. “This new funding presents a great opportunity to achieve this ultimate goal.”