Romania Holds 3rd Place in Deloitte CE Technology Fast 50

Four of the companies present in the ranking are new entries and the average growth registered among the Romanian entities ranked is 589%. Five of the companies are software developers and one is an Internet company. Two of the companies are based in Bucharest, two in Cluj-Napoca, one in Baia Mare and one in Sibiu.

“We would like to congratulate all the Romanian companies ranked in this year’s Fast 50 Technology report. All of them are testimony that with talent and innovation they can make a difference even in a very difficult market as the one of the past few years”, said Alina Mirea, Deloitte Partner and Fast 50 local project leader. “Their position is extremely motivating for others and we wish them success in identifying the best strategies to drive long term growth.”

With an average growth of 1,433%, Sibiu-based ITNT ranks fourth, the best placed among the Romanian companies. Qualified for the seventh year in a row in the ranking, Teamnet International SA is also among this year’s performers as it is present in two categories: 3rd place in the Big 5 category which marks those fast-growing companies that are too large to compete on equal terms in revenue-growth terms with smaller Fast 50 businesses and a 34th place (424% growth rate) in the main category Fast 50.

Softelligence ranks 27th (459% growth rate), followed by Life is Hard SRL which holds 28th place (453% growth rate). Fortech 37th (403%) and Trencadis 42nd (362%).
The average growth rate of CE’s Fast 50 technology companies increased to 698% from 671% in 2013. However, this is still well below the 1026% average achieved in 2012. Ten countries contribute to this year’s Fast 50 ranking: Poland (17), Hungary (10), Romania (six), Croatia (four), the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovakia (three each), Serbia (two) and Bulgaria and Estonia (one each). Twenty-six companies have entered the ranking for the first time, 10 moved up and 14 moved downwards. Software companies (26 entries) again lead the ranking, followed by Internet (12) and telecoms/networking (six) businesses.

The report also features a survey among the CEOs of the companies that have applied for the ranking and it reveals that innovation (20%) is the greatest management challenge they face. One of the threats CEOs identify is the limited access to specialized work force (28%), followed by the general economic climate (20.6%). More than half of the CEOs (54.7%) see future organic growth and 39.1% see international expansion. As regards to their revenues, 33.8% of the subjects estimate growth between 26-50% in 2014 while 52.3% plan to increase their R&D spending in the next couple of years.

About the ranking
Main Category Fast 50
In order to be considered eligible for the main Fast 50 ranking, companies must meet the following criteria:

• Annual revenues of at least 50,000 EUR between 2009 and 2013;
• Minimum five years of activity;
• Have its headquarters in a Central European country 
• Develop or manufacture propriety technologies or spend a significant amount of capital on research & development;
• Have an ownership structure that excludes majority-owned subsidiaries of strategic entities;
• Winners are then selected based on ranking eligible registrants by revenue growth over a five-year period from 2009 to 2013.

Rising Stars Category
In the ‘Rising Stars’ category, Deloitte ranks ‘young’ companies that show great potential but are too new to meet the minimum of five years in operation criteria for the main category. Eligible companies must be in operation between three and five years and have to exceed revenues of 30,000 EUR in each of the last three years (2011 – 2013). Otherwise the same criteria apply as for the main Fast 50 ranking.

Big 5 Category
The ‘Big 5’ category ranks large fast-growing companies that have achieved extraordinary growth in the previous five years. To be eligible, companies must meet the same criteria as the main Fast 50 ranking with the exception of annual revenue in the final measured year (2013), which must exceed 25 million EUR for this category.
More information about eligibility criteria and the ranking is available at www.deloitte.com/fast50ce.