Boston’s business economy is unusually shaped by the overlap of elite universities, hospitals, venture capital firms and biotech research hubs. Local hubs like Kendall Square — dubbed “the most innovative square mile on the planet” — and the classic Route 128 corridor consistently spin out groundbreaking technologies, from biopharmaceuticals and robotics to cybersecurity and software. Below are some of the companies that have converted Boston’s deep talent and research pool into influential businesses far beyond the city’s reach.
Top Companies in Boston to Know
- Fidelity Investments
- Mastercard
- Vertex Pharmaceuticals
- Hasbro
- HubSpot
Top Companies in Boston to Know
Industry: Fintech, Software, Hospitality
Toast powers point-of-sale, payments, online ordering, payroll and other operations across roughly 180,000 restaurant locations. First imagined in a Kendall Square bar and headquartered in Boston’s Seaport District, the hometown tech hero equips thousands of neighborhood eateries with kitchen display systems, guest-loyalty hardware and real-time labor analytics.
Industry: Biotechnology
Biotech company Vertex Pharmaceuticals pioneered the first therapies that target genetic causes of cystic fibrosis, which has now reached more than 75,000 patients worldwide. Following that breakthrough, the company launched Casgevy — the first FDA-approved CRISPR gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease — while developing new treatments for acute pain and cell therapies.
Industry: Entertainment
Toy giant Hasbro brought Monopoly, Transformers and Play-Doh into family households and is also behind major global cult franchises including Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. With brands reaching one billion people worldwide, Hasbro is leaning harder into digital gaming and entertainment while expanding its franchises through licensing and new screen adaptations.
Industry: Financial Services, Asset Management
Fidelity Investments manages nearly $20 trillion in customer assets, across investing, retirement and wealth management. Founded in Boston in 1946, the company maintains its global headquarters in the city’s financial district, where local teams direct overall corporate strategy, fund management and equity research.
Industry: Healthcare Data, Analytics
Headquartered in Framingham, Definitive Healthcare provides commercial intelligence built on data from more than 300,000 healthcare organizations and three million providers. Its SaaS platform combines medical claims data, provider affiliations and prescription activity into live market-mapping tools that assist life sciences firms, healthcare networks and medical device manufacturers in finding new sales opportunities.
Industry: Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence
Rapid7 provides cloud-based cybersecurity software that helps organizations find and fix security threats. Its InsightVM platform helps security teams spot vulnerabilities system-wide and prioritize which ones need attention first. The global company is headquartered in Boston, with an office conveniently located next to TD Garden and North Station.
Industry: Payments, Fintech
Mastercard is one of the world’s largest payment processing networks, facilitating more than 200 billion transactions every year. Beyond credit and debit processing, the company uses real-time AI to prevent tens of billions in fraud while powering open banking, cross-border tokenization and digital identity for the world’s largest merchants.
Industry: E-Commerce, Automotive Technology
Online auto marketplace CarGurus uses data and analytics to help shoppers compare more than four million vehicle listings from dealerships across the country. Its algorithmic pricing models look at historical inventory data to generate “Deal Ratings” — rating from great deal to overpriced — while its platform connects interested shoppers with dealers that are selling the cars they’re considering. CarGurus is headquartered in Boston.
Industry: Cloud, Software
HubSpot started as an inbound marketing platform and has grown into a full-blown CRM platform with nearly 300,000 customers across 135 countries. Its software helps businesses track customer relationships from the first interaction through sales and ongoing support while automating much of that work.
Industry: Enterprise Cloud Storage, Data Infrastructure
Nasuni helps global organizations manage unstructured file data across hybrid-cloud environments. With more than 500 petabytes of storage under management, its platform consolidates legacy NAS infrastructure into a single filing system, using local edge caching and ransomware protection to give multi-site enterprise teams quick data access. Nasuni is headquartered in Boston, with five other U.S. and international locations.
