How we collaborate, how we share work, protect our data and choose to share it with the world — all is made possible with the cloud, fueling innovation not just in tech, but in every industry.

For the third consecutive year, the Forbes Cloud 100 recognizes the best and brightest of tech's hottest category. Compiled with the help of partners Bessemer Venture Partners and Salesforce Ventures, the list tracks the best private cloud companies in the world by operating metrics such as revenue and funding, while enlisting the help of no less than 34 of their public cloud CEO peers.

The companies of the Cloud 100 are champions of small business and facilitators of the world's most important multinational corporations, helping manage everything from restaurant orders to the field operations of oil rigs at sea. For the second year running, they're led by Stripe, the online payments company founded by two Irish-born brothers, Patrick Collison and John Collison, and valued at $9.2bn. At millions of businesses globally, Stripe serves as the online tool kit for digital payments, helping billions in transactions flow back into the economy at customers Lyft, Target, Under Armour and Unicef.

After Stripe, there are major changes to the Cloud 100 top 5. With last year's No. 2 Dropbox now a public company, Slack moves up to the second slot in 2018. for its collaboration software; video messaging service Zoom Video Communications and security vendor Tanium slot replace now-public 2017 standouts DocuSign and Adyen. And a business selling to an unlikely category — construction tech — rounds out the top 5 with Procore, the subject of this year's Cloud 100 magazine feature.

There are 27 newcomers on the Cloud 100 list in 2018, led by robotic process automation company UiPath at No. 14. Other notable first-timers include developer tool-maker HashiCorp at No. 32 and AI-backed security company Darktrace, led by team of ex-researchers and government agents in the U.S. and U.K, at No. 36.

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