Accel Partners Ranks as Top Investor in the Alexa 1000 Most Trafficked Websites

Over the last five quarters, 2000+ VC deals have taken place in the Internet sector. Interestingly, just under 9% of the top 1000 web properties globally (as measured by Alexa) are owned by an unexited venture-backed startup. Using CB Insights Performance Metrics data, we dug into the Alexa 1000. The highlights below:

• 86 VC-backed startups are ranked in the top 1000 global websites
• $5.24B – The amount of funding that VC-backed startups that ranked among the top 1000 have reeled in the first 9 months of 2014.
• News/Discussion & Social – The top two sub-industries for startups in the top 1000.
• 66% – Companies based in the U.S.
• Accel Partners – The investor in the highest number of companies in the top 1000 web ranks

Using CB Insights financing and web traffic data, we analyzed financing and investor trends among the venture-backed companies ranked highly on Alexa. Note: For subscribers with access to CB Insider, the full list of companies can be found on the ‘Research’ tab.

The data below.

Funding booms – $5.24B invested in 2014 YTD

VC-backed startups that ranked among the top 1000 web properties saw funding boom in 2014, including a record $2.78B invested across 18 deals in Q3 2014. The spike in funding was driven by popular Indian eCommerce site Flipkart‘s $1B Series G from investors including Tiger Global, Naspers and GIC. Other firms that raised huge funding rounds over the three-month period included Houzz ($165M), Box ($150M) and Chinese ad listing portal Ganji.com ($200M).

Of note, 12 of the companies in the Alexa 1000 ranging from Netshoes to AirBnB raised a $100M+ round in the first nine months of 2014.

China and India startups rising

Over 1/4th of the venture-backed companies in the top 1000 web ranks were based in China or India. Brazil, Canada, and Israel also saw multiple companies represented in the data. Within the U.S., California was dominant, representing 2/3rds of the U.S.-based companies while New York-based startups made up 1/4th of the U.S.-based highly-ranked web properties.

Top VC-backed websites span a range of sub-industries

While 22 of the firms fell in the eCommerce industry, there was some diversity with the venture-backed companies in the top 1000 web ranks ranging from music to events & ticketing to education. Perhaps not surprisingly, the highest represented sub-industry was News & Discussion, which included startups such as Buzzfeed, Vice Media and Business Insider. Social came in second, with companies ranging from Pinterest to reddit. Of course, the top 1000, as would be expected, is dominated by consumer-focused properties.

The top sub-industries are highlighted below:

Total funding vs. Global web rank

The chart below uses web rank data from CB Insights performance metrics to map funding vs rank. Interestingly, while Flipkart ranks among the top 100 websites in the world, it’s also raised nearly $1.8B in funding. In contrast, 9gag ranks in the top 200 global websites but has raised a modest amount from Freestyle Capital and True Ventures among others.

Accel, A16Z, Tiger Global on top

Finally, who are the investors in the most Alexa 1000 companies? Accel Partners ranks first, with 12 of the companies, including Etsy and MyFitnessPal. The top three was rounded out by Andreessen Horowitz and a tie for third by Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management. Of note, 44% of Tiger’s companies were internationally-based. The top 10-ranked institutional investors in Alexa 1000 companies is below.

The companies

The full list of companies sorted by web rank can be found on the CB Insights research tab, after logging in to CB Insights. Note: The list is only available to subscribers with access to CB Insider.

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