The amount of data being generated continued to soar in 2020. And with the rollout of 5G networks, the deployment of edge computing, and the expanding adoption of cloud computing, most projections show the creation and collection of data continuing to accelerate.

Earlier this year, IDC had projected that 59 zettabytes of data would be "created, captured, copied, and consumed" in 2020, up from 41ZB in 2019. By 2024, that number is expected to reach 149ZB.

"The amount of data created over the next three years will be more than the data created over the past 30 years, and the world will create more than 3 times the data over the next five years than it did in the previous five," the report said.

For enterprises, this makes data an essential raw material for maintaining a competitive edge. But truly harnessing that data remains an elusive task for many.

That has created a massive opportunity for startups that can help enterprises solve their data problems. And in 2020, the momentum behind data startups propelled five to IPOs that demonstrate just how vital -- and lucrative -- data has become:

Kingsoft Cloud

  • IPO: May 8, 2020
  • IPO price: $17
  • December 28 Price: $45.25
The Chinese company provides cloud distribution and storage that includes public cloud, enterprise cloud, and IoT cloud services. It is also developing a blockchain platform for the gaming industry. Offering data services and analytics has become one of its key products.

ZoomInfo

  • IPO date: June 3, 2020
  • IPO price: $21
  • December 28 Price: $44.84
ZoomInfo provides a SaaS platform that delivers marketing intelligence to companies to generate sales and recruiting leads. The company mixes data contributed by humans, as well as machine learning that is constantly crawling websites and public documents to amass databases of potential contacts for its enterprise users.

Snowflake

  • IPO date: September 16, 2020
  • IPO price: $120
  • December 28 Price: $323.04
Snowflake sells a cloud data platform that consolidates a business' data. This data warehouse startup has been on a tear since raising a $450 million round of venture capital in 2018 and was one of the biggest IPO listings of 2020.

Palantir

  • IPO date: September 30, 2020
  • Reference price: $7.25
  • EOY price: $27.75
Palantir went public through a direct listing. The Peter Thiel-founded company analyzes vast quantities of data for a wide range of enterprise customers, but also some more controversial clients, such as the CIA.

C3.ai

  • IPO date: December 9, 2020
  • IPO price: $42
  • EOY price: $161.00
C3.ai has developed an AI platform that targets enterprises. Its solution works across industries ranging from manufacturing and utilities to retail and health care.