Titan Gate and Accedia are the fastest-growing technology companies in Bulgaria according to Deloitte 2017 Fast 50. Deloitte CE Technology Fast 50 ranks fast growing innovative tech companies in Central and Eastern Europe. Poland and Croatia were the best-performing countries in the ranking this year. Two Bulgarian companies made the list, Titan Gate ranked 16th and Accedia ranked 26th.
Key Results
The average growth rate of Central Europe’s Fast 50 technology companies sets new record of 1127%.
For a second consecutive year, the average growth exceeds 1000 % and the list is again dominated by companies from the IT & Digital solutions sector, 39 out of 50 companies, confirming the sustainability of the current tech boom in Central Europe.
The top 5 companies are new to the Fast 50 list, although all were featured in the Rising Stars category in 2016.
The Rising Stars of 2016, in Top 5 for 2017, are exceptional businesses in a phase of stunning results, which is the case with the leader in Fast 50 2017 – the Czech online flight-booking business Kiwi.com. Last year’s fifth-placed Rising Star (under the name Skypicker.com) made an impressive 2016 and its four-year growth rate has leapt from 1,534 per cent in the last ranking to 7,165 per cent. The company aims by 2021 to become the world-leader in online travel.
Bulgaria
The two Bulgarian companies are ranked among the 50 fastest-growing CE technology companies in the main category Fast 50. Titan Gate is ranked in one more category – the special category “Big 5”.
Titan Gate Jsc (Internet, Media & Telecom sector) is ranked at 16th place with a four-year growth rate of 802 per cent. Titan Gate started out as a publisher, founding the tech site PhoneArena.com. In 2013 PubGalaxy was created – a platform for premium publishers, designed to help them attract quality advertisers and optimize yield through advanced technology.
Accedia Jsc (IT & Digital Solutions sector) is ranked at 26th place in the main category Fast 50 with a four-year growth rate of 495 per cent. Accedia is a Professional IT Services company, specializing in technology consulting, software development outsourcing, as well as development of end-to-end IT solutions. A month ago Accedia took Silver Award in the Employer of the Year category in the Stevie Awards for Great Employers. Soon after that it has been named ICT Employer of the Year at the annual awards organized by JobTiger and ICT Media. Just a week after Deloitte Fast 50 was published, Accedia took the award Outsourcing SME of the Year at GSA UK Awards 2017
Big Five Category
The Big Five category is for fast-growing larger companies whose scale makes it difficult for them to compete in revenue growth with the smaller businesses in the Fast 50. This year’s winner is Czech online and real-world fashion retailer, ZOOT, with a four-year growth rate of 820 per cent. Not far behind is Bulgarian publisher and ad-monetisation business Titan Gate with 802 per cent. And third is Lithuanian online retailer Pigu with 208 per cent.
Sectors
In 2017, the Fast 50 was once again dominated by companies from the IT & Digital Solutions sector (39). There were 10 entrants from the Internet, Media and Telecom sector, and just one from Clean Tech & Energy (down from three in 2016). There were no entrants from Biotech, Nanotech & Medtech.
According to Agnieszka Zielińska, Technology Fast 50 programme leader Deloitte Central Europe, “One of the most pleasing aspects of this year’s ranking is the number of companies in it that have ambitions to grow outside our region. The overall winner, Kiwi.com, heads that list with its objectives of becoming a world leader – and many others have similar ambitions, with clients, customers, offices and employees already in markets across Western Europe and North America. The truly amazing thing is the incredible youth of so many of these businesses. This year, 68 per cent in the main ranking are first-time entrants, and the most common year of foundation was just 2012. No one knows what the future holds, but the impetus is clearly with this dynamic new generation of entrepreneurial businesses, right across Central Europe’s tech sector.”
According to Assen Dimov, Technology Fast 50 programme leader for Bulgaria, “Companies that increase efficiency through new technologies, develop new products and business models are the drivers of a new way of thinking, essential for the development of modern technology industry. The ranking of Bulgarian companies in the Deloitte program for another year, shows that the Bulgarian sector is a part of the positive tendency that we are seeing in Central Europe.”
The second annual winner of Deloitte Fast 50 Most Disruptive Innovation (MDI) award is Serbia-based heating, ventilation and air-con innovator DADANCO Europe. The award marks those businesses that might not have made the ranking but are pioneering highly disruptive new ideas or technologies – DADANCO certainly fits the bill.
This year, 11 countries contribute companies to the Fast 50: Poland (19), Croatia (8), Lithuania (6), the Czech Republic (5), Romania (3), Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia (2 each), and Bosnia & Herzegovina, Estonia and Latvia (1 each).
To access the full report on Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Central Europe 2017, click here.