The Next Web has been hunting down the fastest-growing startups in Europe. These startups include companies from France, United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden. These companies represent the best their respective countries have to offer and have gathered at the TNW Conference Europe as part of the Tech5 competition.
The companies presenting were chosen from hundreds of startup submissions from seven European nations. The companies were chosen based on actual revenue, traffic and employee data between 2011 and 2013. These companies are not only competing to be named the fastest-growing tech company in Europe, but also hoping the best overall company by the judges.
Here are the day-two Tech5 startups. Check the Tech5 page later today for the competition winners:
Leetchi
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Based out of Paris, Leetchi is a payment solution company. The fastest growing startup out of France in the competition, the service helps users easily collect money from multiple folks for group gifts, trips, or charitable contributions.
A helpful service when you’re the person charged with collecting money from a group of friends. The money collected can be transferred to a bank account or sent to a friend. If the money is used to purchase goods from a Leetchi partner, there are no transaction fees. For a cash out, the company gets a four percent cut.
Because launching a service like this, France requires obtaining a banking license, Leetchi has created the Mangopay API for other companies that require a payment solution. Each transaction has a flat 1.8 percent transaction fee.
The French company is licensing Mangopay throughout Europe. While Leetchi is available via a site and an iOS app.
➤ Leetchi
MAG Interactive
MAG Interactive is a 30-person Swedish mobile game developer. It’s created the games Ruzzle and Quizcross. The company’s hit Ruzzle hit the number one game spot in the U.S. App Store.
Since launch, Ruzzle has had 50 million players. Using that huge audience, the company is using analytics to extend its game portfolio. With cross-promotion, Ruzzle is being used to inform players of new MAG Interactive games including the new Ruzzle Adventures.
To keep the audience playing its games, MAG Interactive keeps a team on each game after launch. In 2014 it expects to launch two new games. Both of those games will have dedicated teams.
Run a Shop
The German startup Run a Shop, helps sites create highly customizable affiliate ads. The 32 person team based in Berlin with developers in Ukraine, has developed an API for its ad widget.
The ad widget or banner can be adjusted to match the look and feel of a site. The widget and banner ads aggregate multiple vendors like Amazon, Ebay, and Shopping.com. Instead of getting a single price, visitors to a site can check the prices across multiple vendors. This is all accomplished with a tiny piece of code.
The ads have already gone live in 19 countries and the company is relaunching a publisher network in addition to the ads that have already launched on third-party sites.
Hailo
The London-based taxi app Hailo for iOS and Android was started by three London taxi drivers and three developers. Since 2012 the staff has grown to over 100 employees and over 50,000 drivers in Europe, North America and Asia.
Riders use the app to request and track taxis. When the car arrives, a notification is pushed to the rider’s mobile device. So far, the company has over 1 million registered customers that have taken over 13 million rides. Currently, every two seconds someone is taking a Hailo enabled taxi ride.
Halio has already acquired over a $100 million in investment and plans on expanding its taxi network.
➤ Hailo
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