At age 50, Shonda Rhimes has already created a legacy.

The success of her production company Shondaland's show "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC made Rhimes the first Black woman to showrun a successful primetime drama on a broadcast network. But that was only the beginning. Her following hit shows "Scandal" and "How to Get Away With Murder" brought Rhimes into the cultural lexicon with #TGIT ("Thank God It's Thursday"), dubbed as such because of how Rhimes' shows dominated TV's Thursday night primetime line-up.

In 2017, she ended her contract early with ABC, trading in her $10 million base salary for a four-year deal with Netflix worth an estimated $150 million, per The New York Times. Three years later, her first Netflix show, "Bridgerton," debuted on Christmas to much hype.

It's all made Rhimes one of the highest-paid showrunners in TV, with Forbes estimating her net worth at $135 million. A representative for Rhimes didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment regarding Rhimes' net worth and spending.

From buying the "Grey's Anatomy" cast vacations to snapping up properties around Los Angeles, here's how Rhimes spends her millions.

SEE ALSO: Beyoncé just pledged $6 million toward mental health services during the pandemic. Here's how she spends her $400 million fortune, from yachting vacations to a private jet for Jay-Z.

DON'T MISS: Rihanna is the world's richest female musician — from yachting trips on the French Riviera to a staff that includes a chef and personal trainers, see how she spends her $600 million fortune

With an estimated net worth of $135 million, Shonda Rhimes is one of the wealthiest women in TV.

Source: Forbes

Her production company, Shondaland, and its trio of hit shows have driven that wealth: "Grey's Anatomy,""Scandal," and "How to Get Away with Murder."

Source: Forbes

But Rhimes didn't always see herself working in TV. As a kid, she dreamt of being a novelist. That all changed after seeing Whoopi Goldberg on Broadway.

Source: Forbes

She earned an MFA in film at the University of Southern California, where she discovered a "new way of storytelling," she said, and worked as an assistant on several film projects.

Source: Forbes

In the early stages of her post-grad career, Rhimes wrote the screenplay for the movie "Crossroads," starring Britney Spears, and the sequel to "The Princess Diaries."

Source: Vanity Fair

Her TV career launched in 2003 when ABC picked up "Grey's Anatomy," which garnered 20 million viewers by the end of its first season. It made Rhimes the first Black woman showrunnner of a successful primetime drama on a broadcast network, Forbes reports.

Source: Forbes

"Scandal" premiered in 2012, raking in roughly $100 million per season in ad revenue at its peak. "How to Get Away with Murder" followed in 2014.

Source: Forbes

In between those years, Rhimes' production company also debuted shorter-lived series like "The Catch,""For the People," and the "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off "Private Practice," which all aired on ABC.

Source: Forbes

Rhimes became the woman who "owns Thursday night television," with #TGIT (Thank God It's Thursday). According to Forbes, she earned "hefty" fees for each episode produced.

Source: Forbes, Los Angeles Times

She also took home 10% of the profits when "Grey's,""Scandal,""How to Get Away with Murder," and "Private Practice" were syndicated or sold to streaming services at $1 million per episode.

Source: Forbes

By 2017, Shondaland had generated $2 billion in revenue from advertising, rerun sales, and international licensing.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Boosting all of that was Rhimes' base salary. In 2014, she signed a new four-year deal with ABC that earned her $10 million per year.

Source: Forbes

But Rhimes signed a four-year deal in 2017 with Netflix worth an estimated $150 million, making her one of the first showrunners to ink a deal with the streaming service.

Source: The New York Times

The deal allowed Rhimes to keep working on her ABC series without the $10 million per year while enjoying new liberties to produce films, series, or miniseries at Netflix.

Source: Forbes

Her first Netflix show, period drama series "Bridgerton," debuted on Christmas. Two days after its premiere, it was holding the number two spot on the platform's most-watched list.

Source:TV Line

In recent years, Rhimes has ventured into other forms of media. In 2015, she published a memoir, "Year of Yes," which became a New York Times bestseller. At the time it was announced, Rhimes joked "Simon and Schuster is crazy for giving me a book deal, as I am clearly in no position to be handing out wisdom."

Details about the value of the book deal, including any advance Rhimes might have been paid by the publisher, were not made publicly available.

Source: Simon and Schuster, The Hollywood Reporter

In September 2017, she partnered with Hearst to launch lifestyle website Shondaland.com.

Source: Variety

And in 2019, she partnered with iHeartMedia in a three-year podcast deal to launch Shondaland Audio.

Source: iHeartMedia

At Elle Magazine's 2018 Women in Hollywood celebration, Rhimes said she's the highest-paid showrunner in Hollywood, but an April 2019 Observer ranking put her at No. 4 behind Greg Berlanti, Ryan Murphy, and Mike Schur. Regardless, Rhimes is clearly pocketing some of TV's biggest paychecks.

Source: CBS News, Observer

And she likes to spend that money on real estate. In 2010, she snapped up an 8,300-square-foot home in Los Angeles' Hancock Park for $5.6 million. It sold in 2019 for $7.16 million.

Source: Mansion Global

But Rhimes still has several residences in the area, like the 1920s Spanish-style duplex she bought in 2007 for $1.66 million and the English country manor house she purchased in 2017 for $4.6 million.

Source: Variety

She also has the 8,400-square-foot Elmer Grey-designed mansion that she dropped $8.8 million on in 2014.

Source: Variety

Rhimes may have a thing for LA real estate, but she expanded her portfolio to the East Coast in 2018 when she bought an $11.75 million two-bedroom penthouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Source: Mansion Global

Rhimes also spends on beauty and wellness. She wrote in her 2015 memoir that she hired a personal trainer to help her lose 100 pounds.

Source: Business Insider

She told Marie Claire that when she was 16, she got a job scooping ice cream at Baskin-Robbins so she could buy a miniskirt and off-the-shoulder top to look like Madonna.

Source: Marie Claire

Today, she has a "clothing therapist," Asher Levine, who is known for dressing top female Hollywood execs.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

She's also a huge fan of face masks, which she says she uses every day. Especially farmacy, a skincare brand with masks costing as much as $38.

Source: Glamour, Farmacy Beauty

In her free time, Rhimes, a tennis fan, likes to attend Wimbledon matches. Tickets can range from several hundred dollars to $6,300.

Source: Baseline Tennis, CNBC

But she's previously said her happy place is with her daughters. She adopted Harper and Emerson in 2002 and 2012, respectively, and had Beckett in 2013 via a surrogate. She said they help boost her creativity.

Source: Essence, ABC News, Hollywood Reporter

Rhimes is also a philanthropist. In 2016, she established the Rhimes Family Foundation to support arts, education, and activism. It emphasizes cultural inclusion and equality.

Source: Inside Philanthropy

In 2017, she became a "patron of the arts" for IAMA Theatre Company. The amount of the endowment, provided by the Rhimes Family Foundation, was not disclosed.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Through the Rhimes Family Foundation, Rhimes has given at least $10 million in grants to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture ...

Source: Inside Philanthropy

... and at least $1 million to the Obama Foundation.

Source: Inside Philanthropy

She's also a generous boss. Rhimes once bought everyone in the "Grey's Anatomy" cast and crew a vacation to a luxury resort as a gift for the show's 350th episode, "Grey's" actor Kevin McKidd revealed in a "Live with Kelly and Ryan" interview in November 2019.

Source: MSN

But she's not one for vacation herself. In 2016, she ditched her first three-week vacation in 10 years to film a short video for Hillary Clinton during Clinton's campaign.

Source: Vanity Fair

While Rhimes has a few splurges, they're not atypical from any other celebrity. Her less than lavish lifestyle might be due to her humble upbringing.

"When I was a struggling graduate student in film school, I often had no money," she said in a commencement speech at Dartmouth, her undergrad alma mater. "And so I often had to choose between wine and things like toilet paper. Steak did not even enter into the equation."

Source: Chicago Tribune

• Both the original Nintendo Switch and the Switch Lite have been hard to find online as they continue to explode in popularity, but we've been keeping an eye on the best deals for Switch consoles, games, and accessories.
• We'll update this list regularly with the top Nintendo Switch deals as new discounts are announced.
• Right now, "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" and "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" are on sale for $40, which is $10 off their regular price.

Even with the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S|X, the Nintendo Switch continues to be the highest selling video game console on the planet, with more than 68 million units sold worldwide.

The Switch was the top selling console for 24 consecutive months leading up to the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, and the $300 portable will still be easier to find in stores for the next few months while Sony and Microsoft ramp up production of their new consoles.

Nintendo's $300 hybrid console offers many of the most popular games on the market in a portable package, with the option to connect the Switch to a larger television or home entertainment system. The $200 Switch Lite is smaller and can't connect to your TV, but it's still a popular pick for parents who want an affordable alternative to the PlayStation or Xbox, and gamers who want a second console.

Switch exclusive titles include iconic Nintendo franchises like "Super Mario,""Pokémon" and "The Legend of Zelda." This year's biggest Nintendo exclusive, "Animal Crossing: New Horizons," was one of the best selling games of 2020 with nearly 30 million copies sold.

Below, we've collected the best deals on Nintendo Switch consoles, exclusive games, and accessories. These discounts should all come in handy whether you're looking to buy a Switch for the first time, building your library of games, or trying to find the cheapest price on a Switch peripheral.

Here are the best Nintendo Switch deals for December 2020:

Prices and links are current as of 12/29/2020. Added new deals for Nintendo Switch games. Removed deals that are no longer active. Updated by Kevin Webb.

Best deals on Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite consoles

The Nintendo Switch can be connected to a TV for high-definition gameplay, or taken on-the-go as a portable console. Furthermore, the Switch's controls can be separated from the console and used as two separate controllers called Joy-Cons.

Unfortunately, stock for the standard Switch remains low at many retailers. With that in mind, some of the below products might not currently be available for shipment. We'll update this section with more Switch purchase options and deals as stores start adding more inventory.

Meanwhile, the Nintendo Switch Lite is a handheld-only version of the console that lacks the original Switch's removable controllers and ability to connect to a larger television. The Switch Lite appeals to gamers who may already own a PlayStation or Xbox and want to play games with a similar level of quality while they're traveling. Parents may also be more willing to invest in a handheld console at a lower price point when introducing their children to gaming.

The Nintendo Switch Lite comes in four colors (coral, turquoise, grey and yellow). There haven't been many deals that drop the Switch Lite's price below its standard retail price of $199.99, but a refurbished model is sold for a $20 discount when it's in stock at GameStop.

Best deals on Nintendo Switch games

Though the Nintendo Switch has been around for just under four years, there are already more than 2,300 games available for the console. Nintendo franchises, like "Super Mario,""Pokémon" and "The Legend of Zelda," rarely see discounts larger than $20, but games from other publishers are frequently on sale for cheaper.

You can also find plenty of other fun Switch games on sale at popular retailers or from the Nintendo eShop, the console's home for digital releases.

Best deals on Nintendo Switch controllers

Though the Switch's Joy-Cons give players access to two controllers at all times, some gamers prefer the Nintendo Switch Pro controller, which more closely resembles a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One controller.

Nintendo also sells spare Joy-Cons with multiple color options for Switch owners who want to add some additional flair and an extra set of motion controllers for multiplayer games. 

• Insten Wireless Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, $29.99 (originally $49.99) at Target [You save $20]

Best deals on on Nintendo Switch accessories

As a portable console with replaceable controllers, the Switch has no shortage of accessories. The most important addition you can make is a MicroSD card, which can expand the Switch's initial 32GB of storage by 128GB or more for less than the price of a new game.

If you plan on taking your Switch on the go, it's probably a good idea to pick up a basic case with space for extra game cartridges too. The Switch is fairly durable so you don't need to spend a ton protecting it.

• 400GB MicroSD Memory Card, $44.99 (originally $59.49) at Amazon [You save $14.50]
• Black Game Traveler Deluxe Travel Case for Nintendo Switch, $14.99 (originally $19.99) at GameStop [You save $5]

FREE EBOOK: The 1-Month Plan to Master your Money' is a free e-book to help you get your finances ready for 2021

A comprehensive financial plan maps out all aspects of your money to chart a path to your goals.

Start with what you want to achieve

"Let your life lead your money — that's the first thing. What is it that you aspire to do? What do you value? What are your goals? Let's start there. Then the money is not necessarily a second. It's a complement; it's a partner."

— Preston Cherry, certified financial planner and founder of Concurrent Financial Planning

Leave some room for the unexpected

"When I see people with a financial plan, one of the things I tell them is to expect the unexpected.

"As long as you're walking on this earth, you're going to have an unexpected expense. I call them 'the known unknown,' and those are expenses that you know are going to happen, but you don't know when."

— Tania Brown, certified financial planner with SaverLife:

Automate your money to make progress a no-brainer

"What I like to have clients do is automate their transfers to whatever the goals are, things that they're trying to achieve, and have those in separate accounts so that they can clearly see their progress. And it's all just sort of set up, and it's happening for them. So they make the decision once, and then it triggers on its own."

— Anna N'Jie-Konte, certified financial planner and founder of Dare to Dream Financial Planning

Read more » How to make a plan for your goals, no matter how big or small

A budget might seem intimidating, but you can't control where your money goes without one.

Keep your goals top of mind

"The main point of financial planning is to use your money as a tool for life. As far as the budget goes, understanding what you actually want to do in your life is very important to build that plan."

— Eric Roberge, certified financial planner and founder of Beyond Your Hammock

Find out where your money is going already

"I would say that the first step — I'm always surprised at how many people either discount this or put this off or just don't know — is really being honest about how you're spending your money. You have to know how much is coming in versus how much is going out on a monthly basis.

"It might sound simple, but to me that's the very essence of what it means to start thinking about a budget. That term doesn't have to be so scary, but if you don't take that step back and evaluate this, you're never going to be able to move forward."

— Kelly Lannan, the vice president of Fidelity Investment's Young Investors for Personal Investing

Add savings into that list

"Start tracking how much you save each year and aim to save 10% to 15% of your income as an 'investment' in yourself. You'll be amazed how quickly it will add up."

— Kristi Rodriguez, vice president of thought leadership for Nationwide Financial

Consider giving your credit cards a break

"I always suggest trying a cash diet, where maybe you take a week or a couple of weeks where you don't use a credit card and start using cash only.

"That way we're just a little bit more mindful about how we spend. I know we use credit cards for everything today, but this way it makes us really be more thoughtful."

— Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, certified financial planner and board chair and president of the Charles Schwab Foundation

Find your support system

"A budget is essential, but it can be even more powerful when you have that support system of people who share the same goals. That's what we've seen to be extremely effective and powerful."

— Sunny Israni, chartered financial analyst and founder and CEO of Clasp

Read more » Money can't buy happiness, but how we adjust 3 financial 'levers' can drastically affect how we feel

Debt can feel like a heavy burden. But with a plan, you can begin to tackle it systematically.

Build a personal balance sheet

"To quote my grandmother, 'Facts are stubborn things.' And so I think that the mistake that many people make is embarrassment, shame, bury their head in the sand.

"The best thing that anyone with any kind of debt can do is build a personal balance sheet. It doesn't have to be fancy. It can just be pencil to paper on a legal pad with your debts on one side, and your assets on another.

"And human capital is an asset, too. So, if you have a salary, if you have money coming in, certainly list that. But those facts are stubborn things, and you need to know exactly what you're facing, what your payments are, and have an idea of how you're going to approach it."

— Alison Hutchinson, senior vice president at Brown Brothers Harriman

List every loan and its terms

"The biggest advice is to get organized around your student loans. Write them all down, and see what you have to tackle.

"It always seems like a bigger task at first than it really is. And once you get organized, you can kind of see the big picture a lot clearer, so you know who your loans are with, are they subsidized, are they unsubsidized, are they private loans, are they federal loans, and getting an understanding around that. And then just going and looking at your options."

— Carmen Perez, personal-finance blogger at Make Real Cents

Lean on your partner

"Irrespective of whether you decide to take on your partner's debt or not, that debt is going to affect your relationship. Because it will either limit your partner's ability to do certain things or it'll limit your ability as a team to be able to go out and do future things together.

"So what I recommend to couples is to tackle debt as a team, even if you're not taking over that person's debt, or paying, or contributing to the payment of that debt. The best part about being in a relationship is you have a partner to help you navigate all that."

— Aditi Shekar, founder and CEO of Zeta

Check up on your credit

"Review your credit reports regularly. They provide a complete record of your debt-related financial relationships, can be used as a resource for working with your creditors on payment planning, and are a critical tool in managing your debt through difficult financial situations.

"Keeping your debts as low as possible will put you in a better financial position when the economy emerges from this crisis."

— Rod Griffin, senior director of consumer education and advocacy at Experian

Read more » How to pay back your student-loan debt, no matter where you start or what type of loans you have

Investing can be right for anyone, not just the wealthy or finance-minded.

Leave your emotions out of it 

"Active investing is a skill that can be learned and developed over time. For those that do it successfully, it is not an emotional exercise. In fact, successful active investors put measures in place to protect themselves from emotional decision making. If one lacks either the will, skill, or time, passive investing is likely a better strategy."

— Wilson Muscadin, a financial coach and founder of The Money Speakeasy

Don't be afraid to start small

"You don't want to be silly about how you invest and incur costs that are perhaps not necessary, but I don't think there's any amount that's too small.

"I'd rather you do something than nothing, especially with a 401(k) when your employer will match whatever you put in. That's basically a 100% guaranteed return. You don't get a lot of free lunches, as we say in finance. That might be one of the few, and you're giving up on an incredible opportunity if you don't put any money away at all."

— Scott Pedvis, financial advisor at Wells Fargo

Follow your plan and readjust when you need to

"It's very important to stick to your game plan, to understand what you're going to be using the money for, and really know that there are going to be points where the market is not doing so great.

"But if you have a long-term game plan that you want to stay in with a risk associated with your investment portfolio, it's best to stay the course. And if you can't stomach the risk the portfolio you're in might be subject to, then reevaluate and determine whether it makes sense to scale that risk down."

— Joseph Edmondson, certified financial planner at Equitable Advisors

Ignore the day-to-day market movements

"One of the big things you want to know is to take comfort in the context.

"You don't want to focus on the 30 to 45 worst days we have seen in 10 years and let it make you forget about the good times that we had for 10 straight years. You want to have that context and know that long-term investors almost always win."

— Kevin Matthews, a financial advisor and founder of Building Bread

Read more » The smart investor's toolkit: 7 tips from personal finance professionals for building wealth through investing

Managing your money is an ongoing task, and you're better off striving for consistency than perfection.

Take a long-term view

"We're living through extraordinary times. While each of us is learning to persevere through this moment, don't anchor your vision of the future to the current environment."

— Sandi Bragar, certified financial planner and partner and managing director in planning, strategy, and research at Aspiriant

Identify what you can control

"What I find people do is they focus on a thing that they cannot control and ignore the things they can.

"For instance, if someone loses their job, they had no control over the job loss, but you have 100% control over calling your creditors and letting them know you may not be able to pay the bills. You have 100% control of going in your budget and cutting out unnecessary items, like cable."

— Tania Brown

If 2020 was the year for cannabis startups to tighten their belts, trim the fat, and focus on weathering the pandemic, then 2021 is set to be a boon for the companies that have emerged mostly unscathed, investors told Business Insider.

We asked the top private equity and venture investors in the cannabis industry to name the startups they believe are poised for major growth in 2021. The startups that made our list range from dispensary and cultivation chains, like Ascend Wellness Holdings, to cannabis software firms like Dutchie.

Most of the investors we talked to said that startups with strong management teams that made it through 2020 will have lots of opportunity in front of them next year, as more states open legal cannabis markets, and institutional investors start getting more comfortable with the industry. 

Read more: From LeafLink to Greenbits, meet the 8 buzzy cannabis startups that raised the most cash in 2020

There was a significant uptick in VC interest in cannabis startups in 2020, particularly on the software side, around August. Two tech startups that made our list — Dutchie and LeafLink — closed large funding rounds this year.

To put together this story, Business Insider asked a representative from each of the 17 investment firms that made our list of the top investors in the industry to name two companies that are poised for huge growth in 2021.

Each investor was asked to recommend one startup they invested in and one they hadn't. In total, investors gave us 27 names — the following five came up most often.

Here are the top five startups cannabis investors say will blow up in 2021:

LeafLink — 3 votes

Founded: 2015

Located: New York City (HQ), Los Angeles, Toronto

Post-money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $40 million closed in December 2020

Total raised to date: $91 million, according to LeafLink. The company also closed a $250 million debt facility earlier this year to support its payment product.

What the company does: LeafLink is a wholesale marketplace for the cannabis industry. The company says its e-commerce marketplace approach has "optimized and fueled the growth of the cannabis industry, creating new efficiencies in the wholesale buying process with supply-chain software and services."

Why VCs like the company: 

DCM Ventures partner Kyle Lui says LeafLink's payments product, LeafLink Financial, is "a much-needed solution that should see strong continued growth."

"LeafLink, a portfolio company since January 2017, is our top pick and best performing investment," Phyto Partners' Larry Schnurmacher told Business Insider. He says the startup is the largest business-to-business marketplace in the cannabis industry.

Schnurmacher says his firm made its initial investment in the company's seed round. "We believe LL [LeafLink] will be the most valuable ancillary company in cannabis," he added in an email.

Gron Ventures managing partner Wilder Ramsey says that he likes Leaflink because it powers a third of the cannabis wholesale market in the US. This, he said, is "an incredible, winning position that would be difficult or impossible to achieve in a mature industry."

"Their new lending and logistics products are solving critical problems in the space, allowing customers to scale compliantly with far more flexibility, and we expect the company's services to be so ubiquitous and foundational in the space that in 10 years it will be no exaggeration to say the industry was built on Leaflink," Ramsey continued.

Dutchie — 3 votes

Founded: 2017

Located: Bend, Oregon

Post-money valuation: $205 million, according to PitchBook. Dutchie declined to disclose a figure.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $35 million closed in August 2020. Read Business Insider's coverage of the round here, where we got an exclusive look at the pitch deck Dutchie used to close the round.

Total raised to date: $53 million, according to Dutchie. 

What the company does: Dutchie is an e-commerce software startup that connects cannabis consumers to dispensaries and allows them to order products from their homes. It also powers online ordering tools for the dispensaries themselves. 

Why VCs like the company: 

"Dutchie was an early mover in the B2C eCommerce space in cannabis, and while not a HALLEY portfolio company, B2C eCommerce is a large component of nearly every other product and service outside of cannabis,"HALLEY Venture Partners Managing Director Steve Schuman told Business Insider. "WeedMaps' recently announced $1.5 billion deal with Silver Spike SPAC is a validation of the growing importance of that piece of the puzzle."

In general, Schuman said, e-commerce feels fragmented and underdeveloped in the cannabis space, and his firm continues to look for solutions to help brands and dispensaries connect with consumers and patients online.

"Dutchie is the leading e-commerce platform in cannabis," says Gron Ventures managing partner Wilder Ramsey. "In three years it has grown from zero to more than $2.6 billion in annual GMV, making it one of the fastest-growing and most efficient commerce platforms of all time, in any vertical."

"This performance is testament to a remarkable team," Ramsey continued, "anchored by brothers Ross and Zach Lipson, who are setting pace for all of us in an industry characterized by torrid growth."

"Dutchie is already a success story and they are going big with their recent raise," said Panther Opportunity Fund's Jordan Tritt. "Their CEO, Ross Lipson, has already exited multiple businesses in the online ordering and delivery space and his timing is right with the increased digitization of cannabis favoring online ordering."

Grassdoor — 3 votes

Founded: 2018

Located: Commerce, California

Post-money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: Declined to disclose.

Total raised to date: Declined to disclose.

What the company does: Grassdoor is a startup that delivers cannabis products from dispensaries to consumers in Southern California. The company declined to comment for this article.

Why VCs like the company: 

Grassdoor has an impressive team and technology, Navy Capital's Sean Stiefel told Busness Insider. The company also has a "differentiated business model to go after the DTC delivery market," Stiefel said in an email.

"Because they developed their depot processes in parallel with their proprietary tech stack, they have been able to scale their business in an incredibly efficient manner," said AFI Capital Partners' Nico Richardson. "As a result, Grassdoor has become a leading delivery platform in less than two years of operation." 

"Operating in DTC (direct to consumer) cannabis delivery, Grassdoor has a lot of competition,"Measure 8 founding partner Boris Jordan told Business Insider. "In a short period of time, the company has earned top marks from customers as the 'go-to' platform for cannabis on demand."

With constant focus on efficiency and customer service, Jordan says his firm sees a bright future for the company.

Connected — 2 votes

Founded: 2009

Located: Sacramento, California

Post-money valuation: Decline to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: N/A

Total raised to date: $25 million Series A round closed July 2019

What the company does: Connected is a craft California cannabis brand that sells high-end flower.

Why VCs like the company: 

Connected is "the leading flower company in California with a fantastic management team," said Navy Capital's Sean Stiefel.

The company dominates the premium flower market in California, Stiefel said. 

"Connected Cannabis grows and manufactures high-quality cannabis flower at scale," said Gotham Green Partners' Jason Adler."Compared to most craft brands in the state, Connected has differentiated itself with an ability to produce a consistent quality product at scale and seamlessly introduce new strains in a relatively short time frame."

"We believe that the high-end flower segment will continue to benefit from several tailwinds, particularly the maturation of the consumer palate and new recreational markets with greenfield opportunities for expansion," Adler continued.

Ascend Wellness — 2 votes

Founded: 2018

Located: New York, New York

Post-money valuation: Declined to disclose. 

Biggest funding round of 2020: $68.2 million closed in August.

Total raised to date: $208.63 million, according to PitchBook. Ascend Wellness declined to disclose a figure.

What the company does: Ascend Wellness is privately owned cannabis cultivation and dispensary chain, known in the industry as multi-state operators or MSOs. It operates in five states including Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Ohio.

The company said in an email to Business Insider that it focuses on limited license states east of the Rockies, "with flagship locations in desirable retail corridors serving key medical and adult-use markets."

Why VCs like the company: 

Salveo Capital's Michael Gruber says he believes Ascend Wellness's presence in key states like New Jersey means it will be well-positioned for growth.

"We are an investor in the company and had added additional capital to our investment this year. The passing of adult-use in NJ this November is a huge step, and with NJ in our belief will be an amazingly good market," Gruber said in an email. "This will also likely be key impetus to spur NY, PA, and CT to legalize adult-use as well."

Gruber added that Salveo is "bullish in general on private MSOs that are focused on key limited license states and where they have gone deep within a limited number of states, and where management has been able to execute in an efficient manner."

Silverleaf Venture Partners' Andre Haroche describes Ascend Wellness' growth as "astounding."

"They have a fantastic management team lead by industry-veteran Abner Kurtin and we wouldn't be surprised to see Ascend be publicly traded in the next year or so based on its momentum," Haroche said.

Archaeologists uncovered an ancient fast food counter in the ruins of Pompeii, and it shows that tastes haven't changed very much in the last 2,000 years.

The site, which was first discovered in 2019, was buried by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The excavation revealed a hot food and drink counter, the equivalent of street food or fast food today, called a thermopolium, literally "places where hot drinks are sold." At least 80 of these fast food shops have been found in Pompeii so far, but this site was the first to be excavated intact.

Read more: Restaurants have battled each other with breakfast offerings for years. In 2021, they'll have a new competitor — big food companies.

Here's how ancient Romans enjoyed fast food. 

SEE ALSO: Fast food has existed since ancient Rome — where restaurants sold fish sauce and baked cheese — and narrowly survived 2 emperors

The counter has frescoes that remained intact, showing some animals that were served, including chicken and ducks, like a modern menu with pictures today.

Source: Reuters

The rooster was painted in "Pompeiian red," typical of art at the time.

Source: Associated Press

Another fresco showed a leashed dog, which might have served as a reminder to customers to keep pets on leashes.

Source: Associated Press

The shop owner would display hot food in terra cotta jars into the holes along the countertop.

Source: Reuters

Archaeologists compared the setup to soup containers at salad bars today,

Source: Associated Press

Fast food restaurants like this one "provided the urban class an opportunity to have a quick hot meal" historian James Ermatinger wrote. Most of the menu was designed to be eaten on the go, a convenience necessary for many poor Romans who lacked kitchens.

Source: Business Insider

"Initial analyses confirm how the painted images represent, at least in part, the foods and beverages effectively sold inside," staff anthropologist Valeria Amoretti told the AP.

Source: Associated Press

Remains of ducks, goats, pig, fish, and snails were all found, indicating the type of food available.

Source: Associated Press

"We know what they were eating that day," Pompeii Archaeological Park chief Massimo Osanna told Rai TV.

Source: Associated Press

The dishes, including wine with ground fava beans, indicate what common people ate, as the eateries were mostly looked down upon by Roman elites.

Source: Business Insider

Archaeologists found human remains at the site, indicating that people were there when Mount Vesuvius erupted. Other remains may have been moved or placed by earlier excavators.

Source: Associated Press

Notably, archaeologists also found the entire skeleton of a small dog, a rarity for the time.

Taco Bell has removed over a dozen menu items this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and customers' changing tastes, and not everyone has been happy with the changes.

In addition to fan-favorite items like its cheesy potatoes, nachos supreme, and the famous Quesarito, other items like the Mexican Pizza and two different kinds of nachos have also been removed from Taco Bell menus this year.

Here are 13 Taco Bell menu items that were removed in 2020.

SEE ALSO: 12 fast-food items that have been removed from menus in 2020, so far

Taco Bell upset some customers after deciding to remove potatoes from its menu.

In late July, Taco Bell announced it would officially be dropping potatoes from its menu in August 2020. Affected menu items include Taco Bell's Spicy Potato Soft Taco, Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes, and Cheesy Potato Loaded Grillers.

"We know some vegetarian go-to items might be gone, but Taco Bell's menu remains highly customizable," Taco Bell said in a press release.

However, the statement didn't stop vegetarian customers and potato-lovers from taking to social media to air their concerns. One Twitter user called the move to drop potatoes the chain's "worst idea to date."

Taco Bell also announced it would be dropping the famous Quesarito, a fan-favorite item, from restaurant menus.

At the same time Taco Bell announced it would be discontinuing potatoes, the chain said it would also be removing the famous and fan-favorite Quesarito from restaurant menus. The item, which is a combination of a beef burrito and a quesadilla, will still be available to order online and via Taco Bell's app for pickup or delivery.

However, some fans were nevertheless outraged by the change, with one Twitter user calling it "absolutely barbaric."

In addition to the Cheesy Potato Loaded Griller, the Beefy Nacho Loaded Griller was removed from the menu.

"While change is hard, a simplified menu and innovation process will leave room for new fan favorites, continued progress in categories such as plant-based diets, and even opportunities for the return of some classics on a limited-time basis," Taco Bell said in a press release.

The chain also announced it would be dropping its mini skillet bowl from the breakfast menu.

Breakfast has been a struggling area for many fast-food chains during the coronavirus pandemic. As a result of fewer commuters, breakfast sales at chains like McDonald's, Starbucks, Dunkin', and more have "dried up," according to a previous report by Business Insider.

Taco Bell announced it would be dropping the fan-favorite Mexican pizza from its newly streamlined menu starting November 5.

Taco Bell's Mexican pizza featured a flour tortilla shell filled with refried beans, seasoned ground beef, and Mexican sauce, topped with another tortilla, Mexican sauce, cheese, and chopped tomatoes.

"We know some fans may be sad to see this one go, we are too. One silver lining of saying goodbye to the Mexican pizza that might help you rest easy is that removing it from our menus helps us work towards our commitment to leave a lighter footprint on our planet," Taco Bell said in a press release in September.

The Beefy Fritos Burrito was also removed.

The removal of the burrito marked the end of any Fritos-branded menu items at Taco Bell. However, despite discontinuing the Beefy Fritos Burrito, the chain announced it would be adding a new $1 beef burrito to the menu this past summer. 

At the same time the Beefy Fritos Burrito was removed, the chain also dropped the 7-Layer Burrito.

The chain is also no longer selling grilled steak soft tacos.

The grilled steak soft taco is the only taco offering to be affected by the new menu changes.

Another item included in Taco Bell's series of menu changes is the triple layer nachos.

The triple layer nachos came with beans, tangy red sauce, and warm nacho cheese sauce atop a layer of Taco Bell's signature tortilla chips. Once part of the chain's value menu, the nachos were removed during the chain's streamlining of its current menu. 

The chain's nachos supreme have also been removed.

However, despite removing two nachos options from the menu, the chain hasn't given up on the menu item's appeal.

In mid-August, Taco Bell launched its $5 Grande Nachos Box, which includes chips, beef, refried beans, nacho cheese, cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream. More recently, the chain also announced it would be bringing back its popular Nacho Fries.

The Spicy Tostada has also been removed from the Taco Bell menu.

The Spicy Tostada was a fan-favorite item in Taco Bell's value menu.

"A flat, round, crunchy tortilla serves as a sturdy base for this open-face taco. With a layer of beans, a heaping mound of lettuce, and a handful of tomatoes, this qualifies as a hearty snack,"Insider's food reporter Rachel Askinasi said of the item. "The mix of chipotle sauce and Taco Bell's red sauce provides a good amount of flavorful heat ... Overall this was definitely filling and a surprisingly large portion of food for $1."

You can no longer order chips with guacamole or pico de gallo.

The chain's chips and dips are no longer available to order as a side. Now, the only sides left on the menu are black beans, black beans and rice, cinnamon twists, and Cinnabon Delights.

However, you can still order chips and nacho cheese sauce off of Taco Bell's value menu.

• Read more:
• 8 McDonald's menu items that were removed in 2020
• 13 ways fast-food restaurants could change forever due to the coronavirus pandemic
• 13 fast-food menu changes that outraged customers
• THEN AND NOW: How fast-food menus have changed over the years

Reports of a new and possibly more contagious coronavirus variant have prompted panic in Europe and beyond.  

The new variant of the virus was first detected in the UK in September but had since spread rapidly. British authorities formally identified the new variant around mid-December.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson cited one academic — Dr. Erik Voltz, a public health lecturer at Imperial College, London — saying the variant could be up to 70% more transmissible. But Volz has himself said that "it's really too early to tell" how transmissible it is, "but from what we see so far it is growing very quickly."

Viruses are typically expected to mutate, and variants aren't necessarily more harmful. Experts have also said that COVID-19 vaccines should still work against the new variant.

It has caused some countries to close their borders and tighten their travel restrictions even further. 

From Japan to Sweden, scroll down to see a list of countries where the new coronavirus strain has already been identified.

SEE ALSO: AstraZeneca's vaccine is expected to work on new COVID-19 strains, says CEO

1. The UK

The UK was the first country to report the new variant of the coronavirus back in September. 

Earlier this month, the country's health minister Matt Hancock said the new variant was "getting out of control," prompting the government to put millions of people under stricter lockdown measures and a host of countries to block travel from the UK.

Source: Business Insider

2. Sweden

Swedish authorities detected the new strain after a traveler from the UK fell ill on arrival and tested positive, Sweden's health agency said on Saturday.

The infected individual has been kept isolated and no other cases have been reported so far.

Source: The Guardian

3. France

France detected its first case of a new variant on Christmas Day.

The individual was a French national who returned from London, authorities said.

Source: Al Jazeera

4. Spain

Four cases of the new coronavirus variant were confirmed in Spain, health authorities said on Saturday. All involve people who recently arrived from the UK.

"The patients are not seriously ill. We know that this strain is more transmissible, but it does not cause more serious illness," said Madrid's regional government's deputy health chief, Antonio Zapatero, according to The Guardian.

"There is no need for alarm."

Source: The Guardian

5. Switzerland

Three people tested positive for the new coronavirus variant in Switzerland, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) said on Saturday.

Two of the patients lived in the UK but had been visiting the country.

"All close contacts have been identified and quarantined," a FOPH spokeswoman said, according to Swiss Info.

Switzerland is the only European country keeping its ski slopes open to tourism over the Christmas and New Year period.

Source: Swiss Info

6. Denmark

Nine cases of a new variant were detected in Denmark, the World Health Organization reported this week.

Source: Al Jazeera

7. The Netherlands

The Netherlands was one of the first European countries after the UK to announce that it found the new virus variant.

On December 22, Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said the new variant was found in two cases in the Amsterdam area.

Source: Al Jazeera

8. Germany

German health officials said on December 29 that the new coronavirus variant had been in the country since November.

They said the variant was found in an elderly patient with underlying health conditions, who has since died.

The country also recorded a case of the new variant in a woman who flew into Frankfurt from London Heathrow, and who tested positive on December 20.

Source: The Guardian, The Local

9. Italy

Italian officials said this week they identified the strain in a couple who flew from the UK to Rome.

Source: Sky News

10. Canada

A couple in Ontario, Canada, tested positive for the new strain of the virus on December 26.

They had no known travel history or high-risk contacts and are now in self-isolation, officials said.

Source: BBC

11. Japan

Japan reported its first five cases of the virus variant on Christmas Day.

Officials also ordered a travel suspension from December 28, which is expected to run through January and temporarily ban non-resident foreign nationals from entering the country.

Japanese citizens and foreign residents will be allowed to enter but must show proof of a negative coronavirus test 72 hours before departing for Japan, and quarantine for two weeks upon arrival.

Source: Business Insider

12. Lebanon

Lebanon's health minister has said that a case of the new variant was detected on a flight arriving from London on December 21.

Hamad Hassan urged all passengers on the flight to take precautionary measures.

Source: Al Jazeera

13. Singapore

Singapore's health ministry confirmed on December 24 that it too had one case of the new coronavirus variant. 

Source: Al Jazeera

14. Australia

Two cases of the new variant were detected in New South Wales, Australia, after a flight arrived from the UK, the state's chief health officer Kerry Chant said.

Source: Sky News

15. United Arab Emirates

A government official of the United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday that a "limited number" of cases of the new UK coronavirus variant had been found. 

The offical said the cases had come from abroad, but did not specify a number or which countries they had come from.

The UAE has reported just over 200,000 cases of the coronavirus in total, and 662 deaths.

Source: The Guardian

16. India

India reported eight cases of the new variant on Tuesday, all of them people returning to the country from the UK. 

They have been put in isolation and their close contacts in quarantine. 

India called a halt on all flights from the UK on December 23 until the end of the year.

Source: The Times of India

17. South Korea

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced on December 28 that South Korea had identified its first three cases of the new variant.

A family arriving from London on December 22 was found to have the variant and are isolating since. 

Since the announcement, the government has signaled its intention to speed up the rollout of a vaccine, originally planned for the first quarter of 2021.

Source: Al Jazeera

18. Pakistan

Pakistan announced on December 29 that six passengers who had flown from the UK were found with the new variant.

It is not clear when exactly they arrived in Pakistan, but the country had banned all flights from the UK since December 21.

In light of the new cases, Pakistan extended its travel ban from the UK until January 4, 2021.

Source: The Times of India

Nigeria and South Africa have also found separate, new coronavirus variants in recent days.

The UK announced on December 23 that it had found a different, possibly more infectious coronavirus variant originating from South Africa.

And on December 24, Nigeria reported another variant of the virus, separate from the ones found in the UK and South Africa.

John Nkengasong, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that health officials were analyzing more samples and that little is known so far about that variant.

"Give us some time ... it's still very early," Nkengasong said, according to Al Jazeera.

Source: Business Insider, Al Jazeera

• Project management is a quickly growing field — and one you can break into without a master's degree.
• Below are 10 online courses and resources, from free intro classes to programs that will prepare you to take the Project Management Institute's Project Management Professional (PMP) exam.
• Read more: 13 e-learning sites where you can learn to code online for free or an affordable price
• Sign up for Insider Reviews' weekly newsletter for more buying advice and great deals.

In these rapidly changing times, project management skills are in increasing demand across all industries. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 79,800 new project management jobs between 2019 and 2029, with employment in the field growing at a faster-than-average rate. With this high demand, transitioning into project management is definitely a viable career option for the future.

Even though you can often apply skills from your previous jobs to this field, it's worth thinking about gaining project management certification. The Project Management Institute's Pulse of the Profession report shows that roughly half of organizations require project professionals to hold some type of certification for their role. Even if a position doesn't require a certificate, having one can give you an edge over other applicants. 

There are many courses available that teach project management (or specific aspects of it). It's worth looking at job descriptions to see what methodologies and certifications are preferred in the industry you're aiming to work in. If you're still unsure, some of the courses listed below cover both traditional and specialized methodologies, as well as free or affordable introductory courses to get you started.

Here are 10 of the best online courses and programs to kickstart your project management career:

Introductory project management courses

If you're not sure about committing to getting project management certification, you can get a basic project management credential that will help you land a project management job and successfully deliver your first projects. It can also be a useful foundation for a more advanced and specialized certification later on. 

For instance, early on in my career, I decided to work towards the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. As the PMP requires 36 months of project management experience, I started with a university project management course that fulfilled the education requirements for the PMP (and acted as a useful addition to my CV until I got the certification).

Project Management for Beginners (Project Management Institute)

Run by the Project Management Institute, this free intro course helps those new to the project world understand project management language, what the role of a project manager is, and the basics of working in a project environment.

Cost: Free

Offered by: Project Management Institute

Time commitment: 4 hours

Certification: None

Introduction to Project Management (edX)

This course takes you through the processes for planning, scoping, scheduling, costing, and managing a project. It also covers the communication and people management skills needed for successful project delivery.

Cost: Free; $199 for a certificate

Offered by: The University of Adelaide

Time commitment: 2-3 hours per week for 6 weeks

Certification: A verified certificate is available (Note: This is not the same as having an official Project Management Institute PMP certificate, which requires passing an exam).

Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management (Coursera)

This course covers project management tools, techniques, and processes for project planning, risk management, and project execution. The last week includes a discussion of alternative project execution methods such as Agile and Scrum.

Cost: Free; $59 to access assignments and receive a certificate

Offered by: The University of Virginia 

Time commitment: 9 hours over 4 weeks

Certification: A paid certificate is available (Note: This is not the same as having an official Project Management Institute PMP certificate, which requires passing an exam).

Project Management Foundations (LinkedIn Learning)

While it doesn't offer any official PMP certification, this step-by-step introduction to project management is useful for someone who needs to learn project management processes and tools fast. It shows what to do at every stage of the project lifecycle, and explains the difference between traditional and Agile project management techniques. Exercises at the end of each section help you practice what you've learned.

Cost: 1-month free trial, then $39.99 per month to continue learning

Offered by: LinkedIn Learning

Time commitment: 3 hours 20 minutes, plus time to complete exercises

Certification: None, though you can add the completed course to your LinkedIn profile

Practical Project Management certificate (FutureLearn)

This FutureLearn course covers the project lifecycle from beginning to end, using real-world examples to teach practical project management skills. You will learn about developing project plans, tools, and techniques needed at each stage of a project, and how to apply these in the workplace.

Cost: $1,119

Offered by: The University of Glasgow

Time commitment: 10 hours per week for 10 weeks

Certification: Online micro-credential providing 10 academic credits at postgraduate level from the University of Glasgow.

Project Management Basics (Project Management Institute)

Focused on preparing for the Project Management Institute's Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) exam, this course has practice tests and exams. It covers project management vocabulary and standards, and how project management processes work together.

Cost: $400, plus $225 if you wish to take the exam

Offered by:Project Management Institute

Time commitment: 23 hours

Certification: This is a preparation course for the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) exam. Taking the exam requires a separate application and fee.

Professional Management Professional (PMP) certification prep

The Project Management Institute's Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is widely recognized internationally and PMP-certified project managers can reportedly earn up to 25% more than non-certified PMPs.

In order to get PMP certification, you'll need to fulfill certain educational requirements and pass the PMP exam. The programs below can help you achieve some of the requirements needed to qualify for taking the exam.

edX MicroMasters in Project Management (edX)

This edX MicroMasters program covers not just technical tools and processes used throughout the project lifecycle, but also the organizational and leadership skills needed to deliver successful projects. It includes three courses (all of which you can individually audit for free):

• Project Management Lifecycle
• Best Practices for Project Management Success
• International Project Management

Cost: $810

Offered by: Rochester Institute of Technology

Time commitment: 8-12 hours a week for 8 months

Certification: A MicroMasters certificate is awarded after completing all three courses and passing the exam. This can be credited towards a full master's degree, and also fulfills the education requirements for taking the PMP exam.

UCI Project Management Professional Certificate (Coursera)

This Coursera program takes you through the tools and practices used at each project stage, finishing with a practicum where you apply what you've learned. It covers both traditional and Agile project management methods and includes four courses:

• Launching Your Project
• Planning Your Project
• Executing Your Project
• Project Management Practicum

Cost: $777 per course; $2,980 for all 4 courses and program certificate

Offered by: The University of California, Irvine 

Time commitment: 120 hours over 6 months

Certification: A Coursera Professional Certificate is awarded after successfully completing all four courses. This fulfills the education requirements for taking the PMP exam.

Specialized certifications (Agile, PRINCE2)

If you're looking into project management within a specific field, training in a specific methodology may help. For instance, various Agile certifications, such as Scrum Master, are popular in IT and creative industries, while PRINCE2 is more common in Europe and within government organizations.

Professional Certificate in Agile Project Management (edX)

This program has five courses covering Agile project management practices and processes:

• Applied Scrum for Agile Project Management
• Sprint Planning for Faster Agile Team Delivery
• Agile Innovation and Problem Solving Skills
• Agile Leadership Principles and Practices
• Agile Process, Project, and Program Controls

It looks at a range of Agile frameworks including Scrum, Kanban and hybrid Agile, and when it's best to apply these in practice.

Cost: $895

Offered by: The University System of Maryland

Time commitment: 2-3 hours per week for 5 months

Certification: Professional certificate

PRINCE2® 6th Edition: Foundation Certification with Official Manual and Exam (FutureLearn)

Another exam preparation course, this one leads to gaining the first level of certification for the PRINCE2 project methodology. It explains the PRINCE2 framework and its core principles, the managerial roles required in a PRINCE2 project, and processes used throughout the project lifecycle.

Cost: $719 (including the exam)

Offered by: QA 

Time commitment: 24 hours over 6 weeks

Certification: PRINCE2® Foundation

• Whether you're using it to light up your tent or cabin while camping or need it to help you see during a power outage, you'll be glad you have a reliable lantern on hand to ward off the dark.
• The best lanterns offer powerful lumen output, have great battery life capable of lasting for several hours, and are durable enough to hold up no matter where you take it. 
• Our top pick, the CORE Equipment 500 Lumen CREE LED Lantern offers a bright output, is compact enough to not take up too much cargo space on car camping trips, and shines for hours on end. 

In the event of a prolonged power outage, a lantern creates room-filling light that allows for easier cooking, reading, and other basic activities that you can't accomplish with the directional beam of a flashlight or headlamp.

A lantern is also immensely helpful in emergency situations should you need to administer first aid, repair a piece of equipment, or find your way around in the dark. The long battery life (or fuel burn time) of a good lantern is another bonus when compared with most flashlights, which tend to consume batteries more quickly.

For the camper, a lantern makes a tent, cabin, or the campsite itself more comfortable and inviting. The beams of headlamps and flashlights can be unpleasant and blinding, leaving most of the surrounding area dark while often washing out the spots on which they fall. Lantern light, on the other hand, is softer, filling a space with illumination and allowing all in its proximity to enjoy the glow.

What to look for in a lantern

When figuring out which lantern best suits your needs, consider its weight, size, power source, brightness output, and special features — but also give equal thought to where and how you'll use it most often.

If you plan on doing a lot of car camping, it's smart to opt for one that's easy to transport over a lantern that's bulkier. If it's just for use around the house, you're able to use one that's less portable but more powerful to light up a larger area. 

To help make your shopping experience easier, we've tested a selection of lanterns from brands like Coleman, Goal Zero, and CORE Equipment to find the best currently available. No matter the use case, there's a lantern fit for the job. 

Here are the best lanterns:

• Best lantern overall: CORE Equipment 500 Lumen CREE LED Lantern
• Best budget lantern: Etekcity Collapsible LED Lantern
• Best propane-powered lantern: Coleman Northstar Propane Lantern
• Best lantern for emergencies: HeroBeam V3 LED Lantern
• Best solar-powered lantern: Survival Frog LED Solar Pocket Light Lantern
• Best lantern for backup power: Goal Zero Lighthouse 400 Lantern and USB Power Hub

Updated on 12/29/2020 by Rick Stella: Updated the introduction for relevancy, added links to supplemental coverage, checked the availability of each recommended lantern, and updated the pricing where necessary.

Best lantern overall

The CORE Equipment 500 Lumen CREE LED Lantern puts out enough light to fully illuminate a midsized room or to light up your campsite, porch, or picnic area.

Pros: Super bright output, great battery life, good price for the quality, durable construction

Cons: Uses pricey D batteries, needs dimmer setting

The CORE Equipment 500 Lumen CREE LED Lantern casts a halo of light that brightens an area measuring 60 feet wide — and that is on its low setting. When at full power, the lantern's beam stretches out 45 feet, illuminating a space 90 feet across.

Equally impressive are the run-times: The lantern will shine for 19 hours at full power and for an amazing 65 hours at the lower setting. Its diffuser tube ensures that its light is evenly distributed and is bright but not harsh.

The CORE Equipment 500 Lumen lantern weighs a little less than a pound and is small enough to tuck into a backpack. While it's slightly heavier and larger than the distance trekker or the climber will want to carry, it's a great choice for use on shorter hikes or for the car camper or RV enthusiast.

Despite its small size, the power of this lantern also makes it a fine choice for use in equipping an emergency preparedness kit or for more mundane, everyday tasks like grilling after dark or just hanging out in the backyard. 

Best budget lantern

The Etekcity Collapsible LED Lantern is small, bright, and built to last, but best of all, it comes in a two-pack for $20. 

Pros: Great low price, compact and lightweight, durable construction

Cons: Short run time, light quality rather pale and harsh

What can you get with ten dollars? Quite a lot, really. You can get a decent cocktail or a fine sandwich, a month's worth of streaming video and TV programming, or a compact and capable lantern that will shine for hours at a time and last for many years of regular use. The Etekcity Collapsible LED Lantern costs only $20 for two, but it is backed by a 10-year manufacturer's warranty.

When fully collapsed, the Etekcity LED lantern is less than five inches tall, and it weighs well under a pound. That makes it a fine choice for the trekker who is watching gear weight.

The intensity of light output is regulated based on how far you extract the globe section from the outer casing. The more of the 30 individual LED bulbs that are exposed, the more light that the lantern emits. This is a pleasantly simple way to regulate brightness, but there's also a drawback in that the bulbs that are hidden away are still glowing, thus draining a bit of power needlessly.

The lantern is powered using three AA batteries and runs for 12 hours on its lower intensity setting and eight hours at maximum output. That's not a laudable runtime, but the money you save on the unit can be applied to some extra batteries.

Best propane-powered lantern

As long as you planned ahead and stocked up on fuel, the Coleman NorthStar Propane Lantern can provide you hours upon hours of amazingly bright light.

Pros: Amazingly bright, long run time, wide range of brightness settings

Cons: Slightly loud while operating, not suitable for indoor use, large and heavy

LED lanterns are all the rage these days, and for many good reasons: They produce no appreciable heat, making them safe for use in confined spaces and around pets and kids, they tend to be compact and lightweight, and they're easy to use. But that doesn't mean there's not still a place for a propane-powered lantern at the proverbial table — or at the actual campsite, in your yard, at the RV park, and more.

The duration of burn time you can expect from the Coleman NorthStar Propane Lantern is entirely dependent on the size of the propane bottle you choose. With a compact one-pound tank, you can expect about eight hours of super bright light and as much as 20 or even 24 hours on a low setting. With a 20-pound tank, you could leave the light burning for a week straight.

While shopping for a propane tank and connecting one to the unit are both more involved tasks than buying and replacing batteries, the sheer volume of light this lantern creates beats out almost every battery-powered electric lantern money can buy. Its top 1,500-lumen setting matches the light output of a 100-watt incandescent light bulb.

Once you have the propane tank connected and the lantern securely placed on a flat surface or hung from a branch, you fire it up, using a simple push-button ignition system. Brightness is controlled with an easy-to-use dial on the front of the unit. And that's that. This is a durable, reliable lantern that works much the same as devices people have trusted for many generations.

The only real drawback here is that indoor use is ill-advised, not because of the fire hazard, but rather because propane burning equipment should always be operated in open-air environments.

Best lantern for emergencies

The HeroBeam V3 LED Lantern is water-resistant, rechargeable, and can function as both an omnidirectional lantern and as a flashlight with a focused beam. 

Pros: Versatile light output, water-resistant, rugged and durable, rechargeable 

Cons: Some units malfunction with heavy use

Whether you're searching the nighttime forest for a lost loved one or jacking up a car as the rain slashes down, lighting up the kitchen so you can prepare a meal during a power outage, or shining light over the shoulder of an EMT treating an injury, if you're using the HeroBeam V3 LED Lantern, you're doing it right.

This light can fill a room or outdoor area with a large pool of light or throw a beam out dozens of yards into the darkness. Just to make things easy for you, the handle even flips around to allow for easy carrying in both the lantern and the flashlight configuration.

The HeroBeam V3 lantern is rated as IPX4 water-resistant, which means that even if you need to use this lantern in a downpour or if it gets splashed by waves coming over the side of a boat, it will still work just fine. And thanks to its durable ABS plastic body, it won't break if you drop it or knock it off a table, either. This is good, because, in emergency situations, things rarely go smoothly.

The newer V3 model is also an upgrade from our previous choice, the V2, and is now rechargeable from any USB port. Easily charge it up from any laptop, phone charger, or car. Alternatively, it can also take AA batteries so you can double the operating duration.

Best solar-powered lantern

The Survival Frog Solar Pocket Light Lantern offers hours of soft, steady light with each charge, no batteries or fuel required. 

Pros: Charges with sunlight, strobe light option, very light and compact

Cons: Not very bright, depends on sunshine or access to USB port

If you expect a compact solar lantern to be bright enough to illuminate a large room or fill a campsite with light, you're going to be disappointed. If you count on the diminutive Survival Frog Solar Pocket Light Lantern to fill your tent with light or to illuminate a few square feet around your campfire or picnic table, however, you're going to be quite pleased.

What this little lantern lacks in hundreds of lumens of output, it more than makes up for in weighing less than a half-pound, in folding down into a package you can tuck into a pocket, and in using nothing more than sunlight to power its internal rechargeable battery. When the sun isn't shining but a USB port is close at hand, you can also power it up via USB cable.

This Survival Frog lantern can be hung from the roof of a tent or from a branch or perched on a table or on the floor to fill an area with light, or it can be used as a directional flashlight. The pool of lantern light is on the smaller side and the beam fainter than a top-quality LED torch, you should know that going in. You should also know that the lantern has three settings: bright, dim, and flashing (a great option for helping people locate you from afar in the dark).

Best lantern for backup power

The Goal Zero Lighthouse 400 offers more than just bright lighting. It can also recharge your other electronic devices, and recharge itself with a hand-crank when in a pinch. 

Pros: Backup battery for recharging electronic devices, hand-crank for quick charging, bright LED light that can be adjusted

Cons: Pricey, solar option requires additional accessory  

The Lighthouse 400 from Goal Zero provides a bright, omnidirectional LED light at 400 lumens. But lighting is just one of its great features. Goal Zero is a company that specializes in portable power, and with its built-in 4,400mAh battery, you can use this lantern to recharge a phone, tablet, or camera. The battery capacity is enough to recharge a smartphone at least twice.

On the front, you'll find a standard USB port for recharging a device. The lantern is also powered via the battery, which has a run-time between 2.5 to 6 hours, depending on the brightness level and how many LEDs are turned on (there are two). The battery recharges via its built-in USB cable, which takes about five hours, according to the company.

But what if an electrical outlet isn't available? The lantern has two other recharging options: solar (with an optional Goal Zero solar panel) or a hand crank. Just one minute of cranking produces about 10 minutes of light — ideal for an emergency. Solar charging takes about 7-14 hours. So, even when its battery is completely drained, you have other options to recharge it.

The Lighthouse 400 is easy to store and operate. When not in use, just fold up the legs. In my experience in testing portable batteries, Goal Zero makes some of the better options. I also like the company's portable solar panels and find them to work well, although it's an extra premium if you were to add it to the purchase (it would push this lantern beyond the $100 mark). Overall, it's a great accessory that does more than just lighting, but I do wish the product had a sturdier plastic construction. — Les Shu

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When it comes to customer relationship management (CRM) software, Salesforce is usually top of mind. Two decades ago, the cloud giant pioneered new way to deliver software over the cloud via subscriptions, changing CRM software forever. 

Even now it has an iron grip on the market, holding a 18.4% share as of 2019, according to a report from IDC. By contrast, other large players like SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, and Adobe have single digit percentages (although Microsoft is aggressively investing in its own cloud-based CRM application, called Dynamics 365). 

CRM software generally includes customer-facing tools for divisions like sales, customer service, and marketing and has traditionally served as an electronic Rolodex-of-sorts for a company's customers. But the software is quickly evolving, said a senior research director at Gartner, Brian Manusama. 

Nowadays, companies don't want their CRM systems to simply help their own employees, but also to make their overall customer experiences smoother and simpler, too, Manusama told Business Insider, by, for example, providing tools to automate online problem-solving processes for customers. As automation capabilities become standard for modern CRM systems, that often means integrations with outside applications or social media.

Salesforce is primarily built for large enterprise customers, so smaller CRM startups have popped up to cater to small and medium-sized businesses, Bessemer Venture Partner's Alex Ferrara told Business Insider. Also, because CRMs encompass a wide range of tools and software, many companies start in one category — sales, services, or marketing — and then expand outward from there.

"I think most modern organizations today want all of their employees to have access to customer data," partner at venture firm CRV, Murat Bicer, told Business Insider. "It's not just sales anymore."

As the pandemic pushed businesses to digitally transform faster than ever, modern CRM software is critical to helping them stay connected with customers. 

Business Insider asked venture capitalists and analysts to name smaller CRM companies competing with behemoths like Salesforce and Microsoft. They named both innovative startups and smaller companies that are growing in popularity. 

Some of these smaller companies could also be acquisition targets for big cloud firms looking to improve their own capabilities. For example, Facebook said in November that plans to acquire customer service startup Kustomer — reportedly for $1 billion. 

Here are 16 customer relationship management companies that experts say to watch in 2021:

(All private company funding amounts and valuations taken from Pitchbook.)

Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a sales management tool to help coordinate the sometimes complicated or lengthy sales process. It's tailored the help salespeople do their jobs as opposed to sales managers, which more traditional CRM systems focused on, said Bessemer's Alex Ferrara, who led Pipedrive's Series A round in 2015.

Pipedrive has customizable fields, Google Apps integrations for email, and data importing and exporting, so salespeople can plan their strategy, track deals, and record conversation history on one platform. 

Ferrara says it's a company to watch because it's very profitable and has a really great team of product and engineering folks on board.

Total funding raised: $95.4 million

Valuation: $1.50 billion 

Iterable

Iterable is an email marketing platform that helps automate the customer reach-out process.

The company was founded in 2013 and started with marketing automation before quickly realizing how much more it could do with the customer data stored on its platform.

It essentially allows companies to customize the way they interact with customers based on their preferences, said CRV's Bicer, who sits on Iterable's board. CRV participated in Iterable's Series A round in 2016. 

"It's giving you a more of that full picture of your entire customer base and how they're behaving," Bicer said. "I think that's the kind of scale that even Salesforce today wouldn't really be able to do."

Total funding raised: $141.84 million

Valuation: $535 million

Gorgias

Gorgias makes help-desk software — primarily for small online businesses — to help manage customer service. It uses machine learning and integrations with other software to create templates and suggestions on how to resolve customer service requests so businesses can respond quickly. 

The company was founded in 2015 and just raised a $25 million Series B led by Sapphire Ventures in early December. CRV's Bicer recommended the firm. 

Total funding raised: $44.77 million

Valuation: $325 million

Freshworks

Freshworks is best known for its customer service product, Freshdesk. It was founded in 2010 after CEO Girish Mathrubootham saw an opportunity to change the way companies handle customer support.

In the 10 years since, Mathrubootham has expanded the firm's customer support focus to build a platform that provides software to help manage every interaction a customer has with a company, from marketing to customer support. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, California, although the majority of its employees are based in India.

Freshworks' strengths continue to grow because it has made a number of acquisitions over the last few years to build out its platform, Gartner's Manusama said. 

Total funding raised: $401.1 million

Valuation: $3.5 billion

SugarCRM

SugarCRM, founded in 2004, offers a range of customer experience tools including for sales, service, and marketing divisions. A recent Gartner report called SugarCRM's products "easily configured and customized."

In addition to sales automation, customer service, and marketing tools, SugarCRM has also added products for data visualization, analytics, and integration.

"They've got a pretty comprehensive offering compared to most smaller market CRMs," said Nucleus Research analyst Dan Elman, who expects the firm to keep growing.

Notably Salesforce has a similar line-up of products in its CRM platform. 

SugarCRM was acquired by private equity firm Accel-KKR in 2018. 

Total funding raised: $119.64 million up to 2013, unknown after that

Valuation: Unknown

Techsee

TechSee is a customer service platform that uses new technologies like artificial intelligence and internet connected devices, while also serving as a traditional CRM. In particular, it can help field service agents who respond to customer support requests at specific locations, allowing them to connect with customers via a live virtual chat.

The company is based in Israel and raised a $30 million Series C round in August led by Salesforce Ventures, TELUS Ventures, and OurCrowd. Gartner's Manusama recommended it as a field service-focused CRM company to watch. 

Total funding raised: $53.50 million

Valuation: Unknown

Hubspot

Hubspot started as a marketing automation company, making it easy for small businesses to launch marketing and go-to-market strategies. Once Hubspot started seeing how its platform could use the customer data it was collecting, however, it began adding more features to make it a full CRM platform, including sales and service software.

The company went public in 2014 and has 95,000 customers. It is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and run by its cofounders Brian Halligan (CEO) and Dharmesh Shah (CTO). 

CRV's Bicer and Bessemer partner Ferrara both noted that Hubspot was a smaller CRM company to watch. 

Market cap: $18.86 billion

Zendesk

Zendesk is known for its customer service software, but it also offers sales software and a marketplace of customer engagement apps. Its software makes it easier to help customers across self-service options, connecting all the communication methods — like phone, chat, messaging, and email — in one platform. 

Nucleus Research's Elman said he already sees Zendesk in competition with Salesforce for deals so he expects that competition to only get more intense as Zendesk grows. More often now, CRMs are expanding to include that "customer experience distinction," he said.

Zendesk was founded in 2007 and went public in 2014. 

Market cap: $16.7 billion

Zoho

Zoho is an Indian software company that provides tools for finance, productivity, collaboration, and more, with its sales, services, and marketing tools integrating with its entire product portfolio. 

Zoho's CRM offering is more developed than most companies of its size, said Nucleus Research's Elman, so it could likely compete with Salesforce more effectively than others.

Earlier this year Zoho released tools to help businesses reopen safely, similar to Salesforce's Work.com tools. 

The company was founded in 1996 in Pleasanton, CA but its global headquarters are in Chennai, India. It has remained private and claims that it never took outside funding. 

Total funding raised: N/A

Valuation: Unknown

Glia

Glia is a customer service platform that allows businesses to connect with customers using messaging, video, and other online avenues. The software is intended to make it simple for customers to learn about a product, purchase it, and access customer service, too. Sellers can interact with interested parties in real-time to try to convert them into paying customers. 

Glia's customers include several big banking organizations, said Gartner's Manusama, making it a firm to watch.

Total funding raised: $28.75 million

Valuation: $68.5 million

Conversica

Conversica is an AI-driven platform to help salespeople connect with potential customers and sign them on. It uses chat bots to automatically start conversations with potential buyers over email, text, or social media to schedule sales meetings or gauge interest, and it can also collect overdue payments from existing customers, too. 

Its customers include Oracle, Beck & Masten, and Talend, and it also has partnerships with Salesforce, Hupspot, and Marketo. Gartner's Manusama recommended it. 

Total funding raised: $106.8 million

Valuation: Unknown

GetAccept

GetAccept is a sales enablement platform that aims to digitize the sales process from the first conversation to a signed contract. The software includes features like video, live chat, sales content, proposal design, document tracking, and e-signatures to simplify the sales process. It also allows sales reps to track their pipeline.

Bessemer's Ferrara likens it to digitizing the deal room where sales contracts get discussed and signed. His firm led GetAccept's $20 million Series B round in early December.  

Total funding raised: $30.6 million

Valuation: $36.88 million before its Series B, current unknown

Insightly

Insightly is a project management-based tool for keeping track of customer interactions. The platform helps companies manage their customer contacts, tasks, and projects on desktop and mobile, and also offers a marketing automation tool. Its tools integrate with Google Apps and GSuite, Microsoft 365, and Quickbooks.

Insightly was founded in 2009 and is backed by Emergence Capital Partners, Cloud Apps Capital Partners, Scott Bommer, and Sozo Ventures. Bessemer's Ferrara named Insightly as a CRM startup to watch, though his firm has not invested.

Total funding raised: $40 million

Valuation: $220.67 million

Copper CRM

Copper is a CRM system designed to be used with GSuite and Google Apps. It helps salespeople identify, track, and optimize sales. The integration with GSuite allows users to update opportunities, add contacts, get account histories, and manage the pipeline directly from their Gmail inbox. It also automatically scrapes data from Gmail to automate recurring tasks. 

The company was founded in 2011 and has CRM products tailored for the tech industry, real estate firms, consulting companies, and small businesses.

Ferrara recommended Copper, though Bessemer has not invested in it.

Total funding raised: $108.12 million

Valuation: $77.68 million as of its Series B in 2016, current unknown

Affinity

Affinity is a CRM startup that's focused on managing relationships as opposed to simply serving as a database of contacts. Its scans the email and calendars of its workers in customer-facing roles to map out how people are connect and suggest ways to leverage existing relationships to secure new relationships and deals.

Bessemer's Ferrara said his firm is a customer of Affinity and has seen first-hand the value it can bring to organizations. It has products tailored towards the real estate industry, venture capital firms, and financial institutions. 

Total funding raised: $40.5 million

Valuation: $96.5 million

Nimble

Nimble is another CRM platform that integrates with productivity suites from Microsoft and Google. It allows users to access their CRM while working in their email inbox or websites like LinkedIn.

Its differentiator is a "focus on mining social media," said Nucleus Research's Elman. "It can link your records with social media, so it gives you more up-to-date info on when your contacts are active and what they're thinking about." 

Nimble is part of the Microsoft Accelerator. 

Total funding raised: $15.5 million

Valuation: $34 million

eBay is growing rapidly amid the pandemic. 

The e-commerce platform is currently hiring for about 400 positions across the globe, with over half of those openings based in the US. eBay said it currently employs more than 10,000 people worldwide.

Resale, in general, is having a moment this year. In fact, a June report from resale marketplace thredUp estimates that the total secondhand market — including resale and traditional thrift stores — is projected to reach $64 billion by the end of 2024, even as pandemic headwinds heavily disrupt much of the broader retail industry. The report also highlighted the acceleration of the resale sector, which is expected to grow fivefold over the next five years to $36 billion, while sales at retail clothing stores as a whole will shrink by 4% over the same period.

Read more:ThredUp salaries revealed: Here's how much engineers, copywriters, directors, and more make at the resale company gunning for an IPO in 2021

Business Insider analyzed the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification's 2020 disclosure data for permanent and temporary foreign workers to see how much eBay paid some employees for various roles in different categories. The Office of Foreign Labor Certification discloses salary data each year after US companies report how much base compensation workers are offered when filing paperwork for visas on behalf of current or prospective foreign workers.

For the US, eBay applied for 2,168 H-1B visas for these and other roles, many of which offer salaries around or above six figures. Most of these jobs listed in the US are based in the company's headquarters in San Jose, California.

An eBay spokesperson said the company has expanded its employee wellness, mental health, and child-care programs during the pandemic, as many employees continue to work from home.

"Working from home requires different equipment needs for employees, and we have supported our teams as they make this transition to creating home workspaces by providing payment to cover office equipment and other needs," the spokesperson said.

In some cases, eBay's tech salaries are on par with other tech-focused companies. For example, software engineers' base salaries at Amazon and Google are generally about $155,086 and $177,933, respectively, according to Glassdoor. At eBay, software engineers make an average of $164,535.

SEE ALSO: ThredUp salaries revealed: Here's how much engineers, copywriters, directors, and more make at the resale company gunning for an IPO in 2021

Engineering roles

Like other e-commerce sites, eBay relies on a variety of engineers to keep the platform up-to-date and fully functional. 

Software engineer: average salary of $164,535

The average salary for a software engineer at eBay is about $164,535, according to a sample of 294 approved visa applications for the company. People with this title make between $110,000 and $252,000.

Hardware engineer: average salary of $113,000

The average salary for a hardware engineer is about $113,000, according to a sample of three approved visa applications for eBay. All three people with this title make $113,000.

Information security engineer: average salary of $141,960

The average salary for an information security engineer is about $141,960, according to a sample of eight approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $130,968 and $159,337.

Network engineer: average salary of $117,451

The average salary for a network engineer is roughly $117,451, according to a sample of 10 approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $111,718 and $121,405.

Research engineer: average salary of $145,600

The average salary for a research engineer is around $145,600, according to a sample of five approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $123,000 and $165,000.

Design roles

eBay employs a variety of designers to construct a seamless user experience. Designers work on a variety of features for buyers and sellers on the platform and work to blend utility with a visually appealing interface.

Senior designer: average salary of $167,040

The average salary for a senior designer is about $167,040, according to a sample of two approved visa applications for eBay. Both people with this title make $167,040.

User interface designer: average salary of $154,483

The average salary for a user interface designer is about $154,483, according to a sample of two approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $145,000 and 163,966.

Director of design research: salary of $228,777, according to one approved visa application.

Finance and accounting roles

Finance manager: average salary of $148,625

The average salary for a finance manager is about $148,625, according to a sample of two approved visa applications for eBay. Both people with this title make $148,625.

Accounting manager: average salary of $117,250

The average salary for an accounting manager is about $117,250, according to a sample of four approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $103,500 and $132,000.

Tax accountant: average salary of $90,000

The average salary for a tax accountant is about $90,000, according to a sample of two approved visa applications for eBay. Both people with this title make $90,000.

Senior internal auditor: average salary of $105,000

The average salary for a senior internal auditor is about $105,000, according to a sample of two approved visa applications for eBay. Both people with this title make $105,000.

Manager and senior roles

Vice president/chief revenue officer: salary of $335,000, according to approved visa applications for eBay.

Manager of software development: average salary of $189,587

The average salary for a manager of software development is $189,587, according to a sample of 15 approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $172,000 and $213,210.

Manager of risk management: average salary of $151,250

The average salary for a manager of risk management is about $151,250, according to a sample of four approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $150,000 and $155,000.

Billing metrics and analytics manager: average salary of $132,547

The average salary for a billing metrics and analytics manager is about $132,547, according to a sample of two approved visa applications for eBay. Both people with this title make $132,547.

Manager of business analytics: average salary of $146,333

The average salary for a manager of business analytics is about $146,333, according to a sample of 10 approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $134,192 and $160,000.

Lead product manager, technical: average salary of $206,610

The average salary for a lead product manager of technical is about $206,610, according to a sample of 10 approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $202,527 and $220,000. According to a sample of 11 approved visa applications, senior product managers make an average of $163,876.

Other roles

Applied researcher: average salary of $167,535

The average salary for an applied researcher is about $167,535, according to a sample of seven approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $161,476 and $171,401.

Data scientist: average salary of $128,877

The average salary for a data scientist is about $128,877, according to a sample of 21 approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $100,000 and $150,000. According to another sample of two approved visa applications from eBay, senior data scientists make an average of $165,000. 

Legal counsel: average salary of $185,000

The average salary for legal counsel is about $185,000 according to a sample of three approved visa applications for eBay. All three people with this title make $185,000.

Risk analyst: average salary of $101,683

The average salary for a risk analyst is about $101,683, according to a sample of 10 approved visa applications for eBay. People with this title make between $94,600 and $110,000.

• With so many bedding brands to choose from, it can be overwhelming, uninspiring, and expensive to find the best set of sheets for your bed. 
• After testing them ourselves over the years, online startups like Brooklinen, Parachute, and Boll & Branch are great places to buy sheets.
• Their bedding is priced lower than luxury competitors', but it's no less comfortable, beautiful, and durable. 
• One interior designer we spoke to recommends sticking with classic white sheets if you're having difficulty making a decision. Another tip: think about the types of fabrics that you like to wear on your body. 
• Sign up for Insider Reviews' weekly newsletter for more buying advice and great deals.

It's difficult to attribute a good night's sleep to a single factor. Certainly, a supportive mattress helps. So does a fluffy pillow. Another important part of the equation — one that can sometimes be overlooked or bought in haste — is your sheets. 

No one can say they don't love settling into a soft, cool bed at the end of a long day, or lazily stretching out on top of perfectly rumpled sheets on a weekend morning. It's this highly sought-after feeling in a long-uninspired industry that has prompted numerous direct-to-consumer bedding startups to launch in the last five years. 

Aesthetically, a lot of these new companies are difficult to differentiate, but there are certain distinctions that could make one a better choice for your specific needs. Before you upgrade your sheets, read up on what these bedding startups offer and what you should buy from each one, and check out what interior design experts have to say about finding the best bedding for your space. 

How to shop for sheets for your bedroom

If you don't know where to start when it comes to finding bedding that matches your style and bedroom, interior designer and author James Farmer tells Insider Reviews, "Shop for sheets like you do your shirts! Think about your favorite shirt. Is it a pressed cotton button-down? Slightly starched and cool? Or do you prefer a warm, worn tee? For me, I prefer a pressed pillowcase and pressed shirt, so that's my 'go-to' for bed linens." 

If you really want to make shopping easy, go with white sheets, he says. "Crisp and white matches everything, plus it launders wonderfully." But you can still have some fun. "I love a monogram, too. So keep your sheets white and allow your design aesthetic to have some pop with your monogram, shams, or bedding." 

Shop sheets from our favorite bedding startups:  

Note: All prices are for Queen size offerings. 

Brooklinen

Shop bedding at Brooklinen here

Why you'll like it: More than 50,000 glowing online reviews and our own executive editor's love for the brand stem from the great value that Brooklinen offers. For less than $200, you can get four pillowcases, a flat sheet, a fitted sheet, and a duvet cover — and this isn't just a convenient bundle that will pill or fray after a few washes. Its signature cotton percale sheets are cool and crisp, giving you a comfortable night's sleep. While its core business is cotton bedding, Brooklinen also sells heathered cashmere and linen collections. 

What to buy: 

Parachute

Shop bedding at Parachute here

Why you'll like it: If you still dream about the hotel linens you slept on during your European vacation, shop at Parachute to bring home the same comfortable and luxurious experience. It sells three different fabrics: percale (lightweight, breathable), sateen (smooth, but not shiny), and linen (textured, laid-back). Like other sites, you can shop bundled sets, but you also have the freedom to customize your own and buy for your exact style.

What to buy: 

Coyuchi

Shop bedding at Coyuchi here

Why you'll like it: In our opinion, Coyuchi's eco-friendly practices make it the best sustainable bedding startup. It's the first North American company to use miDori bioSoft green technology, which softens sheets with a plant-based formula, and it meets a slew of other standards and certifications that mean it tries to do the least damage to the environment as possible. It also has a unique Subscribe and Save program that sends you linen replenishments at a low monthly rate and recycles your old sheets for you. 

What to buy:

Boll & Branch

Shop bedding at Boll & Branch here

Why you'll like it: Boll & Branch's claim to fame is the fact that three living US presidents sleep on its sheets. However, you don't have to be a president to appreciate the company's mission of utilizing a transparent supply chain and organic cotton to make its bed sheets. These Fair Trade sheets may cost more than traditional sheets, but you'll always feel good about buying and sleeping on them. 

What to buy:

Snowe

Shop bedding at Snowe here

Why you'll like it: You're not fresh out of college in your first post-grad apartment, nor have you found your forever home just yet. But you do care about quality, versatility, and aesthetics, which is where Snowe excels. Snowe provides the bedding essentials for you to create a beautiful living space through its bundles or Build Your Own feature. 

What to buy:

Primary Goods

Shop bedding at Primary Goods here

Why you'll like it: Primary Goods doesn't just make comfortable and durable bedding sets, it fixes one of the most flawed and debated components: the top sheet. Its patented snapping system is simple but effective, attaching the top sheet to your duvet cover so the two always move together, meaning you can make your bed quickly each morning. It started with premium French linen bedding and has also introduced cotton to its lineup. 

What to buy:

Ettitude

Shop bedding at Ettitude here

Why you'll like it: The secret to Ettitude's silky smooth sheets is bamboo lyocell, a sustainable textile made from organic bamboo pulp. In addition to being breathable and temperature-regulating (making it great for hot sleepers), bamboo is hypoallergenic and anti-microbial. 

What to buy:

Allswell

Shop Allswell here

Shop Allswell at Walmart here

Why you'll like it: Allswell is an online bedding venture by Walmart, but based on its online presence and overall aesthetic, you wouldn't associate it with the value-driven mega-retailer. We've mainly reviewed its mattresses, but also know that is bedding is just as good as more well-known competitors like Brooklinen and Parachute. With its tightly curated collection of sheets and duvet sets, Allswell is the perfect place to completely reset your sleeping situation without spending a lot of money. 

What to buy:

Crane & Canopy

Shop Crane & Canopy here

Why you'll like it: Crane & Canopy's claim to fame is a clever duvet design that makes it look like you spent 20 minutes making your bed, thanks to some strategically-placed color blocking and piping. In addition to its thoughtful and practical approach to bedding, it's also careful not to neglect the look of it, offering colorful and patterned options beyond the usual neutrals. All the bedding is Oeko-Tex certified and made from premium, durable extra-long cotton. 

What to buy: 

Like ad-supported media business, Instagram influencers rely on brand deals as a source of income.

With a variety of monetizable features on Instagram, such as in-feed posts, Stories, Reels, IGTV, and Lives, influencers offer advertisers a range of content types.

Brands are set to spend up to $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022, according to Business Insider Intelligence. And they're hiring creators with big and small audiences across a wide range of content categories.

Micro influencers (who generally have fewer than 100,000 followers) have become a high priority for brands. Many micro influencers — and even some nano influencers with fewer than 10,000 followers — have turned their social media hobbies into paid side-hustles by working with brands.

To get these deals, influencers often use media kits to showcase their value to a company, providing audience metrics and listing the advertisers they've worked with. Some kits also include pay rates. 

"I update my media kit probably monthly because it's literally your resume or your portfolio that you're sending into brands," Macy Mariano, an Instagram influencer, told Business Insider last month.

Here are 6 examples of real media kits that influencers use to land brand deals on Instagram:

Jen Lauren: about 3,000 Instagram followers

Jen Lauren is a 24-year-old nano lifestyle influencer on Instagram and YouTube with 1,000 to 3,000 followers on each platform.

Lauren has started to make money by partnering with brands on sponsorships, she told Business Insider in November. 

Lauren is considered a "nano" influencer on YouTube and Instagram. Nano influencers often specialize in a specific niche, with a small and engaged community. They generally have fewer than 5,000 subscribers on YouTube and between 2,500 and 10,000 followers on Instagram. 

Check out the full media kit here (obtained in November 2020):

A YouTube and Instagram nano influencer shares the simple 3-page media kit that helped land her first brand deal — and how much she gets paid

Laur DeMartino: about 5,000 Instagram followers

Laur DeMartino, 19, is a college student who's also a part-time lifestyle content creator. She told Business Insider that she treats her content as a "mini-internship." 

DeMartino is a nano influencer, and while she has a larger audience on Instagram (5,200 followers) and TikTok (4,200 followers), she primarily focuses on YouTube, where she had about 3,300 subscribers as of November. 

In 2020, she secured a brand deal worth $4,000, which included a $1,000 gift card to purchase the product. The deal included deliverables across all three of her primary social-media platforms, she said.

Her media kit highlights her previous brand partnerships and audience demographics.

Check out the full media kit here (obtained in November 2020):

Here's the exact 9-page media kit a YouTube and Instagram nano influencer uses to get brand sponsorships

Alexa Collins: about 1.2 million Instagram followers

Alexa Collins is a Miami-based influencer with 1.2 million Instagram followers.

Since kicking off her Instagram account in March 2016, Collins has posted a stream of swimsuit and dog photos, clothing (and occasionally tax accounting) promotions, and product placements that provide the 25-year-old with a steady income. 

"I started this a while ago, and it takes a really long time to build a following on an app," Collins said. "I work with a lot of clothing and swimwear and makeup and hair brands — a lot of girly stuff."

Collins now works with the talent management agency Johnson Sports Entertainment, which also represents NFL players and professional golfers, to secure brand deals. She also pitches advertisers directly using an 8-page media kit.

Check out the full media kit here (obtained in November 2020):

An Instagram influencer with 1 million followers breaks down how much money she charges for sponsored content and the 8-page media kit she sends to brands

Jade Darmawangsa: about 51,000 Instagram followers

Jade Darmawangsa is a YouTube creator (380,000 subscribers) and Instagram influencer (51,000 followers) who's developed a full-time business through brand sponsorships and collaborations.

On average, she charges between $500 and $2,000 for a sponsored Instagram post, she told Business Insider in October. 

In her media kit, Darmawangsa details her Instagram demographics and analytics. Her account has a total reach of 118,899,860, which is a compilation of the full following of all her followers and shows the total potential reach her page has.

The Los Angeles-based creator launched her YouTube channel in 2015. 

Check out the full media kit here (obtained in October 2020):

A YouTube creator with about 380,000 subscribers shares the exact 4-page media kit she uses to land brand deals and how much money she charges

Marina Mogilko: about 720,000 Instagram followers

Entrepreneur and creator Marina Mogilko has worked with brands like Audible and Skillshare on sponsored videos. She lives in San Francisco and is the cofounder of a travel agency, LinguaTrip. 

Her media kit includes case studies of past campaigns and her audience analytics. It begins with her channel categories: business, education, languages, life in Silicon Valley, and personal development.

It also lists the audience demographics for her language channel: Her audience is 18 to 44 years old, 52% male and 48% female. Her top sources of viewers are the US, UK, Canada, Russia, and India.

Check out the full media kit here (obtained in May 2020):

A YouTube creator with 2 million subscribers shares the exact 24-page media kit she uses to get brand sponsorships

Macy Mariano: about 111,000 Instagram followers

Travel and style influencer Macy Mariano is an Instagram creator who has worked with brands like Lululemon, Champs Sports, and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

Mariano said many advertisers will ask to see her media kit when negotiating terms for a sponsored content deal.

"I think it's super important if you want to take this seriously," Mariano told Business Insider in February. "I send them now to everyone I get in touch with. It's just a good way to express who you are and what you've done so they can see your past and current work." 

Mariano had 105,000 Instagram followers when Business Insider obtained the media kit in February. Today, she has 111,000 followers.

Check out the full media kit here (obtained in February 2020):

An Instagram influencer with 100,000 followers shares the 9-page media kit she uses to pitch brands, which includes how much money she charges

TuSimple has caught the attention of the trucking and logistics industries with its plans to develop an automated-driving system for semi-trucks. Founded in 2015, the startup is carrying packages for UPS and has partnerships with Navistar, Penske, and US Xpress.

Though TuSimple has more competitors than it did five years ago, the company believes its head start on rivals like Waymo, Aurora Innovation, and Ike (when it comes to focusing on trucks, anyway) has allowed it to build a lead over them. Jeff Herbst, the vice president of business development at Nvidia, a TuSimple supplier and investor, agrees.

"They seem to have escaped the pack," he said.

In an interview with Business Insider, Herbst explained why Nvidia decided to invest in TuSimple and why he believes the startup has a bright future. Nvidia declined to disclose the size of its investment.

Here's what Herbst said.

SEE ALSO: Ford's head of electric vehicles throws shade at Tesla, saying the new Mustang Mach E's 'roof doesn't come off'

Industry-leading technology

Herbst said TuSimple's technology appeared to be "incredibly good" when he first met with the company, and that hasn't changed, as Herbst believes TuSimple has better tech than any other company that's developing self-driving-semis.

He highlighted the startup's long-range perception system, which he said is particularly important for a semi-truck since it can't stop as quickly as a car. TuSimple found the right balance between cameras and lidar sensors, which bounce beams of light off nearby objects to measure how far away they are, Herbst said.

• Read more: VCs say Aurora and TuSimple are among the self-driving startups best poised to become the next Waymo

A wise strategy

TuSimple was one of a small number of autonomous-vehicle companies that were focusing on trucks when Herbst first met with them. The decision to focus on big rigs instead of consumer vehicles was smart for two reasons, Herbst said.

First, building an automated-driving system for trucks is easier than doing the same for consumer vehicles because trucks tend to drive along fixed routes on highways, which limits the number of unexpected situations they might encounter. Second, TuSimple's technology has obvious benefits for potential customers in the trucking industry, who often making slim margins and count drivers among their biggest costs. The fact that TuSimple's competition — which now includes Waymo, Aurora Innovation, Ike, and Kodiak Robotics — has grown since TuSimple's 2015 founding is evidence that the company identified a promising opportunity, Herbst said.

• Read more: TuSimple's CEO reveals how the startup sold UPS and Penske on its self-driving semi trucks

A founder with energy and vision

Herbst said he was impressed with the energy and vision of TuSimple co-founder and CTO Xiaodi Hou, as well as the team he and co-founder Mo Chen had assembled. Herbst also got the sense that Hou wouldn't be too stubborn. If it made sense to tweak the company's business plan, Herbst was confident Hou would do so.

"I had the confidence that he was going to be able to pivot the company in whatever way needed to be done," Herbst said.

Are you a current or former TuSimple employee? Do you have a news tip or opinion you'd like to share? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com, on Signal at 646-768-4712, or via his encrypted email address mmatousek@protonmail.com.

• Read more:
• Aurora is buying Uber's self-driving unit and Amazon grabbed Zoox as the autonomy industry consolidates. Experts say these 7 companies could be acquired next.
• As the hype around robotaxis fades, Waymo, Aurora, and TuSimple are leading the autonomous-vehicle charge into trucking and deliveries
• The founder of $1 billion self-driving truck firm TuSimple says human truckers having to spend hours on the road is a 'tarnish on the glory of humanity'
• Inside Travis Kalanick and Larry Page's multibillion-dollar war to own self-driving cars. An engineer's $120 million payout, coup attempts, and jail.

• As members of the Insider Reviews team, we try a lot of skincare products.
• We know shopping for great skincare can be overwhelming and expensive, so we made this list of the best products we've tried in 2020.
• Keep reading for a roundup of the items that have become a fixture in our routines.

When it comes to skincare shopping, it's too easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. A quick search on Sephora for moisturizers for sensitive skin yields over 200 results. At Ulta, you'll find a selection of 440 different face washes. 

With new products constantly releasing and new trends making headlines every week, it can be hard to keep up with what's what in skincare. You probably don't have the time or energy (or desire) to scroll through pages of eye creams until you find one you like. And, you definitely don't want to spend a ton of money testing them all out.

Luckily, the Insider Reviews team has tested a lot of skincare products over the course of the past year. Now we're here to share our favorite finds with you. Whether you're looking for a serum to target a specific skincare concern or just for some inspiration to upgrade your beauty routine, we've got you covered.

Below, you'll find the best skincare products we've tried in 2020.

Weleda Skin Food Light Nourishing Cream

Weleda Skin Food Light Nourishing Cream, available at Ulta, $12.49

I have very dry skin — and I live at altitude in Colorado, which means it's near impossible to keep my face from flaking. But I also have incredibly sensitive skin. I love Weleda's face cream because it's thick and incredibly hydrating, but not greasy (although it does need a minute or two to soak in fully). I use it morning and night, but it's also really nourishing if I have a random dry patch mid-day. The smell is lovely and it doesn't make my skin freak out. FWIW, Weleda also makes an "original ultra-rich" version of this cream which I love as a hydrating barrier before I head out to ski, or before bed sometimes in the winter, but for everyday use that one is quite thick and the "light" is better. —Rachael Schultz, health + fitness reviews updates editor

SeSpring Cleanse It Out Gel Cleanser

SeSpring Cleanse It Out Gel Cleanser, available at SeSpring Skin, $14.99

I've been a beauty editor for nearly a decade, and while I've been lucky to try hundreds of skincare products in that time, I've realized that my oily, breakout-prone skin responds well to two things: prescription medication to keep my zits under control, and a very basic skincare routine. Lately, that routine has involved SeSpring's Cleanse It Out Gel Cleanser. The new Korean brand is focused on simple, affordable products, and its cleanser is just that. Packed with ingredients like camellia, lotus, and lavender, this gentle gel cleanser keeps my skin squeaky clean while controlling oil — that's really it. It's simple and to-the-point, which is what I love about it. — Maria Del Russo, style & beauty guides editor

SeSpring So Rich Hydrating Gel

SeSpring So Rich Hydrating Gel, available at SeSpring Skin, $24.99

I've also been using SeSpring's lightweight So Rich Hydrating Gel as my daytime moisturizer, and my skin has never felt so moisturized and bouncy. Unlike other gels, this one doesn't have a sticky, tacky texture to it. It feels like a gel, but applies like a cream, and keeps my skin well-hydrated all day. A little goes a long way, too, and the moisturizer adds a dewy brightness to my face, which I love. Simple isn't always a bad thing, and SeSpring capitalizes on that fact. Since they just launched this year, I can't wait to see what else the brand puts out. — Maria Del Russo, style & beauty guides editor

Supergoop! Glowscreen SPF 40

Supergoop! Glowscreen SPF 40, available at Supergoop!, $17-36

During quarantine, my "makeup routine" has consisted of one single product: Supergoop! Glowscreen SPF 40. I typically use a tinted sunscreen as the final step in my skincare routine, but there's something special about Glowscreen that has made me start hoarding bottles. It has a slight pearlescent sheen, which might sound awful if you're someone like me who usually hates anything shiny in my skincare or makeup. But Glowscreen melts into your skin, giving you a glow instead of a sparkle. It also serves as a perfect base if you plan to wear other types of makeup. Hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and vitamin B5 provide major hydration. And while you'll definitely need to reapply if you're planning on spending a lot of time outside, Glowscreen still offers the A+ sun protection that Supergoop! is known for. It's sunscreen that doesn't feel like sunscreen, and that's a gift if you ask me. — Maria Del Russo, style & beauty guides editor

Glow Recipe Pineapple Vitamin C Serum

Glow Recipe Pineapple Vitamin C Serum, available at Sephora, $49

I'm not really one for kitschy skincare products (I'm a big fan of more clinical brands like Dr. Dennis Gross and Perricone MD), but I really fell for this pineapple serum from Glow Recipe this year. It's not a new product, but it was new to me when I first tried it back in April. The serum's texture is almost like an oily jelly, which sounds very weird, but feels like silk on the skin. It's the product that's gotten me closest to the enviable state of "glass skin," and it's so hydrating that sometimes I skip moisturizer altogether after using it, which is basically unheard of for anyone with skin as dry as mine. I wish it were unscented, but that's about my only complaint. — Sally Kaplan, style and beauty senior editor

Maelove Night Renewer

Maelove Night Renewer, available at Maelove, $27.95

I regularly recommend Maelove as a great one-size-fits-all option for people who want efficient skincare without frills or mark-up. I've tried nearly every Maelove product, and the Night Renewer is the company's best product in my experience. It uses 10% medical-grade AHA, a blend of soothing ingredients, and hyaluronic acid to gently resurface the skin for better texture and tone overnight — without being either harsh or drying. It took the company a few years to come up with something gentle but effective, and they nailed it here. I can tell a difference after just one night of use — my skin is softer, my pores appear smaller, and my tone is a bit more even (the latter results getting better with repeated usage). It's the product I gift people as an introduction to the brand, and one of the only skincare products I pack for a short trip. — Mara Leighton, senior reporter

Dr. Dennis Gross Peel Pads

Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta® Universal Daily Peel, available at Sephora, $88

Like Sally, I count Dr. Dennis Gross as one of my go-to skincare brands. The prices are steep, but the results are typically the best I find. I've been hearing about the cult-favorite Peel Pads from my teammates for years, and I finally tried them this year. The Peel Pad is a two-step process that exfoliates with AHA/BHA to improve texture and reduce dullness, dark spots, and the appearance of fine lines. While effects showed up for me after only a few days, I noticed better texture and tone and slightly less obvious frown lines after a month of consistent usage. Though I'd still recommend retinol for "buying time" where signs of aging are concerned, I consider these peel pads an excellent complementary tool — and a quick pick-me-up because of the fast effects. — Mara Leighton, senior reporter

Mario Badescu Facial Spray

Mario Badescu Facial Spray, available at Ulta, Nordstrom, and Sephora, $7

I used to feel about facial mists the way that "realists" feel about Valentine's Day — a shameless commercial opportunity. But, I tried the Mario Badescu rosewater and aloe facial sprays at the recommendation of my coworkers, and I'm an enthusiastic convert. I have combination skin that skews dry and can be acne-prone, and facial mists have become my key to achieving dewy, Glossier-level hydration without clogging pores or looking greasy. I spritz it onto my face and neck every few hours. Constantly reapplying moisturizer throughout the day is messy, and I prefer the lit-from-within glow I get with mists over the sheen that moisturizers can impart. (To be clear, I use moisturizers at night and in the morning). I also liked the Drunk Elephant Sweet Biome Spray and loved the YTP Adaptogen Mist with Peptides, but they're considerably more expensive. — Mara Leighton, senior reporter

Skyn Iceland Glacial Face Wash

Skyn Iceland Glacial Face Wash, available at Ulta, $30

This creamy, foaming facial cleanser is gentle and effective. I love using it daily, because it never dries out my skin and it works equally well whether I'm wearing makeup or not (the silky, creamy formula removes mascara gently, for instance). Even though the formula is mild, I can still see a tangible positive impact. After washing it off, my face feels firm, clean, and evenly hydrated. It's the perfect neutral. — Mara Leighton, senior reporter

Maelove NIA 10 Calming Serum

Maelove NIA 10 Calming Serum, available at Maelove, $27.95

After the Night Renewer, the Maelove NIA 10 Calming Serum is my favorite product the company makes. It's great for reducing redness, but I'm most impressed with its ability to calm my blemishes and diminish the apparent size of my pores. After patting it into my skin, it feels like my face tightens on command. It also helps reduce inflammation in my blemishes immediately, and they seem further along in the healing process the morning after using than they would be on their own — and that's without drying them out. — Mara Leighton, senior reporter

Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Face Primer

Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Face Primer, available at Sephora, $38

I'm extremely picky about primers because most don't mix well with powder foundation (my go-to). This new one from Ole Henriksen, though, is creamy and hydrating but absorbs quickly so you don't have to worry about a cakey mess. I also love the glowy effect you get from the shimmery, vitamin C-packed formula. It's a bit intense to wear on its own, but once you add foundation on top, your skin looks illuminated. —Ashley Phillips, style and beauty editor

Chad Richison, the CEO of payroll technology company Paycom, just paid $26.5 million — the full asking price — for a secluded Malibu beach house, Dirt reported.

The home, known as Il Pelicano, boasts a secluded location on the beach that sets it apart from the nearby homes above on the cliff, Shawn Elliott of Nest Seekers International, who co-brokered the sale with Douglas Elliman, told Business Insider. (Shirley Sherman of Douglas Elliman, who also held the listing, declined to comment.) 

"This is really the epitome of luxury," Elliott said of the home. "You can be in anywhere in this house. You can be in the South of France, the Cote d'Azur, and you wouldn't know it. This house is just a piece of heaven. I think that's why it went for full price."

Richison, who's worth $3.6 billion according to Forbes, bought the property from Radical Skincare CEO Liz Edlich and attorney Dale Kinsella, who paid $2 million for the property in 2000 and spent 12 years building the beach house, according to Dirt.

Look inside the Paycom CEO's new home.

SEE ALSO: A billionaire is auctioning off his $160 million Beverly Hills estate with no minimum price. Look inside the 13-bedroom mansion that he's been trying to sell for more than 2 years.

DONT' MISS: Billionaire Ken Griffin — owner of America's most expensive home — is selling his Miami Beach penthouses for at least 20% less than he paid for them 5 years ago

Chad Richison, the CEO of Paycom, paid $26.5 million for his new beachfront mansion in Malibu, as Dirt first reported.

Richison, who's worth $3.6 billion according to Forbes, also owns homes in Edmond, Oklahoma, and Florida's Marco Island, according to Dirt. Richison founded Paycom, which provides payroll and human resources services, in 1998 and took the company public in 2014.

Earlier this month, the CEO told Forbes that he had signed the Giving Pledge, the campaign for wealthy individuals to donate half their wealth to charity that was started by two of the world's richest men, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

A spokesperson for Richison's company did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment for this story.

The previous owners, Radical Skincare CEO Liz Edlich and attorney Dale Kinsella, paid $2 million for the property in 2000 and spent 12 years building the beach house, according to Dirt.

"To their credit, this couldn't have been an easy build and I'm sure it cost them millions of dollars to build it," Elliott told Business Insider. "... I think it was probably very difficult to part with it, but I think they moved on."

Edlich and Kinsella did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

The Il Pelicano house sits close to the water, secluded from the neighboring homes up on the cliff.

Neighbors include Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Lady Gaga, and Michael Milken, the former financier and "junk bond king" who President Trump pardoned earlier this year, Elliott told Business Insider.

The 3,800-square-foot home sits on a little over half an acre.

A significant portion of the two-story home's square footage is made up of outdoor space.

The master bedroom features a fireplace and a private wraparound terrace.

Source: Nest Seekers International

The master bathroom has a deep soaking tub.

Source: Nest Seekers International

The home's other two bedrooms both offer panoramic views of the water and the surrounding cliffs.

Source: Nest Seekers International

Many of the materials and décor in the home were sourced from Edlich's travels around the world, according to Dirt.

Source: Dirt

The chandelier in the spacious gourmet kitchen, for example, was made from a fossilized Amazonian jungle vine.

Source: Dirt

And the mantle in the living room was once part of an antique stone door from India.

Source: Dirt

The beach house was designed with both an indoor and outdoor lifestyle in mind.

Source: Nest Seekers International

There's no shortage of outdoor spaces for dining, entertaining ...

Source: Nest Seekers International

... and lounging.

Most of the living areas appear to open up to the outdoors.

Source: Nest Seekers International

According to Elliott, Il Pelicano is the "crown jewel" of the Malibu coastline.

The home boasts private access to two beaches, with steps leading down to the sand. 

• Champagne is a type of sparkling wine from a specific region in France and tends to start around $40. 
• Alternatively, you can find other great sparkling wine for less than the cost of Champagne, such as Cava and Prosecco. 
• Champagne-style wines from the United States, made in the traditional process, are also terrific options.
• There are sparkling wines to fit almost every occasion, taste, and budget.

This content is intended for readers 21+. Please drink responsibly. If you or anyone you know is dealing with alcohol abuse, get help. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) provides a free, confidential, 24/7, treatment referral, and information service.

Champagne is often the drink of choice for celebratory events, due to its high price and status as a luxury item. But there are misconceptions about what Champagne is and isn't, and you don't actually need to spend a lot in order to make a toast.

Firstly, Champagne is only one type of sparkling wine, which comes from its namesake region in France. Aged in individual bottles, many enthusiasts prize the limestone soil where the grapes are grown. Because of the region's rules and prestige, bottles labeled Champagne are generally more expensive than those from other places. 

But sparkling wine comprises more than Champagne. You can find excellent options originating from different parts of the world — including Prosecco from Italy and Cava from Spain, to name two popular sparkling wines. There are even quality Champagne-style wines from California, made in the traditional method. And, these tend to be much more accessible and affordable than Champagne. (Don't be surprised to find bottles designed to mislead you by calling themselves Champagne or Champagne-like, when they actually aren't from Champagne, France.)

While sparkling wine is often thought of as golden in color, there are some that are red, like Lambrusco, or pink, like rosé. We focused on sparkling wines made from grapes, so you won't see a sparkling sake, for example.

For our guide, we recommend a variety of options at various prices, based on consultations with wine experts and our research. Because you can ask several experts for their suggestions and see no overlap — which is what we did — we took into account that taste is very subjective, and that's why there is no single winner. 

The market is also tricky: You can find certain brands everywhere, while smaller producers tend to distribute in limited areas. That doesn't mean one is better than the other, but we tried to factor in availability with our choices.

With the holiday season upon us, many of these options may be sold out or low on stock — call your local wine shop for availability.

Updated on 12/30/2020. We curated our list further for easier navigation. We originally expanded this guide with additional options, consultation with wine experts, and extensive information on what to look for when purchasing. 

Cheat sheet to picking a bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine

Short on time? If you need a bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine now, here are our recommendations if you can't explore our entire guide.

• The best Champagne for showing off
  When the budget doesn't matter: Krug Grand Cuvée ($200), Salon Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs Brut 2004 ($450), Bollinger Brut Special Cuvée ($60)
• The best non-Champagne sparkling wine
  Great for everyday drinking or pairing with food: Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs 2017 ($36), Domaine Franck Besson Rosé Granit ($24), Lucien Albrecht Crémant d'Alsace Brut ($25), Claude Branger "L'éClipse" Méthode Traditionnelle ($19)
• The best rosé sparkling wine for date night
  For those very special occasions: Raventós i Blanc de Nit Rose 2017 ($22 to $27), Graham Beck NV Brut Rosé ($19), Ruinart NV Brut Rosé ($90)
• The best budget sparkling wine
  Ideal for toasting or celebrating, when you need to maximize your budget while still drinking something tasty: Segura Viudas ($10), Loredan Gasparini NV Brut Asolo Prosecco Superiore ($15), Mas Fi Cava Brut Rosé ($12 to $14)
• The best for christening a ship
  Anything under $5, as you won't be drinking it.

The best Champagne

The best Champagnes under $65

The selection of Champagne at your grocery store will mostly consist of big-name makers, with prices starting around $40. To be called Champagne, the wine must be made in a specific region of France. While perhaps not priced for most people's weekly wine budget, you can still find many champagnes that come out to around $10 a glass. 

"We try to kind of really combat this stigma of Champagne being celebratory and kind of pretentious," said Ariel Arce, owner of Air's Champagne Parlor in New York City.

Most of the choices at these prices will be non-vintage, meaning winemakers may mix different varietals or grapes to ensure their signature wines taste the same, year after year. These are perfect for drinking right off the shelf for an impromptu celebration. 

What our experts particularly like

The specialists we consulted recommend Agrapart & Fils Les 7 Crus Brut NV, Chartogne-Taillet Sainte Anne Brut, Cheurlin Brut Spéciale, and Marie Courtin Résonance Extra-Brut. "There's almost nothing better than grower's Champagne," Chevonne Ball, owner of wine-focused travel company Dirty Radish, said about the Chartogne-Taillet. "Crisp and elegant, this true Champagne is worth the price."

"For those seeking the crème de la crème of the sparkling world, I always have some grower Champagnes in stock, like Laherte Frères," said Laura Marchetti, owner of Riverview Wines & Spirits. 

The wines

• Agrapart & Fils Les 7 Crus Brut NV ($55): A non-vintage Champagne that's made from 90% chardonnay and 10% pinot noir grapes. Notes: brioche, yeast.
• Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve NV ($67): Forty percent of this wine is from the reserve selection, which are wines aged an average of 10 years. Charles Heidsieck was one of the first Champagnes imported to the US in the 19th Century. Notes: brioche, apple.
• Chartogne-Taillet Sainte Anne Brut ($49): Made from 50% chardonnay and the rest a mix of black grapes, mainly pinot noir, this non-vintage Champagne is a split of the previous year's wine and wines that were aged two to five years. Notes: apple, citrus.
• Cheurlin Brut Spéciale ($40) This non-vintage Champagne, 70% chardonnay and 30% pinot noir, is from a historic house and is imported to the US by former Detroit Piston Isaiah Thomas. Notes: bread, citrus.
• Henriot Brut Souverain NV ($45): With 30% of the Brut Souverain coming from reserve wines and an almost equal amount of chardonnay and pinot noir grapes, this Champagne is very consistent from bottle to bottle. Notes: apple, mineral.
• Laherte Frères Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature NV ($50 to $60): This chardonnay grape Champagne is made from 50% reserve wines from previous years. Notes: mineral, lemon.
• Marie Courtin Résonance Extra-Brut ($65): This wine is made from pinot noir grapes. Owner Dominique Moreau makes zero-dosage Champagne, aged in the bottle for about two years. Notes: tart, yeasty.
• Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut ($45): This Champagne, made with pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay grapes, should be easy to find in practically any grocery or liquor store. Notes: citrus, apple.

The best Champagnes under $150

As you go closer to the over-$100 price point, you'll start seeing more vintage wines. The grapes for vintages all come from the same year, and the wines are aged longer than non-vintages. Leaving a bottle to sit for three years takes up space, which costs money. There are also constraints on how much is grown in Champagne, France. 

"It's a small area of land, so they can only produce so much," said Crystal Hinds, who owns Effervescence, a sparkling wine lounge in New Orleans. "You're paying for the taste of that terroir, which is usually very limestone."

At under $150, you'll also see some cuvées, which is a term winemakers use to designate their very special blends. But there's no real regulation of the term, so its appearance on a label doesn't ensure quality. 

The wines

• Bollinger Brut Special Cuvée ($60): A popular Champagne made of over 60% pinot noir grapes, Bollinger's Special Cuvée shouldn't be too hard to find. Notes: apple, toast.
• Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Vintage Brut 2012 ($80 to $100): This chardonnay grape Champagne is a vintage from 2012 that's definitely expensive but not too over-the-top. Notes: citrus, mineral.
• Egly-Ouriet Brut Tradition Grand Cru ($80 to $90): Egly-Ouriet is a grower-producer in Champagne, and its Brut is a mix of 75% pinot noir and 25% chardonnay. Notes: lemon, butter.
• Henri Goutorbe Special Club Brut Champagne 2006 ($75 to $85): A wine labeled "Special Club" must earn the approval of the Club Trésors de Champagne's members. Henri Goutorbe is a grower-producer, and this 2006 wine meets the designation. Notes: biscuit, lemon.
• Pierre Péters Cuvée de Reserve Blanc de Blancs Brut ($55): Another grower-producer, Pierre Péters makes a chardonnay blanc de blancs from 40% reserve wine. Notes: pear, mineral.

The best Champagnes over $150

For most people, drinking a glass of Champagne from a bottle that costs upwards of $150 is a once-in-a-lifetime -- if ever -- event. As prices climb, there will be more vintages. Prized wines are made with more care and are aged longer, so they come in smaller batches. Rarity increases the price. 

Producers also make bottles that are meant to be stored before they're savored. That's not true of every expensive Champagne, but if you're spending a lot, you'll want to ensure you're drinking it at the best time. To see just how out-of-control prices can get, check out some of the world's most expensive Champagnes. 

The wines

• Dom Perignon Brut 2005 ($210): This vintage from Moët & Chandon is ready to drink now but can also be stored for a few years. Notes: toast, apples.
• Krug Grand Cuvée ($200): Unlike many high-priced Champagnes, this Krug is a non-vintage. It's made by blending over 120 individual wines. Notes: lemon, brioche.
• Laurent-Perrier NV Grand Siècle Grande Cuvée Brut No. 24 ($150): A non-vintage, this Champagne is made from chardonnay and pinot noir grapes, a blend of wines from the 2007, 2006, and 2004 vintages. Notes: toast, honey.
• Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Extra Brut 2010 ($189): The wine, made up of 71% pinot noir and 29% chardonnay grapes, is a good choice for aging. Notes: almond, citrus.
• Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 2008 ($258): You can either drink or save this cuvée, which is made of pinot noir and chardonnay grapes. It's named for the English Prime Minister, who was a fan. Notes: brioche, citrus.
• Salon Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs Brut 2004 ($600): This prestige cuvée, made from chardonnay grapes, is a good choice for aging, especially given the price. Notes: mineral, citrus.
• Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2007 ($129 to $170): While you can drink Taittinger's all-chardonnay Champagne now, you can also age it a bit. Notes: citrus, nuts.

The best Prosecco

The best Prosecco under $20

Most Prosecco comes from Italy and is aged in tanks, unlike Champagne, which ages in bottles. "Prosecco is usually super easy to drink," Hinds said. "It's not super complex — doesn't have a lot of different flavors that linger." 

It's very easy to find a nice bottle of Prosecco for under $20, which makes it attractive for a lot of people. "If I'm being honest, people are buying for cost," said Ball of Dirty Radish. "But I would say that people who like Prosecco probably really like a little bit softer of a bubble," she added. 

What our experts particularly like

Ball is a fan of Loredan Gasparini's Prosecco. "Inexpensive and available at most grocery stores, this is one of my favorite brunch sparkling wines," she said. "Delicious on its own or great as a mimosa. I suggest fresh-squeezed citrus!" 

The wines

• Acinum Extra Dry Prosecco ($16): From the Veneto region of Italy, this Prosecco is made from 100% glera grapes. Notes: pear, apple.
• Adriano Adami Garbel Brut Prosecco: ($15): This Prosecco from Treviso in Northern Italy is made with glera grapes. Notes: melon, apple.
• Bisol Jeio Prosecco Superiore ($17): From the Valdobbiadene area of Northern Italy, the Bisol family makes this Prosecco from glera grapes. Notes: apple, citrus.
• La Marca Prosecco ($12 to $15): Easy to spot with its pale-blue label, this is a Prosecco you can find most anywhere. Notes: apple, lemon.
• Loredan Gasparini NV Brut Asolo Prosecco Superiore ($15): Made with all glera grapes, this Prosecco is from Veneto, Italy. Notes: apple, citrus.
• Villa Sandi Prosecco il Fresco Brut ($12): Villa Sandi's Prosecco comes from the Treviso region in Italy and is made from mostly glera grapes, along with some chardonnay and pinot blanc. Notes: apple, citrus.

The best Prosecco over $20

A few years ago, the Prosecco industry was having issues with counterfeit sparkling wine. To try and combat the problem, it created two classifications, Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG). Both require following strict regulations, but DOCG is more stringent. Not all Prosecco — even some nice ones — will have these marks, but they can help guide your selection-making if you're feeling a little lost and want a marker of quality. Keep in mind that taste is subjective and it doesn't guarantee it will be to your liking, though. 

The wines

• Bisol Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Crede DOCG Brut 2018 ($32):  Made from 85% glera grapes, as well as pinot bianco and verdiso, this Prosecco is from Valdobbiadene in Italy. Notes: pear, apple.
• Cà dei Zago Prosecco Col Fondo 2018 ($25): Mostly made with glera, this Prosecco from the Valdobbiadene also has some verdiso, perera, and bianchetta grapes. Notes: lemon, apple.
• Col Vetoraz Valdobbiadene Cartizze Superiore 2018 ($42): The Cartizze on this label refers to a specific hilly region, known for its quality glera grapes. Notes: peach, floral.
• Nino Franco Rustico Prosecco Superiore ($20): You can sometimes find this 100% glera Prosecco for under $20, making it an even better value. Notes: apple, lemon.
• Rebuli Prosecco Cartizze ($40): From the Cartizze area, like the Col Vetoraz, this Prosecco is made completely from glera grapes. Notes: floral, apple.

The best Cava

The best Cava under $20

Penedès, a region of Catalonia, Spain, is known for its sparkling wine called Cava. Compared to Prosecco, Cava is made more similarly to Champagne — aged in bottles. The grapes are very different, though, with many wines being made from a mix of macabeo, parellada, and xarel·lo grapes. There's a lot of variety when it comes to Cava, including vintages and rosés.  

Like Prosecco, it is much more affordable than Champagne. But just because you can pick up a bottle for $10, it doesn't mean you need to hold your nose and drink. While inexpensive Cavas do make great choices for mimosas or bellinis, you can also enjoy them in their own right. 

What our experts particularly like

"[The Naveran Dama Brut] has one of the most delicate mousses and mouthfeel," Ball said. "The bubbles fill your palate with delicious aromas." Marchetti of Riverview Wines & Spirits recommends the line of Azimut wines from Cellers de Can Suriol "for a classic, traditional palate at an affordable price."

The wines

• Anna de Codorníu Blanc de Blancs Brut Reserva Cava ($15): Mainly chardonnay, along with some parellada, xarel·lo, and macabeo grapes, this Cava is aged at least 15 months. Notes: peach, citrus.
• Cellers de Can Suriol Azimut Brut Nature Cava ($18): A Cava from Penedès, this wine is made with macabeo, parellada, and xarel·lo grapes. Notes: white fruit, pear.
• Jaume Serra Cristalino Brut Cava ($8 to $9): Macabeo, parellada, and xarel·lo grapes make up this Cava from Penedès, in Spain. Notes: apple, toast.
• Juvé y Camps Reserva de la Familia Brut ($18): Aged for 36 months, this Brut wine from the Penedès region is made from 55% xarel·lo grapes, with some macabeo and parellada grapes as well. Notes: apple, citrus.
• Naveran Dama Brut Cava ($17 to $18): This Cava from Penedès has a somewhat unique mix of 85% chardonnay and 15% parellada grapes. Notes: apple, yeast.
• Segura Viudas ($10): From Penedès, this Cava is made with macabeo, parellada, and xarel·lo and is widely distributed in the US. Notes: apple, citrus.

The best Cava over $20

When is a Cava not a Cava? When the winemaker doesn't want it to be called that. Some producers wanted to designate what they see as their wines' quality, so they've begun labeling their bottles with Corpinnat instead of Cava. Raventós i Blanc, meanwhile, uses its own designation for its sparkling wines, Conca del Riu Anoia. 

This doesn't mean everything still labeled Cava is bad. Corpinnat producers make up only a small percentage of winemakers in the region, so there's still plenty of Cava to go around. 

The wines

• Gramona III Lustros Brut Nature 2012 ($35 to $50): A blend of xarel·lo and macabeo grapes, this wine is aged for 70 months and comes from the Penedès region. Notes: apple, pastry.
• Raventós i Blanc de la Finca Brut 2016 ($37): Located in the Penedès region, Raventós i Blanc makes this sparkling wine from macabeo, xarel·lo, and parellada grapes. Notes: apple, citrus.
• Recaredo Brut Nature Intens Rosat Cava 2014 ($37): This Cava is made from monastrell and garnatxa grapes in the Penedès region of Spain. Notes: red fruit, toast.
• Segura Viudas Reserva Heredad Cava Brut ($20): This Brut from Segura Viudas is made from macabeo and parellada grapes and aged for 30 months. Notes: floral, lemon.

The best sparkling wine

While all of the wines mentioned in this guide are, technically, sparkling wines, the ones mentioned here focus on wines mostly from the United States. 

The best sparkling wine under $25

There are sparkling winemakers all across the United States, all using different methods and grape varieties with unique results. Not only can you find terrific options, stateside products are often budget-friendly too.

"Sparkling wines coming out of Oregon or California are always going to be vastly different than any of the others, because we're so young and so new," said Ball of Dirty Radish. 

"There's very cool stuff happening all around the country in sparkling wine," Arce said. The problem is, it can be difficult to find Michigan's Mawby wines or sparkling wines from New York's Finger Lakes outside of certain areas. You might have a local winery making a sparkling wine that you fall in love with, so they're worth exploring in addition to some of the more widely distributed brands.

Besides US wineries, there are nice options from other winemaking regions such as Australia and New Zealand. For a bit of prestige, Mumm Napa is an affordable sparkling wine made in the traditional style of its parent company, G.H. Mumm of France.

What our experts particularly like

The recommendations for Gruet Sauvage Blanc de Blancs and McBride Sisters Black Girl Magic Sparkling Brut come from our panel. Sunshine Foss, who owns Happy Cork in Brooklyn, New York, says the McBride Sisters' wine has been popular in her shop because of the name, "but it's also a really, really good sparkling Brut."

The wines

• Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut Columbia Valley NV ($12 to $14): A blend of chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier grapes, this sparkling wine comes from Washington State. Notes: lemon, mineral. 
• Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Blancs Carneros ($20): This California sparkling wine is 100% chardonnay. Notes: apple, lemon. 
• Gruet Sauvage Blanc de Blancs ($18 to $21): Made only from chardonnay grapes, Gruet's Sauvage is from New Mexico. Notes: lemon, apple. 
• McBride Sisters Black Girl Magic Sparkling Brut ($20 to $25): This Brut is made from 90% chardonnay and 10% pinot gris grapes, grown in New Zealand. Notes: lemon, floral.
• Mumm Napa Brut Prestige ($16 to $18): Chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot gris, and pinot meunier grapes make up this Brut wine from California. Notes: apples, bread.

The best sparkling wine over $25

It's not just US winemakers that have vineyards in California. Some big Champagne houses, like Taittinger Champagne and Louis Roederer, have land in the state. That's why wines from Roederer Estate, for example, are lower than a typical Champagne. Larger producers will often stick to more traditional methods and grapes, while smaller producers might experiment more. Caraccioli Cellars, for example, is a smaller, family-run vineyard in California.

"The big differences between a big house and a small house (a big producer and a small producer) is how they're handling the wine," Ball said. Smaller operations often lack machinery, so they hand turn or hand riddle the bottles. That's one reason it took some US winemakers a while to get into sparkling wine, she said: "It takes a lot of work."

You can find sparkling wines from the United States that cost over $100, for bottles producers have taken extra time and attention with or that come from a particular vintage. There are many quality wines for closer to $50, though. 

What our experts particularly like

"Corollary Wines is the husband and wife duo Dan and Jeanne's passion project," Ball said. The Cuvée One is a mix of grapes from five Oregon vineyards, grown in different soils and climates, and that interest in the varying terroirs of the state comes through in the wine, she said. 

The wines

• Corollary Wines Cuvée One ($38): An Oregon wine, it's made with 50% pinot noir, 32% chardonnay, and 18% pinot blanc grapes. Notes: lemon, bread. 
• Iron Horse Classic Vintage Brut 2013 ($54): From California's Russian River Valley area, this Brut is made from pinot noir and chardonnay, aged for four years. Notes: apple, floral.
• J Vineyards Cuvée 20 Brut ($30): Almost half chardonnay grapes, plus pinot noir and some pinot meunier, make up this California sparkling wine. Notes: peach, green apple.
• Roederer Estate L'Ermitage 2013 ($50 to 55): Roederer Estate is the California winery from Champagne maker Louis Roederer; this sparkling wine is made from chardonnay and pinot noir grapes. Notes: apple, toast.
• Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs 2017 ($36): This blanc de blancs comes from California and is made from 100% chardonnay. Notes: citrus, pastry.

The best sparkling wine in a can

Sometimes you want a glass of bubbles without the glass part, and that's where sparkling wine cans come in. Over the past several years, more and more winemakers have started making more portable versions of their products. You won't find Champagne in a can, but you can still get some great bubbles for on-the-go — or at home. 

The wines

• Dear Mom Sparkletown ($17 for four): A sparkling pinot gris from Oregon. Notes: apricot, peach.
• Nomadica Sparkling Pinot Noir Rosé ($20 to $25 for four): Pinot noir grapes make up this sparkling wine from California. Notes: berries, pomegranate. 
• Nomikai Fizzy Rosé  ($48 for 12): Nomikai's California sparkling rosé is made from red and white grapes. Notes: citrus, red fruit.
• Underwood Rosé Bubbles ($6): Mostly pinot noir with some chardonnay and pinot gris grapes, this wine from Oregon is available in bottle and can form. Notes: strawberry, cherry.

The best Crémant

Crémants are sparkling wines from eight regions in France — including Loire, Alsace, and Burgundy — and one in Luxembourg. They're made in a similar style as Champagne but are just a fraction of the cost. Some are made with grapes you won't find in Champagne. There's not an easy way to describe the taste, because there's a lot of variety. 

The prices of many of these sparkling wines are much, much lower than Champagne. "I feel like you can find great value," Ball said. 

The wines

• Domaine de Montbourgeau Crémant du Jura Brut ($25 to $20): This is a chardonnay Crémant from the Jura region of France. Notes: apple, citrus.
• Domaine J. Laurens Crémant de Limoux Brut Rosé ($15 to $20): A rosé, this Crémant is a blend of chardonnay, chenin blanc, and pinot noir grapes. Notes: cherry, strawberry.
• Lucien Albrecht Crémant d'Alsace Brut ($25): From Alsace, France, this Crémant contains pinot auxerrois, pinot blanc, and chardonnay grapes. Notes: pear, floral. 
• Faire La Fête Crémant de Limoux ($22): Though many Crémants from Limoux contain mauzac grapes, this wine is a blend of mostly chardonnay, plus chenin blanc and pinot noir. Notes: green apple, lemon.
• Pierre Sparr Crémant d'Alsace Brut Reserve ($24): Eighty percent pinot blanc and 20% pinot auxerrois, this Crémant comes from the Alsace region. Notes: apple, citrus.

The best sparkling rosé

The best sparkling rosé under $20

There are several ways to make rosé sparkling, and it's going to taste different depending on many factors. Despite its pretty color, rosé doesn't have to be sweet. As with Champagne, you'll find bottles labeled Brut to be on the drier side. 

"I think a lot of people think that rosé is maybe something that's going to be sweeter or more fruit-forward, which that category, again, has so many variations within it," said Arce of Air's Champagne Parlor. 

For under $20, you won't find pink-hued Champagne, but there are lots of Cavas and other sparkling rosés from around the world (including other parts of France) at that price. 

What our experts particularly like

The experts we spoke to mentioned Landmass Papi Sparkling Rosé, Lve Rosé by John Legend, and Rivarose Brut Rosé as some of their go-to rosés. "It's really delicate," said Effervescence's Hinds of the Rivarose. "It's not overly sparkling." She also said the modern-looking bottle makes it perfect for gifting. 

The wines

• Campo Viejo Cava Gran Brut Rosé ($11): Made from 100% trepat grapes, the rosé was aged in the bottle for nine months. Notes: strawberry, citrus.
• Graham Beck NV Brut Rosé ($19): This rosé from South African winery Graham Beck, a mix of pinot noir and chardonnay, undergoes its second fermentation in the bottle. Notes: raspberry, apple.
• Landmass Papi Sparkling Rosé ($15): From the Willamette Valley in Oregon, this sparkling rosé is made from tempranillo grapes. Notes: apple, strawberry.
• Lve Rosé by John Legend ($17): John Legend's Lve rosé is made in the Charmat Method, like Prosecco, from mostly unspecified white grapes, along with some pinot noir and grenache grapes. Notes: strawberry, mineral.
• Mas Fi Cava Brut Rosé ($12 to $14): This Spanish Cava is made from trepat grapes and is aged for 11 months in the bottle. Notes: cherry, strawberry.
• Raventós i Blanc de Nit Rose 2017 ($22 to $27): A sparkling wine from the Penedès region of Spain, it's made from xarel·lo, macabeo, and parellada, as well as monastrell, which gives the wine its color. Notes: floral, strawberry.
• Rivarose Brut Rosé ($12 to $15): A rosé from the Provence region of France, Rivarose's sparkling wine is a blend of syrah and grenache grapes. Notes: strawberry, pear.
• Segura Viudas Cava Brut Rosé ($10): Segura Viudas' affordable and ubiquitous Cava was made from mostly trepat grapes. Notes: strawberry, raspberry.

The best sparkling rosé under $50

Closer to $50, you can start to find rosé Champagne, but the majority of sparkling wines under that price are from other regions. There are many rosé Crémants from France that are around $25, but you can also get bottles from Italy, the US, and elsewhere for a similar price. 

What our experts particularly like

"I would definitely hold [the Domaine Franck Besson Rosé Granit] up against any of the other sort of higher-end wines that you would find out of Champagne," said Ball of Dirty Radish. Hinds recommends the Murgo Nerello Mascalese. "You can smell the smoke on the nose of that wine," she said. "It's a beautiful light pink and it's just so delicate and delicious." 

The wines

• Domaine Franck Besson Rosé Granit ($24): Franck Besson is a unique producer in Beaujolais, France, and this rosé is 100% gamay grapes. Notes: strawberry, cherry.
• Louis Bouillot Perle d'Aurore Crémant de Bourgogne Brut Rosé ($20 to $22): Pinot noir, chardonnay, and gamay grapes are used to make this wine, which is aged for 12 months. Notes: strawberry, toast.
• Murgo Nerello Mascalese ($27): This wine is from Mt. Etna in Italy, made with nerello mascalese grapes. Notes: berry, smoke. 
• Parigot & Richard Crémant de Bourgogne Brut Rosé ($23): Aged for three years, Parigot & Richard's rosé is made from only pinot noir grapes. Notes: raspberry, mineral.
• Scharffenberger NV Brut Rosé ($26): From California, Scharffenberger's rosé is nearly evenly split between chardonnay and pinot noir grapes, aged for two years in the bottle. Notes: raspberry, citrus.
• Schramsberg Brut Rosé ($42.50): Made in California with mostly pinot noir and some chardonnay grapes, this rosé is aged in the bottle for about two years. Note: strawberry, bread.

The best sparkling rosé over $50

Just like other Champagnes, you can find bottles of rosé that cost hundreds of dollars, including Krug and Dom Perignon. Vintages and some cuvées will cost more, because winemakers take more care with them, and some of them are aged for longer. For under $100, there are lots of delicious choices from Champagne, as well as many sparkling rosés from elsewhere. 

The wines

• Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé ($80): Chardonnay, pinot meunier, and pinot noir grapes make up this rosé from Champagne. Notes: strawberry, orange.
• Henriot Brut Rosé ($69 to $75): Henriot's rosé Champagne is aged for three years and is made from pinot noir, chardonnay, and pinot meunier grapes. Notes: raspberry, mineral.
• Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé ($80 to $90): A rosé Champagne, this wine is made of 100% pinot noir grapes and aged for five years. Notes: raspberry, brioche.
• Ruinart NV Brut Rosé ($90): Ruinart's rosé is 55% pinot noir and 45% chardonnay and comes from the Champagne region. Notes: raspberry, spice.
• Soter 2014 Mineral Springs Brut Rosé Sparkling ($76): Mainly pinot noir with some chardonnay grapes, Soter's Oregon rosé is aged for five years in the bottle. Notes: strawberry, almond.

The best pét-nat

Pétillant-naturel (pét-nat) wines are bottled while still undergoing their first fermentation. Some winemakers leave the yeast in the bottle, so the final product will be cloudy, with sediment on the bottom. "Pét-nats have become super-big right now, because it's on the sparkling side but it's done in such a natural way," said Sunshine Foss of Happy Cork. 

The results tend to be less predictable than something like a cuveé, which is reliably blended from known reserves. "A lot of wine geeks love that funky taste, like strawberry cola," said Crystal Hinds. "Some taste like sour beers." 

What our experts particularly like

Hinds recommends both the Kobal Wines rosé and the Les Tètes Nat Igny Rusé ($29): "It's just so beautiful and delicate," she said of the Les Tètes' wine. "You can hardly tell that it's a pét-nat." 

"Being Italian I'll always have a few Prosecco Col Fondo — the Italian version of pét-nat," said Marchetti of Riverside Wine & Spirits. "Those are old-school, unfiltered Prosecco." She suggests offerings from Carolina Gatti and the Col Tamarie, as well as Rodica's sparkling malvasia from Slovenia.

The wines

• Ancarani Indigeno Pétillant Naturel 2019 ($22): This pét-nat comes from Italy and is made from trebbiano grapes. Notes: citrus, bread.
• Bichi Pet Mex Pétillant Naturel Rosé ($37): Bichi is a winery in Mexico that doesn't like to reveal what type of grape goes into this pét-nat. Notes: strawberry, citrus.
• Cambridge Road Naturalist Pétillant Naturel ($25): A New Zealand wine, this pét-nat has riesling, pinot gris, chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier grapes. Notes: pear, citrus.
• Carolina Gatti Ratatuja ($22): An orange wine from Veneto, Italy, it's a blend of glera, pinot bianco, chardonnay, tocai, and verduzzo grapes. Notes: peach, apricot.
• Cruse Wine Valdiguié Pétillant Naturel ($41 to $46): Made from valdiguié grapes, this pét-nat hails from lauded California winemaker Michael Cruse. Notes: strawberry, tart. 
• Julien Braud La Bulle de l'Ouest Pétillant Brut ($23): Low in alcohol (8%), this French wine is made with 100% melon de Bourgogne grapes. Notes: floral, citrus. 
• Kobal Wines Bajta Blaufränkisch Rosé ($25): This wine from Slovenia is made from blaufränkisch grapes. Notes: strawberry, yeast.
• Les Tètes Les Parcelles Tète Nat Igny Rusé ($29): From France's Loire Valley, this wine is made from chenin blanc grapes. Notes: floral, cotton candy. 
• Moutard Pet Mout Pétillant Naturel Chardonnay ($12 to $19): Moutard makes wines from both Champagne and Burgundy in France, including this chardonnay pét-nat. Notes: citrus, mineral.
• Onward Wines Pétillant-Naturel Rosé ($30): This pinot noir pét-nat is from California. Notes: strawberry, citrus.
• Rodica Bela Sparkling Malvasia Brut ($20 to $25): From Slovenia's Istrian Peninsula, this pét-nat is 100% malvasia grapes. Notes: white fruit, floral.
• Vigna San Lorenzo Col Tamarie Prosecco ($25 to $29): Six varieties of grape, including glera, boschera, and verdiso, go into this wine from Veneto, Italy. Notes: citrus, bread.
• William Chris Péttilant Naturel Rosé ($25): Texas winery William Chris makes this wine from sangiovese, mourvèdre, cinsault, and trebbiano grapes. Notes: citrus, melon.

What is Champagne and sparkling wine?

With a few exceptions, Champagne is sparkling wine that comes from Champagne, France. The Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC) oversees production and enforces the strict regulations that govern virtually every aspect of the process.

"When you're paying for Champagne, you're paying for some of the techniques that are used," said Crystal Hinds, owner of Effervescence. "They can only pick at a certain time. They can only pick so much per hectare."

If you pick up a bottle, and it has the word "Champagne" on it, the wine is almost certainly from this region and was made in accordance with the rules. "California Champagne" is quite different and is essentially the product of a loophole.  

Cava, Prosecco, and other sparkling wines are made from a variety of methods, with different grapes, and in different regions and countries. Consider this glossary a crash course in Champagne 101.  

Assemblage: The process of blending wines from different vineyards, grapes, and years. You might see the assemblage listed as a percentage of each type of grape. 

Blanc de Blancs: It means "white of whites," so these wines are made from all-white grapes; in the Champagne region, this usually means 100% chardonnay. 

Blanc de Noirs: Noir is French for black, and only red grapes go into these wines, but the resulting wine is still a pale golden color, because it uses the juice and not the skin, which is where the reddish color comes from. 

Brut: In the traditional method, Champagne goes through two fermentations. After the second, winemakers add sugar, which is known as "dosage." Drier, less sweet sparkling wines will have the word "brut" on the label. Here's the scale, from driest to sweetest:

1. Brut Nature 2. Extra brut 3. Brut 4. Extra dry or extra sec 5. Dry or sec 6. Demi-sec 7. Doux 

Brut Nature: The driest of the dry, brut nature has no added sugar. It may contain some leftover sugar, up to three grams per liter. 

Cava: Cava is sparkling wine from Spain. However, not all sparkling wine from the country is labeled as such. Compared to Prosecco, Cava is more similar to Champagne. Winemakers mainly use three varieties of white grapes to make Cava: macabeo, parellada, and xarel·lo. 

Champagne, France: This region is in the northeast of the country, about 90 miles from Paris.  

Cru: Traditionally, Champagne houses purchased their grapes from growers. There are 319 crus, which are also known as villages or vineyards, in the region. There are some grower-producers that use their own grapes, and so you won't find these designations on some very good bottles of wine. 

Crémant: Crémants are sparkling wines from France but made outside of the Champagne region. "Crémant is a really great way to go if you're looking for a good glass of sparkling wine, but without the cost of the Champagne tag, if you will," said Chevonne Ball of Dirty Radish.

Cuveé: In Champagne-making, the first pressing is considered the best, and it's known as the cuvée. Subsequent pressings are the taille. Some winemakers also call their special blends cuvées, but there's no guarantee that something labeled with that word will be spectacular.   

Disgorgement: During riddling, the yeast sediment collects in the neck of the bottle. To get it out, winemakers submerge the neck into a freezing solution. Then they turn the bottles right-side-up, take off the cap, and the carbon dioxide inside pushes the frozen chunk of sediment out. 

Fermentation: For the second fermentation -- which gives the wine its bubbles -- producers add the liqueur de tirage, a solution of sugar and yeast. Champagne and Cava undergo this second fermentation in individual bottles. For Prosecco, it happens in a tank, so it's a much less labor-intensive process. 

Grapes: Some types of sparkling wine use a limited amount of grape varieties. Champagne is most often made from chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier grapes. Cava are mainly macabeo, parellada, and xarel·lo grapes. Glera grapes are typically used for Prosecco. 

Lees: After the second fermentation — once the yeast has consumed all the sugar and died — the wine isn't quite ready. Champagne stays in the bottle for at least 15 months before it's released. Non-vintage cuvées stay in the bottle with the lees, or dead yeast deposits, for at least 12 months. Vintage cuvées must rest on the lees for three years, minimum. 

Liqueur de tirage: The mix of sugar, yeast, and sometimes a bit of wine that producers add to non-sparkling base wine to start the second fermentation. The yeast consumes the sugar, creating carbon dioxide and alcohol.   

Méthode Traditionnelle: The traditional method of making Champagne, where the second fermentation takes place inside an individual bottle. Many sparkling wines outside of Champagne are made in this way.       

Non-Vintage: The vast majority of Champagne is non-vintage. It's not about how long the wine was aged. Rather, it means that the wine is a blend of different vintages or types of grapes, or it comes from grapes in different vineyards. Using a mix allows winemakers to create a more consistent wine. 

Prosecco: Prosecco is made in Northeast Italy, primarily using glera grapes. Unlike Champagne, Prosecco is made with the Charmat Method. Instead of the second fermentation taking place in individual bottles, it happens in a tank, in larger batches. The method is faster and less expensive, so the resulting wine costs less than Champagne. 

Pét-nat: Short for pétillant naturel, this style of sparkling wine has grown in popularity over the past several years. Non-sparkling wine undergoes a single fermentation when yeast transforms sugar into alcohol. The CO2 is released, so the wine is still instead of bubbly. With pét-nats, winemakers bottle up the wine during this first fermentation, retaining some of the CO2. 

Riddling: To get the yeast sediment into the neck of the bottle, winemakers slowly tip the bottle so the bottom is up. It can take a week or months, depending on the quality (and eventual price) of the wine.  

Rosé: There are a few ways to make sparkling rosé or rosé champagne. Winemakers may add still (unsparkling) red wine to give some color or they may "bleed" juice from tanks of macerating grapes that will be used for red wine. Even when it's described with words like fruity, rosé can still be dry. 

Sec: On the scale from driest to sweetest, Sec is on the sweeter side, while brut has less sugar.

Sparkling wine: Champagne, Cava, and Prosecco are all sparkling wines. They all have bubbles. You can find sparkling wines from practically anywhere. They may be made with different methods and different grapes, which is why they are priced and taste differently. 

Terroir: When people discuss terroir, they mean the climate, soil, grape varieties, landscape, and other factors that make wines distinct. 

Vintage: Vintage wines come from grapes harvested in a single year. That year will be on the label, so it's easy to tell vintages and non-vintages apart. These are the wines people buy and store in cellars. Non-vintages are meant to be drunk right off the shelf.

Advice from our experts

To help us narrow down some selections of Champagne and sparkling wines, we spoke with five experts and got advice and recommendations for choosing what to drink. 

• Drink what you like:"Prior to even this new wave of making wine more accessible, people thought, 'Okay, well you have to have this vocabulary to be able to speak to the wine and understand the wine.' For me it's just really about how it tastes and what I like to drink," said Sunshine Foss, owner of Happy Cork in Brooklyn, New York. 
• Sometimes, smaller is better:"I don't think like you have to go to that $150 splurge point to find a good bottle of Champagne," said Ariel Arce, who's been called the "Champagne Empress of Greenwich Village" by the New York Times. For $65 to $80, she said you can get a nice bottle from a smaller producer, who both grows the grapes and makes the wine. She owns Air's Champagne Parlor in New York City and recently published "Better with Bubbles: An Effervescent Education in Champagnes & Sparkling Wines."
• Taste a lot:"There's not really a way to learn about wine other than to try it and to taste it," said Chevonne Ball, who owns Dirty Radish, a travel company that specializes in wine tours. 
• Look outside of Champagne, and France:"That's one of the fun things that we do, is look for these different sparkling wines from different countries and give it a try," said Crystal Hinds, who owns Effervescence, a sparkling wine lounge in New Orleans, Louisiana. 
• Try to be a little extroverted:"If visiting a boutique wine shop, I'd ask what the staff is drinking right now," said Laura Marchetti, owner of Riverview Wine & Spirits in Jersey City, New Jersey. "Ask what's new and exciting and what wines their go-to wines are. Once you get the staff pumped up, it's often hard to get them to stop working for you." She knows this can be intimidating for some, but she adds that she's an introvert as well.

How to choose what Champagne or sparkling wine to buy

To gather our lists of recommendations, we consulted our panel of experts and looked at expert lists of best Champagnes, sparkling wines, Cavas, Proseccos, Crémants, and more from Wine Enthusiast Magazine, Food and Wine, Decanter, Wine Folly, The New York Times, and The Chicago Tribune. If you feel overwhelmed in the store or while searching online, here are some things to keep in mind. 

• Start with the price: If you must have Champagne from France, the cheapest bottle is going to cost around $40. Sunshine Foss, who owns Happy Cork in Brooklyn, said she thinks people should also be flexible on price. "You might come in saying, 'Okay, I'm going to spend $50 on a bottle,' but you might get two or three bottles for that price that are all going to be amazing," she said.
• Buy by brand: If you definitely, definitely want to buy Champagne but are still stumped, you can look at some well-known brands and feel confident about what you're getting. "It's not my first recommendation, but I do think there are certain brands that make an incredibly consistent and quality product," said Arce, owner of Air's Champagne Parlor. She recommends Charles Heidsieck, Bollinger, Philipponnat, Henriot, and Delamotte. "Those are five really beautiful houses, all of which are going to have their non-vintage Brut at an affordable price point," she said.  
• Look outside Champagne: There's Cava from Spain or Prosecco from Italy, but South Africa, England, Brazil, Australia, and lots of other countries are also in the sparkling wine business. "You're going to be tasting different grapes, like a malbec or like a blaufränkisch, grapes you've never even heard of, something different than the chardonnay and pinot noir and pinot meunier," said Crystal Hinds, who owns Effervescence. "You won't compare them as much to Champagne if you're tasting a totally different grape." 
• Don't expect all sparkling wine to taste like Champagne: "There's nothing worse, in my opinion, than sparkling wines that are trying to compete with a region that's been making wine for hundreds of years," Arce said. "I think American sparkling is more fun when it's made in its own way, with its own unique grapes." Compared to France, Oregon, California, and other states are newer to making sparkling wine. "It's different soil. It's different terroir," said Ball, who owns Dirty Radish. "It's different grapes, and the rules are different. So we have a lot more freedom here because we have less of the regulations than they do in something like France."
• But if you do want something similar to Champagne: There are plenty of winemakers that use Champagne-style methods outside of the region. They'll label their bottles with méthode Champenoise or méthode traditionnelle. They'll also use the same grapes: chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier. "I really liked the wine from Caraccioli Cellars, if you're looking for something to be similar to champagne," said Arce.

What are vegan, organic, biodynamic, and natural wines?

• While you might assume all wines are vegan, some winemakers clarify their wines with egg whites, gelatin, or other animal products. Wines labeled vegan will instead use clay or charcoal for this process. 
• US organic wines, certified by the USDA, are made without synthetic fertilizers, and the yeast and other additives must all be organic. If a US wine is labeled "made with organic grapes," then the yeast and additives might not be organic. The European Union follows similar guidelines for its organic wines, but it might contain more sulfites. Other countries may have different practices. 
• Biodynamic winemakers follow many organic practices, but their wines may contain more sulfites. They also follow a strict calendar, when certain tasks like pruning or watering take place. 
• Natural wines are low-intervention, so the producers don't add yeast or sulfites. These are often made in smaller batches.

What's your palate? A crash course on tasting notes

Probably one of the most difficult ways for newcomers to wine is figuring out what they do and don't like based on taste. After a few tries, they might realize whether they're fans of dry or sweet, but it can be hard to distinguish apple or citrus notes, then articulate what it is that's appealing or off-putting. "Sometimes, people don't even know what their palate is," said Sunshine Foss of Happy Cork. Some will assume dry means bitter, for example. "They'll tell me, 'Oh, I don't want a dry wine, but then they'll point to something that they've already had, and it's like one of the driest wines," she said. Brut wines will be on the drier side, while dry, sec, and doux will be sweeter.

"I'll ask about style and price point, if it's for just sipping or also meant to go with food," said Laura Marchetti, who owns Riverview Wine & Spirits. "However, usually the key is to engage with the person, to get them to do the talking in their own language and then for us to decipher from there."

"A lot of times, you break down people's first experiences by asking them just simple questions,  like, "Do you like something a little bit fresher and brighter or something with more fruits?'" said Ariel Arce, owner of Air's Champagne Parlor. "And then if you liked something on the lighter end, 'Can we dabble into flavors of berries, apples, and pears? Do we like minerals and lemon zest?" 

All those questions will help a professional track down something you'll love, but you can start by paying attention to what you like when there's a bottle actually open in front of you. "You're on your phone all the time throughout dinner, so why not take a quick note, take a quick photo of that wine?" said Chevonne Ball, owner of Dirty Radish. 

If there's something you can pinpoint about what you like, that will be helpful for the next time you go into a wine shop, but it's not necessary. "It doesn't have to be very specific," she said. "It doesn't have to be lemon zest and lavender fields and blah, blah, blah." 

The more you taste sparkling wine, the better you'll be at distinguishing what you like. It's the only way to learn, said Ball: "You don't know that you like your burgers medium rare until you've had a medium-rare burger."

What should I eat with Champagne?

Champagne and sparkling wine has long been associated with celebrations. That means people often think the meal they eat with their wine needs to be special, too. That's not the case, according to Chevonne Ball and Crystal Hinds.

"I dare you to find one thing that doesn't go with Champagne," Ball said. "You can't — it goes with everything." 

Hinds agrees. Unlike red or white wines that pair well with select foods, "everything goes with sparkling wine," she said. "You can go through your entire meal with sparkling wine." But you can also open a bag of potato chips. At her sparkling wine lounge, Effervescence, Hinds takes housemade chips and pairs them crème-fraîche, chives, and caviar. The bar also serves popcorn with nutritional yeast, paprika, and olive oil. "Even plain popcorn with a little salt and butter is delicious with bubbles," she said. 

Hinds also recommends pairing sparkling wine with fried foods. "The acid in the bubbles cut through the grease and the fried tastes and the fat, and it goes beautifully with the fried chicken," she said. "I would have a glass of something with a big plate of onion rings and be just fine."

Hinds gave a few suggestions for wine and food pairings. 

• Jean Vesselle Brut Oeil de Perdrix NV ($54 to $60): "This particular wine, which is 100% Pinot Noir, carries me from an appetizer of warm brie to turkey, beef, or pork and on to dessert — if it lasts that long," Hinds said. "I poured from a magnum this year. It was that kind of year."
• Claude Branger "L'éClipse" Méthode Traditionnelle ($19): "For an everyday bubbly to pair with the raw oysters, I pull a bottle of Claude Branger's L'éClipse, which is made entirely from melon de Bourgogne," Hinds said. "We at Effervescence call it the oyster wine."  
• Gusbourne Brut Reserve ($58): "Of course when I want to impress a special guest with something new and amazing, I pair the Gusbourne Brut Reserve (2013) from Sussex, England," Hinds said. "It usually surprises our guests that it is not from Champagne, France, but England." 
• Peter Lauer Riesling Sekt Brut Réserve ($50 to $65): "Lastly, I find Peter Lauer's Riesling Sekt Brut Réserve from Saar, Germany the perfect bubble for most of our desserts, which are seasonal and made in house. They are not usually overly sweet," Hinds said. "The Peter Lauer has a hint of ripe apricot and peach, with lime and slight biscuit notes that complemented our Citrus and Crème dessert (makrut lime meringue, pistachio, satsuma, Tahitian vanilla whipped cream) perfectly.

A decade ago, clean tech was a dirty word. Venture capital investors burned billions betting on solar panels, batteries, and biofuels, causing them to retreat from the industry. 

Now the clean-tech industry is roaring once more, though many investors have given it a new label: Climate tech.

VCs have poured almost $16 billion into the sector already this year, according to clean-tech data PitchBook shared with Business Insider. That's up from an average of about $5.6 billion per year between 2008 and 2016. And 6 cents of every VC dollar spent last year went towards climate tech, a PwC report shows. 

There's some fear that the sector could go bust again. But this time around, what industry professionals call cleantech 2.0 is "fundamentally different," according to Emily Kirsch, the CEO and founder of Powerhouse, a cleantech incubator and venture fund.

For one, a spate of major corporations including oil companies and tech firms have committed to lowering their emissions over the next three decades, Kirsch said. Meanwhile, the cost of renewable energy has fallen dramatically.

The incoming US administration has shown strong support for clean energy to boot. 

"We've never been more excited about the state of climate technology than we are now," Kirsch said. 

Read more:Top energy CEOs and investors share their best predictions for 2021, including a hydrogen boom, the rise of commercial EVs, and more layoffs in oil

VCs have no shortage of companies to choose from. In the PwC report, which focused on climate tech, the firm identified more than 1,200 startups working on a wide range of technologies, from fusion energy to plant-based proteins. What they share is a product that helps lower carbon emissions. 

Some climate-tech startups are already household names, like Impossible Foods, while others are starting to gain steam and pull in major investors including Form Energy. Many more still are working on promising tech that flies under the radar of mainstream investors. 

With 2021 likely to be a huge year for climate tech, we asked 15 of the top VC firms and incubators which startups they think are set to soar. The firms — ranging from Khosla Ventures to Greentown Labs — offered up 46 of them, which we list below. 

The companies are in alphabetical order. Unless otherwise noted, investment figures come directly from the company. 

Do you have feedback or a story tip? Reach out to this reporter at bjones@businessinsider.com. 

AMP Robotics

Year founded: 2014

What it is: AMP Robotics develops intelligent robots that sort through waste "to extract maximum value for businesses that recycle municipal solid waste, e-waste and construction and demolition," the company says. 

Total funding: $23 million

Notable investors: Sequoia Capital, Congruent Ventures, and Closed Loop Partners

Picked by: Josh Posamentier, cofounder and managing partner at Congruent Ventures, and Gabriel Kra, managing director at Prelude Ventures

"It changes the economics pretty dramatically for recycling from something that's maybe breakeven-to-money-losing for most cities to something that's solidly profitable"

— Josh Posamentier of Congruent Ventures (Congruent Ventures is an investor)

Antora Energy

Year founded: 2018

What it is: An early-stage startup, Antora Energy is developing an unusual kind of long-duration battery. It uses electricity to heat up carbon to the point where it's radiating light, like hot coals in a fire. Then, when electricity is needed, it exposes the glowing carbon to solar cells, which convert that light back into electricity. Andrew Ponec, a cofounder, was one of Business Insider's rising stars of clean energy. 

Total funding: $15 million including grant funding

Notable investors: Shell's incubator, GameChanger

Picked by: Lene Hviid, general manager of Shell GameChanger

"I was really quite impressed with Antora. They've also been very mindful and listened to their customers. I think they could come far." 

— Lene Hviid of Shell (Antora was in an accelerator program run in collaboration with Shell GameChanger)

Note: This slide was updated to clarify that Antora was part of an accelerator run in collaboration with Shell GameChanger.

Apeel Sciences

Year founded: 2012

What it is: Apeel developed a plant-based protective coating designed to make produce last longer and reduce food waste, a major source of carbon emissions. 

Total funding: $385 million

Notable funders: Andreessen Horowitz, DBL Partners, GIC, S2G Ventures, Tao Capital Partners, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and The Rockefeller Foundation

Picked by: Nancy Pfund, founder and managing partner of DBL Partners

Arcadia

Year founded: 2014

What it is: Arcadia is a digital startup taking on the utility industry by offering consumers access to clean energy through an app. Kiran Bhatraju, the company's founder, was one of Business Insider's rising stars of clean energy. 

Total funding: $70 million

Notable investors: Kleiner Perkins spinout fund G2VP, BoxGroup, Energy Impact Partners, and Macquarie

Picked by: Adam Rothenberg, partner at BoxGroup, and Brook Porter, partner and cofounder at G2VP

AutoGrid

Yearfounded: 2011

What it is: AutoGrid is a software startup that helps companies manage a growing constellation of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as home batteries and solar panels, strewn across the grid. AutoGrid works with a range of different companies, from Google Nest to Tesla, and recently partnered with the rooftop solar giant Sunrun. 

Total funding: $73.8 million

Notable investors: Schneider Electric, National Grid Partners, Shell Ventures, Orsted, E.ON, Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures, and Energy Impact Partners

Picked by: Grant Allen, general partner at Schneider Electric Ventures

"Companies like Sunrun, which is a customer of AutoGrid's, are now saying this is absolutely critical software. We're at that turning point where the sheer number and complexity of the DER assets is at a point where it's incumbent upon these new energy players to turn to a partner like AutoGrid and deploy their software to manage all these things."

— Grant Allen of Schneider Electric (Schneider Electric is an investor)

Bellwether Coffee

Year founded: 2013

What it is: Bellwether Coffee developed fridge-sized electric coffee roasters that don't produce emissions. The company says they also provide a more consistent roast.  

Total funding: $56 million

Notable investors: DBL Partners and Congruent Ventures

Picked by: Nancy Pfund, founder and managing partner of DBL Partners

"The roasting of coffee and the transportation of coffee make it one of the most carbon-intensive beverages out there. So it's kind of a win-win. People are obsessed with coffee — they want to make sure that their coffee tastes good but increasingly that it's more sustainable."

— Nancy Pfund of DBL Partners (DBL is an investor)

Better Place Forests

Year founded: 2015

What it is: Better Place Forests is taking on the end-of-life industry, offering customers a more sustainable alternative to a cemetery burial. The startup buys and conserves forested land and designates trees as memorial sites, where ashes are mixed with the soil. 

Total funding: $55 million

Notable investors: DBL Partners, Silicon Valley Bank, and True Ventures

Picked by: Nancy Pfund, founder and managing partner of DBL Partners

"Instead of offering families that are grieving a very inadequate solution of embalming, caskets, and graveyards, this company buys up beautiful and inspirational private forests. This is looking at the trend away from embalming and towards cremation — which is a huge trend."

— Nancy Pfund of DBL Partners (DBL is an investor)

Bowery Farming

Year founded: 2015

What it is: Bowery Farming is an ag-tech startup specializing in indoor vertical farming of leafy greens and herbs. The company's produce is sold online and in retailers in the northeast including Giant Food, Walmart, and Whole Foods. 

Total funding: More than $172.5 million

Notable investors: GV (formerly Google Ventures), Temasek, BoxGroup, General Catalyst, GGV Capital, KKR cofounder Henry Kravis, Amazon exec Jeff Wilke, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, restauranter José Andres, and David Barber of Blue Hill

Picked by: Adam Rothenberg, partner at BoxGroup

"As we think about food security and how we feed growing populations, we're just going to run out of arable land. You have to produce food closer to centers of demand. And so they're going to be an important piece of that. Indoor farming is really important and Bowery is just a super exciting company." 

— Adam Rothenberg of BoxGroup (BoxGroup is an investor)

Carbon Engineering

Year founded: 2009

What it is: Carbon Engineering is among the buzziest startups that are developing a technology to pull carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, out of ambient air. The gas can then be turned into other products such as fuel. 

Total funding: About $95 million (including $11 million in government funding)

Notable investors: Bill Gates, BHP, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures

Picked by: Wal van Lierop, executive chairman and founding partner of Chrysalix Venture Capital

"I'm looking at companies that could have a material impact on the future of this world. [Carbon Engineering] has a material impact on climate change."

— Wal van Lierop of Chrysalix

Circulor

Yearfounded: 2017

What it is: Circulor develops a platform that tracks the supply chain of industrial materials. 

Total funding: More than $6 million (the company declined to provide an exact figure)

Notable investors: Volvo Cars and oil giant Total

Picked by: Girish Nadkarni, CEO of Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures

Ensemble Energy

Yearfounded: 2017

What it is: Ensemble Energy sells software to help wind-energy operators predict failures and optimize the performance of their turbines. 

Total funding: The company did not respond to a request for information. 

Notable investors: Plug and Play Tech Center and Powerhouse Ventures

Picked by: Milad Malek, venture associate for energy at Plug and Play Tech Center

Enview

Yearfounded: 2015

What it is: Enview provides software, grounded in AI, to map and analyze three-dimensional data including energy infrastructure.  

Total funding: $20.5 million

Notable investors: Statkraft Ventures, Crosslink Capital, and Promus Ventures

Picked by: Anders Prietz, head of Statkraft Ventures

Farmers Business Network

Year founded: 2014

What it is: Farmers Business Network is an ag-tech startup that developed a data platform for farmers. Among its services is a tool to help farmers measure the carbon footprint of grain. 

Total funding: $571 million, according to Crunchbase. (The company declined to comment on funding.)

Notable investors: DBL Partners, Temasek, Kleiner Perkins, GV (formerly Google Ventures), as well as funds and accounts managed by BlackRock

Picked by: Nancy Pfund, founder and managing partner of DBL Partners

"I think 2021 will be the year of ag sustainability"

— Nancy Pfund of DBL Partners (DBL is an investor)

Fervo Energy

Year founded: 2017

What it is: Fervo Energy is a geothermal startup that's focused on turning heat within the Earth's crust into clean energy. Tim Latimer, the company's CEO and cofounder, was one of Business Insider's rising stars of clean energy. 

Total funding: $11 million

Notable investors: Breakthrough Energy Ventures, 3X5 Partners, and Congruent Ventures

Form Energy

Yearfounded: 2017

What it is: A buzzy startup run by a Tesla veteran, Form Energy is developing long-duration batteries for storing energy on the grid. 

Total funding: $123 million

Notable investors: Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures, and oil giant Eni, NGP Energy Technology Partners III, Energy Impact Partners, Temasek, The Engine, Capricorn, and Macquarie

Picked by: Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs; Josh Posamentier, cofounder and managing partner at Congruent Ventures; and Gabriel Kra, managing director at Prelude Ventures

"That's really exciting what they're doing. The grid needs tech like that."

— Josh Posamentier of Congruent Ventures

General Fusion

Year founded: 2002

What it is: General Fusion is among a handful of startups trying to commercialize fusion energy. It requires building elaborate contraptions to produce the fusion reaction, like the one shown above. 

Total funding: More than $200 million

Notable investors: Chrysalix Venture Capital, Bezos Expeditions, and Braemar Energy Ventures

Picked by: Wal van Lierop, executive chairman and founding partner of Chrysalix

"When will see fusion energy on the grid? Early 2030s, for the first commercial plant."

— Wal van Lierop of Chrysalix (Chrysalix is an investor)

Glydways

Year founded: 2016

What it is: Glydways is developing a public transportation system in which commuters travel in electric pod cars on a fixed track. 

Total funding: Between $30 million and $60 million

Notable investors: Khosla Ventures and Passport Capital

Picked by: Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures

"Cities are clogged up with cars and parking and we could replace all of that. We have a startup called Glydways doing public transit that I believe could replace cars." 

— Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures (Khosla Ventures is an investor)

HYZON Motors

Yearfounded: 2020 (its parent company, Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, was founded in 2003)

What it is: A spinoff of the Singapore firm Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, HYZON Motors develops commercial vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells. 

Total funding: The company declined to share its total investment.

Notable investors: French oil giant Total

Picked by: Girish Nadkarni, CEO of Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures

HYZON is "reflecting the future of mobility and the advent of the hydrogen economy" 

— Girish Nadkarni of Total (Total is an investor)

Imprint Energy

Year founded: 2010

What it is: Imprint Energy makes super thin and flexible rechargeable batteries for sensors and wearable devices. Christine Ho, the company's cofounder and CEO, was one of Business Insider's rising stars of clean energy. 

Total funding: $18 million. "We're on track to sign a couple more significant deals in the logistics space where our battery can make a huge different reducing waste," Ho said. 

Notable investors: GVIP Ventures, Phoenix Venture Partners, and SCGP

Picked by: Emily Kirsch, founder and CEO of Powerhouse

"They're poised to scale" 

— Emily Kirsch of Powerhouse

Kula Bio

Year founded: 2018

What it is: Kula Bio developed a natural, microbe-based fertilizer that pulls nitrogen from the air into the soil, where the plants can suck it up. 

Total funding: $15 million

Notable investors: BoxGroup, Pillar VC, and Collaborative Ventures

Picked by: Adam Rothenberg, partner at BoxGroup

LanzaTech

Year founded: 2005

What it is: LanzaTech developed a technology to turn waste emissions, such as from steelmaking, into fuels and chemicals. The company recently spun out LanzaJet, which produces sustainable jet fuel.  

Total funding: About $400 million 

Notable investors: Khosla Ventures, BASF, Suncor Energy, Petronas, Indian Oil, and Mitsui

Picked by: Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures

"Electric cars and electric trucks powered by renewable electricity are likely solutions, but air transportation by passenger jets needs a liquid fuel compatible with today's jet fleet. [LanzaJet] is building its first pilot plant to produce 100% renewable jet biofuel. The technology is likely to be cost-competitive at scale with today's jet fuel prices. We need only one technology to transform air travel."

— Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures (Khosla Ventures is an investor)

Meati Foods

Year founded: 2019

What it is: Meati Foods is developing a fungi-based alternative to chicken and other meats.

Total funding: About $40 million

Notable investors: Congruent Ventures, Prelude Ventures, Acre Venture Partners, Tao Capital, and Sweetgreen cofounders Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman

Picked by: Josh Posamentier, cofounder and managing partner at Congruent Ventures

"It's a contrast to what Impossible and Beyond are doing, which is basically incredibly complex food engineering. Meati can do the same thing with a super clean ingredient list in a product that tastes better." 

— Josh Posamentier of Congruent Ventures (Congruent Ventures is an investor)

Metron

Yearfounded: 2013

What it is: Paris-based Metron develops a data platform rooted in AI that helps companies cut energy consumption in their industrial operations.   

Total funding: $26.6 million, according to Crunchbase

Notable investors: Statkraft Ventures and BNB Paribas

Picked by: Anders Prietz, head of Statkraft Ventures

"We greatly believe in that company" 

— Anders Prietz of Statkraft Ventures (Statkraft is an investor)

Mighty Buildings

Year founded: 2017 (the company was in stealth mode before this summer)

What it is: Mighty Buildings is a construction company that manufactures modular homes using 3-D printing. "Our 3D-printing technology allows us to produce modular houses and building components much faster than traditional construction," the company says. 

Total funding: $30 million

Notable investors: Khosla Ventures and Y Combinator

Picked by: Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures

Mori

Year founded: 2016

What it is: Formerly known as Cambridge Crops, Mori developed a protective coating for produce and meat, derived from a silk protein, that slows the spoiling process. It can make food last up to twice as long, the company says.  

Total funding: $16 million, according to Crunchbase

Notable investors: Prelude Ventures, Closed Loop Partners, Acre Venture Partners, and The Engine

Picked by: Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs, and Adam Rothenberg, partner at BoxGroup

"They're really trying to address the food-waste issue, which of course is a big part of carbon emissions. That company is really off and running."

— Emily Reichert of Greentown Labs

Natron Energy

Year founded: 2012

What it is: Stanford spinout Natron Energy is among a raft of startups racing to develop fast-charging and long-lasting batteries. The company uses a unique battery chemistry that includes a pigment called Prussian blue.  

Total funding: $73 million (not including grant funding)

Notable investors: Chevron Technology Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and Prelude Ventures

Opus 12

Year founded: 2015

What it is: Opus 12 is developing a technology to turn carbon emissions into chemicals and fuels. Etosha Cave, the company's cofounder, was one of Business Insider's rising stars of clean energy. 

Total funding: The company declined to share its total investment on the record (available public numbers were not accurate, the company said). 

Notable investors: Breakout Ventures; Shell's incubator, GameChanger; and Techstars

Picked by: Milad Malek, venture associate for energy at Plug and Play Tech Center

Pachama

Year founded: 2018

What it is: Pachama sells carbon credits, which represent the carbon dioxide that trees remove from the air. Forests that are protected or restored can generate credits, and companies can buy them to offset their own emissions. Read more about the company here. 

Total funding: $9.5 million

Notable investors: Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Amazon, Serena Williams, and Y Combinator

Picked by: Milad Malek, venture associate for energy at Plug and Play Tech Center, and Nancy Pfund, founder and managing partner of DBL Partners

"They've always gotten good feedback and interaction through our network" 

— Milad Malek of Plug and Play Tech Center

Pearl Street Technologies

Year founded: 2018

What it is: Pearl Street Technologies is a young smart-grid startup that developed software for transmission planning. 

Total funding: The company declined to share its total investment. 

Notable investors: Powerhouse Ventures

Picked by: Emily Kirsch, founder and CEO of Powerhouse

"In the long term, Pearl Street Technologies is positioned to be the cloud platform for the power sector that unifies and manages the grid. Basically, they're digitizing the grid, which is long overdue and absolutely necessary."

— Emily Kirsch of Powerhouse

Pivot Bio

Year founded: 2011

What it is: Pivot Bio is developing a microbe-based fertilizer that it says can increase crop yield. "The technology will also aid in decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and global energy use related to the $65 billion global synthetic nitrogen fertilizer market," the company says. 

Total funding: $186 million

Notable investors: Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures, and Temasek

Picked by: Gabriel Kra, managing director at Prelude Ventures

"It's having phenomenal success and I think it will continue to have great success. Things that we think are both value-creating and can be huge companies and really impactful companies are companies that allow you to make more output with the same or fewer inputs."

— Gabriel Kra of Prelude Ventures

Proterra

Year founded: 2004

What it is: Proterra designs and manufactures electric buses. The company also sells charging infrastructure for large commercial fleets. 

Total funding: More than $500 million

Notable investors: Daimler, BMW i Ventures, and G2VP

Picked by: Brook Porter, partner and cofounder at G2VP

"Their moment is upon them. 2021 will be the year of commercial-vehicle electrification. It's now just cheaper to electrify a bus or a school bus or a delivery truck than to drive one with an internal combustion engine." 

—  Brook Porter of G2VP (G2VP is an investor)

Rad Power Bikes

Year founded: 2007 (the startup relaunched in 2015 as a direct-to-consumer company)

What it is: Rad Power Bikes is an e-bike startup, and the largest e-bike brand in North America, according to the company. 

Total funding: $25.3 million, not including an undisclosed funding round and an angel investment

Notable investors: Vulcan Capital and Durable Capital Partners

Picked by: Brook Porter, partner and cofounder at G2VP 

"I think they've struck a really interesting balance between price, performance, and value — they're cheap, but they're good bikes."

— Brook Porter of G2VP

Raptor Maps

Year founded: 2015

What it is: Raptor Maps remotely inspects and monitors large solar arrays using drones and software. Its founders, Nikhil Vadhavkar and Eddie Obropta, were two of Business Insider's rising stars of clean energy. 

Total funding: $7 million

Notable investors: Congruent Ventures, Powerhouse Ventures, and Y Combinator

Picked by: Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs

"Those guys will continue to take off and accelerate" 

— Emily Reichert of Greentown Labs (Raptor Maps is a part of Greentown Labs)

Recurrent

Year founded: 2020

What it is: Recurrent is an early-stage startup that provides vehicle reports for used electric cars that include range projections and battery health. 

Total funding: $3.5 million

Notable investors: Prelude Ventures and Powerhouse Ventures

Picked by: Emily Kirsch, founder and CEO of Powerhouse

"When you buy an electric car, the most important thing is not the odometer, it's the battery, but most dealers and buyers have no idea how to assess battery health. Recurrent is enabling the used EV market to have the data that it needs so that it can scale."

— Emily Kirsch of Powerhouse (Powerhouse is an investor)

Redwood Materials

Year founded: 2017

What it is: Founded by Tesla cofounder and former Chief Technical Officer JB Straubel, Redwood Materials recycles batteries for the electric-vehicle industry. 

Total funding: $40 million

Notable investors: Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Amazon, and Capricorn Investment Group

Picked by: Gabriel Kra, managing director at Prelude Ventures

"What JB Straubel is doing at Redwood Materials is super interesting, and that's a company to watch for sure" 

— Gabriel Kra of Prelude Ventures

Sapient Industries

Yearfounded: Around 2015

What it is: Sapient Industries is a smart-building startup that deploys intelligent electrical plugs throughout a building to gather data. Companies can use that data to lower their energy usage and find other ways to use their office space more efficiently. 

Total funding: $4 million, according to Crunchbase. (The company said it's currently fundraising.)

Notable investors: Plug and Play, Urban Us, and Tech Square Venture

Picked by: Milad Malek, venture associate for energy at Plug and Play Tech Center

"They're hitting their stride. They are initiating really large deployments with some of our partners."

— Milad Malek of Plug and Play Tech Center (Plug and Play is an investor)

SilviaTerra

Year founded: 2010

What it is: A Pachama competitor, SilviaTerra uses remote-sensing tools like satellites and field data to measure forests in the US and operates a marketplace for carbon credits. 

Total funding: $4.4 million, according to an SEC filing

Notable investors: The company said it will be announcing its investors in January.

Picked by: Nancy Pfund, founder and managing partner of DBL Partners

Sunfolding

Year founded: 2012

What it is: The startup Sunfolding sells a unique, motor-free tracking technology for solar panels that relies on compressed air. Tracking technology allows solar panels to follow the sun throughout the day and absorb more energy. Leila Madrone, the company's founder, was one of Business Insider's rising stars of clean energy. 

Total funding: $64 million (including $8 million in non-dilutive funding)

Notable investors: Macquarie, G2VP, Y Combinator, and City Light Capital

Picked by: Emily Kirsch, founder and CEO of Powerhouse

"They're just starting to get incredible contracts with some of the biggest developers in the world" 

— Emily Kirsch of Powerhouse

Svante

Year founded: 2007

What it is: Svante developed a technology to capture carbon emissions produced directly by various industries including steelmaking. In February the company announced that it's partnering with Chevron to launch a study to see if the technology could be used in the oil giant's operations. 

Total funding: $75 million

Notable investors: Chevron Technology Ventures, Husky Energy, Chrysalix, and Mitsui, according to Crunchbase

Picked by: Wal van Lierop, executive chairman and founding partner of Chrysalix Venture Capital

Terramera

Year founded: 2010

What it is: Terramera sells natural, plant-based pesticides. The company says it's "committed to reducing the global synthetic pesticide load 80% by 2030." 

Total funding: $82 million

Notable investors: Microsoft, IKEA, ArcTern Ventures, and S2G Ventures 

Picked by: Wal van Lierop, executive chairman and founding partner of Chrysalix Venture Capital

"Terramera, which is focused on regenerative agriculture, is very, very important. It's making agriculture more sustainable." 

— Wal van Lierop of Chrysalix

Treau

Year founded: 2017

What it is: Treau is working on low-cost heating and cooling technologies that produce fewer carbon emissions. 

Total funding: $7 million

Notable investors: Prime Coalition, Ajax Strategies, Incite Ventures, and URBAN-X 

Picked by: Brook Porter, partner and cofounder at G2VP

"There's a massive amount of electricity consumed globally from window air-conditioning units around the world, and it's just a massive problem that needs to be solved. They're positioned to solve it in an interesting way."

— Brook Porter of G2VP

Universal Hydrogen

Year founded: 2020

What it is: Cofounded by an Airbus alum, Universal Hydrogen is developing hardware to store and distribute hydrogen that will be used to propel fuel-cell-powered aircraft. Working in collaboration with Plug Power, the startup aims to have a hydrogen plane certified to fly by 2024, Bloomberg reports. 

Total funding: $2.5 million

Notable investors: Plug Power and Trucks Venture Capital

Picked by: Josh Posamentier, cofounder and managing partner at Congruent Ventures

"I look at hydrogen like everybody else and try to figure out where it's actually going to be useful since it's going to happen somewhere. I think ammonia production, long-haul aviation, long-haul shipping. There are a few really interesting aircraft companies."

— Josh Posamentier of Congruent Ventures

Volta Charging

Year founded: 2010

What it is: Volta Charging operates "the most utilized" charging network in the US, according to the company. It offers free charging to drivers at stations and makes money by selling ads.  

Total funding: Volta declined to share its total investment. 

Notable investors: Schneider Electric Ventures, SK E&S (an affiliate of SK), CION Investments, and Energy Impact Partners

Picked by: Grant Allen, general partner at Schneider Electric Ventures

"Historically, it has not been a good business to sell electrons. Volta is taking charging and kind of flipping the script by saying, 'We're going to offer it for free.' The uptake has been phenomenal and there's been a huge amount of positive investor interest in that company. So that I think is one that's really poised to lift off." 

— Grant Allen of Schneider Electric (Schneider Electric is an investor)

Voltus

Year founded: 2016

What it is: Voltus developed a technology that strings together sources of energy — such as batteries— that are operated by large commercial and industrial customers. The idea is to save companies money either by lowering their energy bills or by providing them with new revenue from utilities that benefit from reduced demand. 

Total funding: $35.1 million

Notable investors: NGP Energy Technology Partners, Prelude Ventures, and Ajax Strategies

Picked by: Grant Allen, general partner at Schneider Electric Ventures

XL Fleet

Year founded: 2009

What it is: XL Fleet, formerly XL Hybrid, transforms gas-powered fleets of commercial vehicles into hybrids to both save money on gasoline and lower tailpipe emissions. 

Total funding: About $66 million

Notable investors: Constellation Technology Ventures and INGKA Investments

Picked by: Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs

"That is definitely a company to watch" 

— Emily Reichert of Greentown Labs

ZeroAvia

Year founded: 2017

What it is: Founded by Valery Miftakhov, a Google and McKinsey alum, ZeroAvia is developing a hydrogen-powered propulsion system for small aircraft. In September, the company said it completed the world's "first hydrogen-electric passenger plane flight."

Total funding: $49.7 million

Notable investors: Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Horizons Ventures, and Shell Ventures

Picked by: Josh Posamentier, cofounder and managing partner at Congruent Ventures

"Val is a very compelling entrepreneur" 

— Josh Posamentier of Congruent Ventures

Note: This slide was updated to remove incorrect funding information provided by the company.

This story was originally published on December 14. 

Adtech IPOs are back in fashion again.

The sector has benefited from COVID-accelerated trends such as the shift to digital content consumption and e-commerce and wider stock market rally. Adtech stocks are undergoing a resurgence, led by The Trade Desk with a market capitalization of $45.6 billion in December.

Supply-side platform Pubmatic went public this December. MediaAlpha, an adtech company that focuses on the insurance sector, had its IPO in October. Kubient, which offers adtech tools including a fraud prevention service, debuted on the Nasdaq in August. 

Special-purpose acquisition companies are also said to be circling the space, which could ease more mature adtech companies' path to IPO. 

Read more: Wall Street is in love with digital ad stocks again — but investors could be missing a big blind spot

"230 SPACs have raised over $70 billion [this year] — let's see where that gets deployed," said David Ethridge, PwC deals managing director and US IPO services leader. "There may be earlier-stage exists by way of a SPAC than previously thought versus traditional IPOs."

Business Insider spoke to 10 adtech experts, including executives, consultants, analysts and bankers, who named seven adtech companies they think are most likely to IPO in the coming months. The list, in alphabetical order, is speculative and not all of these companies are in a process to go public.

DoubleVerify

Total funding: $549.5 million, according to CrunchBase; Providence Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in 2017 at an undisclosed sum.

DoubleVerify is seen as the most likely to go public, with plenty of signs pointing to an imminent IPO.

Founded in 2008, DoubleVerify helps advertisers, publishers and big platforms measure their ads and confirm if their campaigns were served into "brand safe" environments. 

New CEO Mark Zagorski previously led publicly-traded adtech company Telaria, which recently merged with fellow public adtech company Rubicon Project. In October, DoubleVerify raised a $350 million funding round, led by investment firm Tiger Global Management. 

Bloomberg reported in October DoubleVerify was looking to raise at least $500 million in an early 2021 IPO at a $5 billion valuation. A person with direct knowledge of the matter told Business Insider the company had selected JP Morgan to lead the process, which is expected imminently. DoubleVerify and JP Morgan declined to comment.

Experts described DoubleVerify as a solid business with room to grow, given its recent expansion into detecting fraud in connected TV.

"It's a cashflow machine," said Shawn Riegsecker, CEO of adtech company Centro.

Iponweb

Total funding: No external funding to date.

Experts named Iponweb as a prime candidate to go public, even if more out of curiosity than certainty.

"Iponweb is one of the largest and most mature ad tech companies very few have heard of," said Centro's Riegsecker. "A lot of people will be surprised at how big they are."

Founded by "the Godfather of adtech" Boris Mouzykantskii in 2001, Iponweb builds tech infrastructure for adtech companies, advertisers, agencies, publishers and TV broadcasters. The company also owns BidSwitch, a programmatic exchange. 

"Iponweb should go public," said Ciaran O'Kane CEO at WireCorp, which owns the ExchangeWire adtech publication and events company. "Their numbers are just as good as Pubmatic's — it's a great company, great tech, and they could go public on their tech-infrastructure focus."

Michael Rasmussen, Iponweb's VP of global marketing, said the company has no plans to IPO.

"Being independent has always allowed Iponweb to remain nimble, experimental, and fast-moving, which we think will be even more critical as programmatic adoption continues to grow, and advanced media buyers and sellers increasingly look to unlock differentiation and competitive advantage in advertising through technology innovation," Rasmussen said.

IronSource

Total funding: $555 million, according to Crunchbase

Israel-based IronSource operates in the highly competitive and lucrative mobile gaming space, offering developers adtech to help them monetize their games and find new users.

Israel-based financial newspaper Calcalist reported in November that IronSource was preparing for "the biggest IPO in Israeli history" on the Nasdaq in early 2021 and targeting a valuation between $7 billion and $8 billion.

IronSource's annual profit is reportedly around $170 million, according to Calcalist. Its last investment round — when private equity firm CVC Capital Partners injected $450 million for a 25.7% stake in the firm — valued the company at $1.75 billion.

Octavius Mihaies, partner at investment firm Access Capital Partners, gave three key reasons IronSource is a strong IPO candidate: "The fact that it's a [tech company] with a clearly competitive in-app solution; it's focused on the holy grail that is monetization; and it's about gaming ... an area [that is] pretty hot with respect to capital markets."

An IronSource spokesperson said the company doesn't comment on rumors.

MediaMath

Total funding:$500 million in debt and equity financing

New York-based MediaMath offers a demand-side platform and data-management platform for advertisers and agencies to buy and manage digital ad campaigns. In 2019 it launched a framework to give advertisers and publishers more visibility into their digital advertising supply chains.

MediaMath hired investment bank Centerview Partners in early 2020 to explore its strategic options, which could include additional financing, a debt restructure or a potential sale, Digiday reported. When MediaMath last raised money in 2018, it was valued at north of $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.

MediaMath has raised a lot of money at a healthy valuation, said Bill Wise, CEO of advertising industry software company Mediaocean. "It's been around for a decade, has good people, is a good asset and is a great candidate to go through a SPAC," he said.

Other experts said MediaMath could go down the SPAC route and combine with other companies — possibly in the digital identity space — to grow and help differentiate it from rival DSP The Trade Desk.

A MediaMath spokesperson said adtech's momentum with investors "validates the strong secular growth trends across a large addressable digital advertising market."

"MediaMath is one of only a handful of adtech platforms with global scale, with the identity and technology partnerships needed to help brands and agencies navigate this dynamic environment," the spokesperson said. "We are always exploring multiple avenues to develop and bring differentiated capabilities to market and evaluate options how we seize that opportunity."

Mediaocean

Acquired in 2015 by private equity group Vista Equity Partners at a valuation of $720 million

Mediaocean, a software company that processes billions of dollars in analog and digital ad spending, was formed in 2011 from the merger of rival tech companies MediaBank and Donovan Data Systems, a deal then valued at $1.5 billion.

Mediaocean then sold a majority stake to private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners in 2015, which valued the company at $720 million.

Vista has been shopping Mediaocean in 2020 and people with direct knowledge of the matter said Mediaocean recently turned down an offer of $1.7 billion. 

The company is profitable, generating $135 million in annual EBITDA at an organic growth rate of around 5-6%, PE Hub reported in October.

A person close to the company said the public markets would look favorably on Mediaocean's profitability — especially when compared to smaller public adtech companies — but less so its single-digit growth rate.

In 2020, Mediaocean acquired marketing tech firm 4C insights to broaden its capabilities in areas like fast-growing streaming TV. 

Mediaocean declined to comment on the possibility of an IPO.

Taboola

Total funding: $160 million

Best known for placing the "content you may like" widgets at the bottom of news articles and home pages, Israel-founded Taboola is the largest player in the content-recommendation space. 

In 2019, the company had announced plans to merge with rival content-recommendation firm Outbrain to generate more than $2 billion in gross annual revenue. The plan fell apart in 2020.

At the time, Taboola CEO Adam Singolda told staff that the company would look toward "our path to IPO with our capital and shares,"Digiday reported.

In December, Israeli titles Calcalist, Haaretz and its business publication TheMarker reported that Taboola was in talks with ION Acquisition Corp, a SPAC that raised $259 million in its 2020 IPO on the New York Stock Exchange and is seeking a Israel-based tech unicorn for a merger. 

Taboola declined to comment.

White Ops

Total Funding: Acquired by Goldman Sachs' Merchant Banking Division, ClearSky Security and NightDragon in December 2020 for an undisclosed sum. Prior to Goldman's initial investment in May, White Ops had raised $33 million.

Founded in 2012, White Ops helps companies avoid digital ad fraud, where scammers use methods like bots to create fake human web traffic. The company has expanded to other areas such as application security and music streaming.

White Ops was acquired in December by Goldman Sachs' Merchant Banking Division, with additional investment from ClearSky Security and NightDragon. Industry observers say the investment and hiring of five new leaders suggest that White Ops could be preparing to IPO.

White Ops CEO and co-founder Tamer Hassan told Business Insider the option to go public is "certainly on the table" and that its investors enhance its ability to do so.

Experts see White Ops looking to make acquisitions and roll-up the anti-fraud and verification space, a strategy that would be boosted by an IPO. 

As Wall Street navigates a health pandemic that's changed the way we work and dramatically changed the economic landscape, we take a look at the players rising up despite the challenges and grasping opportunities as they see them.

From launching game-changing groups within global financial institutions, to having a hand in restructuring entertainment giants like AMC, these 25 stood out as the leaders for tomorrow.

In addition to being at the top of their class, these finalists are also trailblazing in new areas like data science and machine learning, executing on sustainability goals, and paving the way for a more diverse and equitable workforce by speaking out and taking part in recruiting efforts.

Selecting the final list wasn't easy. We received hundreds of nominations from bosses, colleagues, recruiters, and others working in the finance industry. We asked that nominees be 35 or under, based in the US, and stand out from their peers. Editors made the final decisions.

We've included people with a variety of roles and experiences from companies including Bridgewater Associates, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, and the Carlyle Group.

Here's our full list of the next crop of Wall Street leaders.

We also asked this year's rising stars of Wall Street to give us their best advice for people just starting out as well as for their best book recommendations.

Read some of the lessons and insights they've learned along the way

Here are the 32 books our 2020 rising stars of Wall Street think everyone should read

SEE ALSO: Meet 2020's Rising Stars of Wall Street from firms like Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, and Bridgewater shaking up investing, trading, and dealmaking

SEE ALSO: Meet 2019's Rising Stars of Wall Street from firms like Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, and Apollo shaking up investing, trading, and dealmaking

SEE ALSO: We built the first-ever searchable database of the top Wall Street recruiters for banking, hedge funds, and private equity

Alex Tingle, 27, UBS

Alex Tingle wears several hats at UBS, where he is a New York-based director in the firm's investment bank focused on the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors.

Outside of working with clients day to day and executing deals, he's also long been interested in the strategy side of what it takes to keep an investment bank humming.

Last year he helped launch the bank's private financing markets group, a unit geared toward connecting wealthy clients with private capital markets investments, a fast-growing space that firms are increasingly embracing. That group was expanded across the firm this year.

He is involved with recruitment and workforce diversity efforts at the bank, sitting on the investment bank's Diversity & Inclusion Council and the Pride Leadership Council for UBS Americas.

"I'm really proud of the brand that we have built for students in the LGBTQ community, because I think for a lot of gay kids Wall Street still looks like somewhere that's unapproachable, that it's very macho, very traditional," Tingle said, adding he believes the wider industry has made progress in distancing itself from that image over the years.

A native of Ontario, Canada, Tingle has been with UBS for his whole career on Wall Street, since he graduated from Boston College six years ago. He now coheads campus recruitment, a passion, for his alma mater, which is UBS' largest target school for junior investment banking hires. He also heads up the firm's LGBTQ+ recruiting efforts in the Americas.

He was previously a summer analyst as a college sophomore and junior with the Swiss firm before joining full time in 2014.

Click here to read the full list.

Alice Leng, 31, Bank of America

Alice Leng is part of a cutting-edge team at Bank of America, the data and innovation group within the firm's global markets division. A machine-learning expert who has master's degrees in financial engineering and economics, Leng leads an initiative in the group that amasses giant troves of information on trading flows and positions across asset classes on a single platform, mining some 2 billion daily transactions for market signals and insights.

Leng has had an unorthodox, circuitous path to a leading role in the hottest corner of Wall Street. Born in China, Leng left home for boarding school at age 8, and then moved across the world at age 18 to study applied mathematics at the University of Toronto, earning a bachelor's and master's degrees in 3 1/2 years.

In 2011, at 21, she moved to Chicago and started studying economics with University of Chicago Nobel Prize winner Gary Becker, whom she credits for instilling in her the importance of melding human intuition with deep analysis. She left with her master's in economics and briefly moved to London to work with BlackRock before starting another master's degree — this one in financial engineering — at the University of California at Berkeley, which she completed in 2015.

Leng then spent 2 1/2 years at Moody's Analytics in San Francisco doing quantitative fixed-income research before jumping to BofA in 2017. Initially, she worked in research, helping construct complex derivatives trades and authoring an influential report in 2018 on the applications of machine learning to FICC trading, the first of the big banks to publish such research. She started working with the data and innovation group later in 2018.

Leng earned an executive master's in business from HEC Paris this year.

Want to meet the rest of Wall Street's rising stars? Click here to read the full list.