2021 Highlights

The 2021 Deloitte CE Technology Fast 50 broke records for growth and uptake:

• More companies applied for the Fast 50 ranking than ever before
• Winner grow by a record 39,432% between 2017 and 2020
• Average growth rate in the 2021 Fast 50 hit 2,278%
• Companies included from nine CE countries and six industry sectors in the main Fast 50 category
• Google Cloud was the official Regional Partner for the 2021 edition of the Programme

With close to 450 applications, last year’s Technology Fast 50 ranking compiled by Deloitte Central Europe was the most competitive in the 22-year history of the initiative, which uses percentage revenue growth to rank the region’s 50 fastest-growing private or public technology companies.

According to Deloitte Central Europe’s CEO Jarek Skvrna,

“This was a record year in several ways. Not only did we receive more applications than ever before: the average growth rate of the companies in the Fast 50, based on revenues recorded between 2017 and 2020, was also the highest ever achieved at 2,278% (up from 1,460% in 2020).

And the incredible growth rate of 39,432% delivered by the company at the top of the ranking – Czech Fintech pioneer FTMO – was also the fastest revenue growth recorded by any company in the entire history of the ranking.”

As we look ahead to gauge how business is developing across our region, it is clear to see that ever-advancing technology is the single most important driver of future success: boosting efficiency, improving quality, driving simplicity, and supporting sustainability.

While Czech companies led the way (with 19 in the Fast 50, followed by Poland with 16), a further 7 countries were also represented: Slovakia (5), Croatia (4), Bulgaria (2), and one each from Albania, Estonia, Slovenia and Lithuania. This last one was Kilo.Health, the Healthcare and Life Science business that achieved second place in the overall ranking with a growth rate of 17,710%.

And while Software companies, with 33 entries, dominated the ranking, there were also representatives from other sectors: Hardware (5); Media & Entertainment (4); Fintech (3); Healthcare & Life Sciences (3); and Communications (2).
 

The winners

Fast 50 – main category

Czech Republic’s FTMO, the record-breaking company at the top of the Fast 50 ranking itself, has developed a unique educational platform for traders on the financial markets that enables them to focus on risk management and disciplined trading to adopt best practice, avoid errors and reduce waste.

Growth Stars

DRUID SA, Romania – with a growth rate of 6,753%, DRUID has created a no-code chatbot authoring platform that automates repetitive tasks to increase productivity while improving user experience. Its AI-driven virtual assistants can use more than 45 natural languages to take action on virtually any data or document request in an organisation’s technology ecosystem, so preventing external AI providers to interfere with sensitive company data.
 

Investment Stars

Payhawk, Bulgaria – a payments platform enabling businesses to combine all their spending processes in one place, putting finance teams in full control while allowing employees access to secure and convenient spending methods.

Impact Stars

As part of the Technology Fast 50 Central Europe Programme, a special category – Impact Stars award was introduced in 2020.

The Impact Stars is a special classification of entities which successfully link great products/services with a positive impact on at least one of the following: society, business, innovativeness, environment and diversity.

The list of the Impact Stars laureates is available here.