Don’t we deserve a bit of good news these days?

LinkedIn’s annual list of the top 50 emerging and growing startups in the U.S. is certainly a bright spot as the companies that made the list are growing and hiring.

The contenders were determined by the billions of actions taken by LinkedIn’s more than 706 million members and currently offer more than 2,500 jobs open on the platform.

The top 10 criss-cross industries from fintech to messaging, home goods, and security. When you look at it through the lens of the past six months of the pandemic, it’s easy to see why these rose to the top.

Better.com digital mortgage and homeownership services saw a 200% bump in demand and funded $8 billion in loans since March. According to LinkedIn data, the company added 1,500 employees virtually during that time.
DoorDash epitomized the essential retail of the pandemic when it expanded from restaurant delivery into pharmacy and grocery, launching DashMart virtual convenience stores.
Robinhood made the list despite its widespread outages on important trading days. The trading app also scored $200 million in Series G funding.
Samsara‘s IoT serves 15,000 customers globally in essential service industries.
Databricks, an AI platform for data analysis, ramped up during COVID-19 and is currently hiring 200 people.
Outreach for data security and privacy has made the list three years running and they’re still growing.
Brooklinen‘s DTC bedding and home goods got a $50 million cash infusion to expand overseas just in time for plenty of people to work from their homes.
Attentive‘s mobile messaging platform debuted a COVID-19 microsite, interactive virtual events, and self-care kits for customers this year and grew to near double in size as a result.
Loom‘s video messaging service also nabbed a funding round during the pandemic to the tune of $29 million.
Verkada‘s security software solution pivoted from retail to healthcare facilities just in time.

Among the more notable trends, LinkedIn’s analysis showed the top three companies—as well as many others on the list—are all about putting control in the hands of consumers, from getting a home loan to investing and eating. Digital pharmacies like Capsule and Alto Pharmacy also made the list, along with Carbon Health and Curative for pandemic-driven health care needs.

LinkedIn’s analysis also revealed that with more than 2,500 open jobs at these companies, over 90% do not require a college degree, “and they’re looking for soft skills like teamwork.”