Once an outsider category, cloud computing now powers every industry. Look no further than this year’s Forbes Cloud 100 list, the annual ranking of the world’s top private cloud companies, where this year's standouts are keeping businesses surviving—and thriving—from real estate to retail, data to design.

Produced for the fifth consecutive year in partnership with Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures, the Cloud 100 recognizes standouts in tech’s hottest category from small startups to private-equity-backed giants, from Silicon Valley to Australia and Hong Kong. The companies on the list are selected for their growth, sales, valuation and culture, as well as a reputation score derived in consultation with 43 CEO judges and executives from their public-cloud-company peers.

This year’s new No. 1 has set a record for shortest time running atop the list. Database leader Snowflake takes the top slot, up from No. 2 last year and just hours before graduating from the list by going public in one of the year’s buzziest IPOs. Online payments company Stripe drops to No. 2 after three years in the leading spot. Moving into the Top 10 for the first time are design software maker Canva (No. 7), AI-focused database company Databricks (No. 5) and restaurant software business Toast (No. 10). The biggest mover on the list, industrial IoT provider Samsara (No. 25), soared 42 places from 2019. Product analytics provider Pendo (No. 54) and education software maker Guild Education (No. 46), jumped a respective 41 and 40 slots. Leading the next guard are 27 newcomers including Checkout.com, the London-based payments unicorn riding the pandemic’s boost to online commerce to a No. 15 debut rank.

Make no mistake: Covid-19 hasn’t slowed this group down. With a record combined value of about $270 billion and at least 87 companies valued at $1 billion or more—up from 65 a year ago—the Cloud 100 list is bigger and stronger than ever before.

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