Castles in the Cloud | Greylock

Key takeaway

• For entrepreneurs: Utilize the Castles in the Cloud interactive project map to identify niches and opportunities where startups can compete against the Big 3 cloud providers.
• For investors: Leverage the project map to discover emerging startups and investment opportunities within the cloud ecosystem that have the potential to disrupt established cloud services.

Summary

The "Castles in the Cloud" project by Greylock is an interactive initiative designed to map the cloud computing ecosystem, highlighting opportunities for startups to compete against major cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. The project categorizes cloud services, identifies emerging startups, and tracks venture capital trends to provide a comprehensive view of the cloud landscape. It aims to help entrepreneurs and investors understand where innovation is happening and where new business models can thrive.

• Market Map: An interactive map of all cloud services offered by AWS, Azure, and GCP, and their startup challengers, since 2019.
• Data Table: Interactive database of services across the Big 3 cloud companies, tagged by common markets and submarkets. Since certain services are applicable to several markets and submarkets, a number of them will appear across more than one combination of market and submarket.
• VC Funding: Interactive map of VC investments into the challenger companies since 2019. Data on private company investments was derived from Pitchbook.

Insights

• The project maps 31 markets and 202 submarkets within the cloud ecosystem.
• It identifies 611 services offered by the Big 3 cloud providers.
• The database includes 213 emerging startups and 197 unicorns competing with Big Cloud services.
• A total of $177 billion in VC funding was invested in the cloud ecosystem from 2019 to 2022.
• The project is updated annually to reflect the latest trends and data.

Implications

• For entrepreneurs: The interactive map can help identify less saturated markets and submarkets where innovative startups can gain a foothold. It also provides insights into the strategies of successful challengers.
• For investors: The map serves as a valuable tool for discovering high-potential startups and understanding the competitive landscape. It highlights where venture capital is flowing and which areas are ripe for investment.

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