Podium, a customer communication platform for local businesses, has been named to the Forbes 2018 Cloud 100 — the definitive list of the top 100 private cloud companies in the world, published by Forbes in collaboration with Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures.

This award comes on the heels of Podium being ranked No. 13 on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest growing companies for 2018 and being named the 2018 “Best SaaS Product for Small Business/SMBs” by The SaaS Awards.

"The power of the cloud has transformed the way people do business and we are honored to be recognized by Bessemer Venture Partners, Forbes and Salesforce Ventures for our innovative technology solutions that benefit both local businesses and their end-consumers," Podium CEO and co-founder Eric Rea said. "We help any businesses with a physical location improve their customer interactions and drive purchase decisions better than anyone, and this award is a testament to the talent and hard work of our team in creating our platform."

As part of the rigorous selection process for the Forbes 2018 Cloud 100, Bessemer Venture Partners received submissions from the top cloud startups. The Forbes Cloud 100 judging panel, including top public cloud company CEOs, reviewed the data to select, score and rank the top 100 cloud companies from all over the world.

The evaluation process involved four factors: market leadership (35%), estimated valuation (30%), operating metrics (20%), and people and culture (15%).

“For the past three years, the Cloud 100 list has identified the top cloud companies that are reshaping their respective industries,” said Alex Konrad, Forbes editor of The Cloud 100. “I am consistently impressed by the caliber of companies honored on the Cloud 100 list. It is an exciting time to a be a cloud company and founder.”

“All of the 25 cloud IPOs and major cloud acquisitions over the past three years have been prior members of the Cloud 100, and we absolutely expect that the dominant public cloud companies of the future will also come from this list,” said Byron Deeter, a top cloud investor and partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. “The 2018 Cloud 100 represents well over $135 billion in private shareholder value — an astonishing figure that reminds us yet again of the power of the cloud. The way we do business will be dramatically different as a result of these companies and I am honored to celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of the founders and teams behind each company on the 2018 Cloud 100.”

“The business opportunity for cloud companies is tremendous today as capital investment, customer demand and rate of adoption continues to grow,” Salesforce Ventures Managing Partner Matt Garratt said. “We’re excited to see the potential of these companies and look forward to seeing what innovative technology they deliver around the world.”

Each year, the CEOs of The Cloud 100 and the 20 Rising Stars companies are honored at the exclusive Cloud 100 Celebration hosted by Bessemer Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures, and Forbes. The Forbes 2018 Cloud 100 and 20 Rising Stars lists are published online at www.forbes.com/cloud100 and will appear in the September 2018 issue of Forbes magazine.