Love startups? Got a favorite you've been keeping an eye on? The world of startups is by definition one that moves at light speed, so you can be forgiven to not always be up to date on what's hot. It seems that increasingly, a company considered a niche startup one month, is a multi-billion dollar household name the next.

It's always worth taking a look at what services and products are gaining massive traction, as it can give you valuable insight (both professional and personal) into how the world might be changing in coming months and years, as well as highlighting current consumer wants and needs. Here we've collected 5 startups that have outgrown their newbie status and are set for lasting success.

Zenefits

If you haven't heard of Zenefits yet, get up to speed quickly, because this red hot startup is now valued at a mind-blowing US$4.5 billion. Specializing in small business human resources across the United States, this disruptive startup provides HR software that helps businesses manage payroll and employee benefits, such as health insurance and retirement funds, for their workers. The beauty of this approach is that it allows businesses to buy health insurance directly from providers, eliminating the need for expensive brokers. Zenefits makes its money by charging a commission directly to insurance companies.

Thumbtack

While this startup isn't exactly new – launching back in 2009 – it has certainly picked up momentum of late. Thumbtack simplifies the process of finding local services, such as painters, tutors, therapists and photographers, putting those who need services in touch with their best local options. The secret to Thumbtack's success is that it taps into the emerging trend of going local – last year this dynamic startup was catapulted into the limelight when it landed a $100 million investment led by Google Capital.

Uber

The secret to Uber's success lies in having modernized the extremely simple task of hailing a taxi. With Uber, you no longer need to call a taxi or risk life and limb trying to hail one down, as you can simply e-hail one – best of all, your ride will be there in minutes. All transactions are credit card–based, making it safer for both the client and the driver, and Uber is now available in 55 countries.

The ride sharing based startup has gone from strength to strength in recent years, first entering the market with its Uber Black service that connected qualified chauffeurs drivers with prestige card to users who needed a ride. Whilst this service was cool and disruptive, a 'big idea' was around the corner. In 2014, Uber expanded their offering and scaled super-quick when they released UberX, a cheaper service that allows any registered Uber drive to offer car rides to strangers on demand. New drivers jumped on board with low effort requires to start working. Drivers don't have to buy a license, commercial insurance or other stuff hire car drivers need to do. This meant anyone could be a driver providing your car was modern and clean.

Now uber is valued at US$50 billion. Skyrocketing demand in markets all over the world has posed a big threat to traditional regulated local taxi industries leading to protests from Sydney to Paris to stop Uber.

ThousandEyes

With so many apps available nowadays it has become more important than ever to know what to do when there is a problem with delivery – ThousandEyes has come to the rescue. This clever startup specializes in finding application issues between cloud services and enterprises, determining where and what the problem is. It is no surprise that this vital service is extremely attractive for both SaaS and enterprise companies alike – ThousandEyes now boast clients including Twitter, Evernote, Priceline and Zynga.

Cloudera

This big data business has been making huge waves of late, becoming one of the few elite startups to be valued at over US$1 billion (US$2.8 – US$4.7 billion, to be exact). Cloudera specializes in helping businesses large and small maximize their data resources - you may know of them from their role in creating Hadoop, the wildly popular open source data storage framework.

The world of business and innovation changes every day, but these companies seem set to stick around for a while yet – until the next big thing comes along, that is.

Want More?

Are you deep in the startup world? Would you like to learn more about it? If you're planning to create your own your startup, you'll need a well-designed logo. Hire a designer from our talented creative community or check out our logo maker tools such as app logo, font logo, icon logo, and more. These articles may be of interest:

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Written by Hanna Schenkel on Thursday, August 20, 2015

Hanna Schenkel is a freelance writer, editor and marketing specialist based in Sydney. Her critical and creative work has been published nationally and anthologised. Get in touch via LinkedIn.