eShopWorld has secured the top spot in Ireland’s best known technology growth index – the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 ranking – for the third year in a row.  The company achieved a growth rate of 3632% over the last four years. The company is a leader in global eCommerce and logistics management, with a world class modular solution that gives online retailers control over the end-to-end customer journey – from global checkout to returns.

The awards, now in their 18th year, rank Ireland’s fastest growing technology companies and recognises indigenous technology companies that have demonstrated exceptional growth in turnover in the last four years. The Fast 50 programme is recognised as a barometer of a company’s success and provides it with a hugely valued, respected and marketable, public ‘badge of honour’.  

New entrant to the ranking, xSellco Limited, which provides innovative products that allow e‑commerce businesses of all sizes to fulfil their potential, achieved second spot on this year’s listing. LearnUpon, one of the fastest growing learning management system vendors on the market ranked third, and was also a first-time entrant to the ranking. Encouragingly, this year’s ranking saw 16 new entrants, up from 11 last year.

Cumulatively, the 2017 Fast 50 winners generated approximately €858 million in total annual revenues in 2016. The average revenue of companies featuring on the ranking was approximately €17 million, while the average growth rate of the companies over the last four years was 290%.

Similar to last year’s ranking, the software sector had a strong representation on the ranking – 64% of ranked companies were from this sector. 16% of those companies on the ranking are in the communications sector, 12% are in the hardware sector and 4% are media companies. Looking within these sectors, the continued strength of the B2C is apparent, as is the strength of Ireland’s enterprise software companies, in particular around fintech and regtech.

All four provinces are featured on this year’s ranking. 27 of the winners are Leinster-based, 15 are based in Ulster, followed by Munster with 7 companies, and Connaught with one company.

Announcing the winners at the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 programme, Joan O’Connor, Partner, Deloitte said:

Each year, these awards showcase the very best of the Irish technology industry. What really strikes me this year is the focus the winning companies have on global markets – we estimate just under 90% of our winning companies’ revenues are generated by exports – this demonstrates the ambition and drive of Irish technology companies to diversify and the global nature of this business. Last year we highlighted that export markets would become increasingly important for the indigenous sector, given the Brexit challenge – and it’s clear the Fast 50 companies are tackling this challenge head on.

These awards offer a glimpse into the future of the technology market for venture capitalists and multinational companies and also provide an excellent opportunity for businesses to highlight their achievements, their future ambitions and aspirations in the global marketplace. Congratulations to all our winners.

In recognition of the growing importance of Ireland’s FinTech sector, this year’s programme saw the introduction of a Deloitte FinTech award category sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank.  Recognising that there are many young companies in the FinTech sector award, entrants were evaluated over three years rather than the four years.  Global Shares is the 2017 winner, a market-leading provider of highly innovative cloud-based software for share plan administration and financial reporting in the global employee share plan arena. The company has offices in Ireland, New York, California, Brazil, London and Portugal.

Clive Lennox, Director of Irish Business Development at SVB Financial Group, said:

We’re delighted to support the new FinTech award at the Deloitte Technology Fast 50. FinTech is an important and thriving sector for Ireland, seeing rapid growth and job creation. Congratulations to Global Shares on taking the inaugural award – we’ve been impressed with your team and technology and we look forward to hosting you in Silicon Valley next year.

The winning company will travel to Silicon Valley, on a trip tailored by Silicon Valley Bank to suit their growth trajectory where they will meet with key investors, strategic partners and prospects.

2017 MNC Patron Awards

Now a core part of the Technology Fast 50 Awards in Ireland, the Deloitte Multinational (MNC) Patron Awards enhance the richness of the process for entrants bringing insight from tech, telecom and life science multinationals to the programme and visibility for the entrants to those companies. Emphasising the importance of the relationship between multinationals and indigenous companies, this year’s ranking demonstrates the emergence and growth of a tech eco-system in Ireland, with many of the ranking supplying the MNC community here.

This year’s new award category is Life Science and the patron is Medtronic.

The Deloitte 2017 MNC Patrons presented the following awards:

• Innovative New Technology Award in association with Google - CarTrawler
• Export Award in association with Intel - xSellco
• Impact Award in association with PayPal - Teamwork.com
• Leading Female Award in association with Vodafone – Gillian French, CarTrawler
• Life Science award in association with Medtronic - Chanelle Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Ltd.

The Keynote speaker on the night was Duncan Stewart, Deloitte Canada with Deloitte representatives from a number of member firms present and Silicon Valley Bank personnel.

Details of the final Technology Fast 50 ranking list are available to download at www.fast50.ie.            

The 2017 Deloitte Fast 50 Ranking

Note: Links in above list go to the company websites of the individual winners. Deloitte accepts no responsibility for the content on these websites.

About the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Programme

To enter the Fast 50 Awards, companies must meet the criteria listed below. Entries must be submitted electronically with the necessary supporting documents (audited financial statements).

Fast 50 awards category:  

1. The company must have been in business for a minimum of four years with a turnover of at least €50,000 in 2013.

2. The company must be considered a technology company, which is defined as:

• Developing or owning proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues
• Producing technology
• Manufacturing technology-related products
• Being technology intensive, or using unique technology to solve problems
• Devoting a high percentage of effort to technology R&D

Using another company's technology or intellectual property in a unique way does not qualify.

3. Entrants can be public or private companies but the parent company must be headquartered in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. Subsidiaries or divisions of Irish or Northern Irish companies or multinational organisations do not qualify.

4. All submissions must be accompanied by signed accounts (pdf version) for the first and last financial year being measured in the competition. Unless a statutory exemption is being taken, these accounts must be unabbreviated and audited.

Silicon Valley Bank FinTech award                           

To be eligible to be considered for the FinTech award, entrants will be evaluated on various criteria over a three year period.  The winner of this award will travel to Silicon Valley, USA on a trip tailored to suit their growth trajectory where they will meet with key investors, strategic partners and prospects.

Deloitte 2017 Multinational Patron award categories  

1.    Innovative New Technology Award in association with Google 
This award is for the company that has created or introduced a new or innovative product or service to International markets that has helped grow their business over the last four years.  

2.    Export Award in association with Intel
This award rewards export based companies based on the percentage of exports, their export growth and their approach to exports

3.    Life Science Award in association with Medtronic
This award will be given to the Life Science company that demonstrates the highest level of investment as a percentage of turnover in research and development within their most recent year of trading.  

4.    Impact Award in association with PayPal
This award is for the company that has made the most significant impact within the current year. Companies will be given an opportunity to demonstrate how they have made an impact through their application. 

5.    Leading Female Award in association with Vodafone 
This award will be given to a leading female in technology who has contributed to business growth within their organisation.

For Further Information Please Contact

Aoibheann O’Sullivan
Murray
01 4980346
aoibheann.osullivan@murrayconsult.ie

Claire Quinn
Deloitte
01 4172356
cquinn@deloitte.ie

About Deloitte

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