The invest in founders building startups defining remote work globally. We invest $50k-$100k in the earliest stages of your company. The rolling fund is managed by & . This report was researched and written by our intern . If you’re interested in becoming an LP, you can join here: . If you are a founder looking for a partner on your cap table, email us . We may be investors in some companies mentioned below. Welcome to our 1st Annual Future of Remote Work Report.
Thanks to for helping us design the report. We plan to keep this database updated so you’ll always have a place to find, sort, and understand what’s happening in this space. 150+ companies, pricing breakdowns, and noteworthy features
Instead of just a logo salad report, we wanted to make this list much more useful. We decided to focus on areas that don’t always get talked about and break them down for each company:
If you have company or category suggestions, please send us an email here: . 2021 has begun, and as we look back at 2020, it was a year of resiliency.
We faced many challenges, including most notably COVID-19.
The implication? Acceleration of remote work by 15 years.
Something many people became aware of is how many precious hours they lost commuting to work every day. Hours that could've gone to watching a child’s first steps, self-care, or learning new skills! Instead, these hours were spent traveling to and from work. As unfortunate as COVID-19 was and continues to be, one bright spot did appear from the darkness: remote work.
Remote work allows anyone to work productively from anywhere, not just from home. Through remote work, employees have more freedom with their lives and suffer less from burnout. But hey, don’t believe a bias opinion coming from someone who works for a fund that invests in remote work enabling tools, believe the data. According to a survey by , 66% of workers would prefer to work remotely full-time after the quarantine, 33% of workers would prefer a hybrid model (half remote and half in office), and less than 2% of workers are interested in working full-time in an office again. This is a massive shift. Beyond the data from workers, companies can benefit by embracing this trend too. By enabling remote work: companies can hire the best workers, cut costs on office spaces, and increase efficiencies in workers.
With the advancement of technology, remote work has never been more doable. The few companies that are averse to remote work fear that they cannot create the same culture or manage their employees. But with new startups emerging every day, and the daily increase of major companies who are shifting to this new model, it might be harder or different, but it’s going to happen so we should all work together to figure it out.
Remote work is here to stay. With that being the case, we want to share tools, ideas, and companies that can help everyone work remotely better. The best part about this list being built on is that as we update companies and categories, this is always being updated automatically. Quick note: This is by no means a complete and exhaustive list of remote work tools. We are going to go deep on a few areas that we left out of this report such as: documents, databases, infrastructure, and a lot more. These are some of the categories that we believe are quickly changing how we work. This list will be updated frequently with more companies, and even more areas. Dig into the master database at the top, feel free to sort, copy, or take the data. Click on any company below to see all of the information.
Enjoy our top 18 areas driving the remote work movement:
Messaging
Messaging is essential, and since remote workers are not in an office, companies must implant the correct tools. Slack, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams are all currently dominating this area; however, Loom is one of our favorite tools to use.
Video Communication
The other part of communication: Video Communication, is just as equally important if not more! Picking up on non-verbal cues that were once easy to pick-up, are now a challenge for remote workers. But once again, with new startups launching every day, it’s impossible to say that there aren’t solutions out there. Zoom, Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams are all currently dominating the Video Communication area!
Scheduling
With the rise of never-ending Zoom calls, remote workers must be familiar with Scheduling apps. Calendly, Acuity, Doodle, are all amazing scheduling apps. X.ai is a company that I have been blown away by, and I’m curious to see how they grow within the next 5-10 years.
Team Engagement
Bringing an office like feel & finding ways to engage with employees could be extremely hard if we didn’t live in the 21st Century. But, in this current age of technology, there are plenty of Team Engagement tools to choose from.
Project Management
Making sure that employees are fulfilling their obligations and are not suffering from burnout is important. Monday, Wrike, and Loop Team are all currently dominating the Project Management area of remote work.
Virtual Events
Virtual Events are essential for remote workers. Attending workshops, networking, and socializing are all important for remote workers.
Talent Marketplaces
Hiring quality workers cannot be looked-over! As technology is advancing, so has the future of hiring, with the birth of Talent Marketplaces.
Global Payroll
Since remote work is literally remote work, companies can hire the best workers no matter where they live. As a result of that, a worker may or may not be in the same country as their employee, which leads to a need for Global Payroll companies.
e-Learning
Working isn’t the only area of life going remote, learning is also transitioning to E-learning.
Coaching
Receiving coaching is an area of remote work that is bound to boom.
The different areas of remote work aren't exclusive to companies like Zoom, Airmeet, and Monday. It also includes companies that are going to make the life of remote workers easier. The 2nd- 3rd tier effects of remote work, as just as important as the 1st tier effects. (For more insight, is Chris Herd’s thread about the different areas and effects of remote working) Health
Health is an essential component of remote work, as workers have to be in their best mental and physical condition to work. Being able to attend doctor’s appointments or having therapy sessions, via video or text while being at home is going to make life a lot easier for remote workers.
Virtual Marketplaces
Remote working has caused an increase in the ability for accessibility. This is evident by Amazon doubling their net profit during Q2 2020, the BOOM of Instacart, and the demand for same-day delivery options for retailers from consumers. Virtual Marketplaces are rising and show no signs of slowing down.
Grooming and Personal Care
With countless Virtual Meetings throughout the day, remote workers are prioritizing how they look on screen. Grooming/Personal Care companies are going to play a vital role in the life of remote workers. Having the ability to receive a haircut or even a massage in the sanity of your own home is attractive and will lead to more efficiencies in workers.
Life Changing
The Life-Changing area includes companies that are currently trendsetters and are creating products/services that we never knew we needed.
e-Sports
The age of kids playing outside is now over, and what is now beginning is the age of E-Sports (yes, it’s a real sport). With games like Fortnite, 2k, Modern Warfare, Leagues of Legends, and more it’s no wonder why big companies like Amazon and Microsoft are trying to exert dominance.
Video Highlights
An area that is on the rise is Video Highlights. Creating video highlights of meetings is going to be essential and limitless in its forms of use!
Subscriptions
A huge area powering the creator economy is subscriptions. Building off of the Kevin Kelly concept of 1000 True Fans, these tools are really allowing people to make a living online doing what they love.
Companies Who Allow Remote Work
Finally, we wanted to end our list with Companies Who Allow Remote Work. Although some of these companies may not have remote products/services that directly affect remote work, these companies have seen the future and have announced that they will be supporting a remote way of working going forward. This might be the category that we are most excited about.
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