Image credit: Startit.rs
Serbian Seven Bridges has just appeared on the list of 50 Smartest Companies for 2016 compiled by MIT Technology Review. This annual editor pick ranks the top 50 companies that are most successful in combining innovation in technology alongside effective business models. Their “smartness” is evaluated by the way they manage to create new opportunities.
Seven Bridges is the only startup company originating from the Balkans that has made it on the 2016 list. Listed among Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla Motors, and many other gigantic corporations, Seven Bridges ranks 42nd. Fast-growing companies like Slack, Coupang, IBM, and Snapchat follow right after.
Seven Bridges
Seven Bridges is a private company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts with established presence in San Francisco, London, Belgrade, and Istanbul.
It provides the bioinformatics software platform for the Cancer Genome Atlas of U.S. National Cancer Institute. Seven Bridges helps cancer researchers from around the globe access a pool of patient data and computational resources. Their Cancer Genomics Cloud contains 33 cancer types and sub-types contributed by 11,000 patients worldwide.
Co-founded by Deniz Kural (CEO) and Igor Bogićević (CTO), the company currently employs a skilled personnel of 230 employees on three continents. In February 2016, the current President James Sietstra joined the company board. A Series A investment of $45 million by Kryssen Capital came soon after.
The goal of Seven Bridges is to develop a global database of 50 million cancer genomes that will help doctors compare similar cases and offer the best treatment, as Deniz Kural, CEO of Seven Bridges explains in his interview with Startit.rs.
The List
According to David Ratman from MIT Technology Review, “Companies taking advantage of amazing new digital technologies dominate our list of 50 Smartest Companies. But despite impressive advances in artificial intelligence and automation, the economy remains in a troubling slowdown.” In other words, modern digital technologies bring great value to people, however, those benefits are far from promoting a substantial economic boost. More details about the main findings from the list compilation are available in this opening essay.