The startup / tech-scene boomed in 2011, wavered somewhat and then soldiered on. Tech businesses weathered natural disasters, GFC "2" and, sadly, the passing of Steve Jobs. Despite this, Groupon and LinkedIn IPO'd, Quora got popular, Google launched Google+ and people developed "Group Buying Fatigue".

In summary, while in 2011 we witnessed some sobering tech developments / news items (delayed IPO's, revenue reporting surprises and stock market jitters), a number of strong startups emerged; loads of startups got funded; the outlook for 2012 is strong; and - whether you're in China or the US - it's hip to be an Internet mogul like Pony Ma or Zuckerberg. 

In this blog post, we've rounded up 50 startups from 2011 (that either launched in 2011 or that became prominent in 2011). We've categorized them into 3 groups: "The Good", "The Average" and "The Ugly".

Like this article? Check out last year's Top 50 2010 logos from the startup scene or the Top 20 Google Logos of 2011.

Group 1 - 'The Good'

Group 2 - 'The Average'

Group 3 - 'The Ugly'

Conclusion

So what was hot in 2011? What trends did we see in startup logos? Here's five patterns/trends we saw in 2011: 1) Dark background logos / branding (think snog, zeromail, Shaker App, fashiolista); 2) An emphasis on typography (over 15 of the logos are typography/wordform only logos (think chomp, roamz); 3) Greys and green - popular colors (fit that in somewhere and you'll get funded); 4) The word "Shake" 5) Loops (see enloop above but also doo.net from Germany, and Recruitloop from Australia).

If you think that we have missed a worthy logo or a trend from 2011 (good, average or ugly) let us know below!

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