Technology Fast 50

Winners

ezetop, the company which enables people living or working abroad to instantly top up mobile phones of friends and family back home, has achieved top spot in this year’s Deloitte Technology Fast 50 awards for the second year running. This is the first time a company has achieved the top spot for two years running in its 14 year history. The company achieved a growth rate of 3630% over the last five years.

The company operates the largest international online recharge site as well as online white label recharge solutions for mobile operators.  Services are also available from over 450,000 retail locations and directly from mobile operators across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

The Fast 50 programme, now in its fourteenth year in Ireland, ranks the fastest growing technology companies in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The awards rank the very best of the Irish indigenous technology sector and are among Ireland’s longest standing technology awards.

The average growth rate of the Fast 50 companies named in this year’s ranking is 361%. Second place on this year’s ranking was taken by Belfast based Sixteen South with a growth rate of 2214%. The company develops and produces premium quality children’s television for national and international broadcasters.  

Dublin based Sláinte Healthcare took third spot on the ranking. Through the deployment of its proprietary software, the leading technology company enables healthcare providers create efficiencies while also reducing costs, reducing change management challenges and providing better patient outcomes. It achieved a growth rate of 1639% over the last five years.

Inhance Technology, a Cork based company specialising in device protection ranked fourth with a growth rate of 847%. The 2010 winner, Software Asset Management Ireland, a leading supplier of software and information technology solutions to the education and voluntary sector, continued its strong performance with fifth place and a growth rate of 778%.

Northern Ireland based companies performed particularly strongly in this year’s ranking securing 18 spots in total, an increase of three on last year. Two Northern Ireland companies, Novosco and Texthelp, have featured in the ranking since the beginning of the programme.  

Two companies have also been awarded Rising Star awards. This category recognises younger companies with the fastest growth in turnover over the past three years. Lucey Technology Ltd, a company at the forefront of cloud technology for the SME sector partnering with local and multinational companies to offer online portals, payments, collaboration tools, mobile platforms amongst others, represented the Republic of Ireland in this category. The Northern Ireland winner was Belfast based Ka-boom Post Productions. The company provides a full post production service for TV and film.  

In total there are six newcomers to the ranking – four from the Republic of Ireland (Inhance Technology, Medserv, IT Quotes and Rockall Technologies) and two from Northern Ireland (Catalyst2 and Instil Software).

Announcing the winners of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 programme, Richard Howard, Partner with Deloitte, Dublin said: “The confidence that the Fast 50 companies have in terms of expanding abroad is particularly apparent this year. Over the course of the programme in Ireland we have observed many Fast 50 participants being acquired by larger multinationals. However we are now seeing an emerging trend of Irish companies looking to acquire abroad, either to enhance their intellectual property or grow their sales channel. This trend demonstrates the maturing of the technology sector in Ireland and shows the possibility of creating truly global companies here.”

Six counties across the island of Ireland are represented on this year’s listing. Dublin leads the way with 27 companies. Antrim has a strong representation on the ranking with 15 companies. There are four companies from Cork, two from Derry while Down and Limerick are represented by one company each.  

The awards took place in the Titanic building in Belfast on Friday 8 November.  Paul Lee, Head of Global Research for Technology, Media and Telecommunications at Deloitte was keynote speaker at the event. Media sponsors included the Sunday Business Post and Ulster Business and corporate sponsors of the event were Invest NI.

Fast 50 ranking

County breakdown
Dublin – 27 companies

Antrim – 15 companies

Cork – 4 companies

Derry – 2 companies

Down – 1 company

Limerick – 1 company

About the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Programme

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

Entry criteria:
Entrants must have been operating for a minimum of five years, with a turnover of at least €50,000 for 2008.

• 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 do not qualify.
• Each entrant must be a technology company defined as producing technology; manufacturing technology-related products; being technologically intensive or using technology in problem-solving; or devoting a high percentage of effort to the research and development of technology

Rising Star category
Companies who wish to enter the programme, which have not been in business for the minimum 5 years may qualify for the Rising Star category on satisfaction of the following criteria:

• Entrants must have been operating for a minimum of three years and less than five years, with turnover of at least €30,000 for 2010.
• 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 do not qualify.
• Each entrant must be a technology company defined as producing technology; manufacturing technology-related products; being technologically intensive or using technology in problem-solving; or devoting a high percentage of effort to the research and development of technology.

About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity. Please see www.deloitte.com/ie/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and its member firms.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

Deloitte’s 1,200 people in Dublin, Cork and Limerick provide audit, tax, consulting, and corporate finance services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. With a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries, Deloitte brings world-class capabilities and high-quality service to clients, delivering the insights they need to address their most complex business challenges.

Deloitte has in the region of 200,000 professionals, all committed to becoming the standard of excellence.