Podium, a SaaS platform that enables businesses to build and manage their online reputation through user-generated content and online reviews, today announced an increase of over 600 percent in year over year recurring revenue, surpassing $12M in 2016. This growth notably beats Gartner’s 2016 industry forecasts for cloud application providers, which predicted a 20 percent increase. Podium has already garnered recognition within the US startup community, presenting at Y Combinator’s Winter ‘16 Demo Day last March.

This explosive new business has also led to the expansion of Podium’s core team at its headquarters in Utah, with employee headcount growing from 15 to 115 full-time employees in the last twelve months. This involved a number of key strategic hires to the executive team, including the appointment of Dan Handy as Chief Operating Officer. Dan was previously CEO of Bluehost, one of the world’s 20 largest web hosts, where he marshalled the company through its acquisition by Endurance International Group and served as General Manager of Mobile Solutions. Handy’s new role will see him lead Podium’s day-to-day operations to create synergy across the organization while identifying opportunities for expansion and maximizing talent to ensure continued growth.

Podium, which helps businesses nationwide to improve local search rankings, increase trust and loyalty with consumers, and improve business operations, pins its impressive revenue growth on increased customer acquisition. Since the company’s founding in 2014, Podium has added more than 6,500 businesses to its customer roster across the U.S.

“2016 was a milestone year for Podium from a customer acquisition standpoint, but also in terms of the growth we achieved internally,” said Eric Rea, Co-Founder and CEO at Podium. “As we continue to evolve our offering, we’re excited to build on that momentum by funneling our collective energies into helping more businesses capitalize on customer insights to make faster, better-informed decisions, while also building a relationship of trust with current and future customers.”

Looking ahead, Podium has forecasted steady growth as it continues to serve the small business marketplace while gaining steam with enterprise. The company added more than 20 enterprise accounts to its roster in 2016, totalling almost 70,000 users and a recently closed multi-million dollar contract. Podium anticipates it will surpass 100 enterprise customers by the end of 2017.

“Our goal is to continue innovating through new products and partnerships to deliver the best offering to our customers regardless of size or location - ensuring we are helping to establish a dynamic and productive dialogue between businesses and their customers,” added Rea. “Business owners recognize the influence customer ambassadors have to boost sales. We want to help businesses provide an invaluable megaphone for customers to share their honest, authentic experiences to help drive those purchase decisions.”

About Podium

Podium helps businesses drive user-generated content in the form of online reviews to increase visibility, improve business operations, and drive purchase decisions. Podium serves 50,000+ users across nearly 10,000 local businesses and is redefining the modern relationship between businesses and customers. Headquartered in Lehi, Utah, and founded in 2014, Podium has received funding from Y Combinator as well as the CEOs of DOMO, Pluralsight and Vivint Smart Home, among others. To learn more, visit www.podium.com or contact us at press@podium.com.