A month ago we teamed up with global payments technology provider Adyen to launch a new competition in search of Europe’s fastest growing tech startups: The European Tech5. After receiving a ton of submissions and screening more than a hundred companies across seven countries in Europe, the list of the fastest growing young European tech companies is ready.
The Tech5 lists are based on actual revenue, traffic and employee data and shows the growth rate between 2011 and 2013. The main entry criteria for the Tech5 was that they must’ve launched in 2009 or later, have more than €500,000 in revenue (2013), and build its own (scalable) product or service driven by technology. All country winners will present their company at the upcoming TNW Europe Conference.
The UK Tech5
It perhaps comes as little surprise that the UK has a vibrant tech scene. Taxi-ordering app Hailo has demonstrated amazing growth in recent years, and has become the preferred option for many locals and visitors. And with a great domain-name comes great growth, or so it seems with e-commerce favorite Made.com, which operates in the UK, Italy and France. You could say…they ‘made’ it.
- Hailo (+4003%)
- Made.com (+2567%)
- Swiftkey (+1258%)
- Affectv (+899%)
- HouseTrip (+597)
Next up: The German Tech5
The German Tech5
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The German Tech5 showed that food delivery is big business. Foodpanda and DeliveryHero are both giants in the industry, and continued to demonstrate high growth over the past 2 years.
Newcomer Run a Shop shows tremendous growth too. The affiliate network found a way to turn traffic into affiliate income and make a profit, and will be opening its platform to publishers soon to maintain its growth.
Shopgate is blazing a trail in the m-commerce space too, with offices around the globe and a platform it’s customers love. While GetYourGuide, which acquired Dutch company Gidsy last year, keeps on growing in the travel realm with stunning design.
- Runashop (+8357%)
- Shopgate (+1122%)
- Delivery Hero (+567%)
- FoodPanda (+500%)
- GetYourGuide (+414%)
Next up: The Dutch Tech5
The Dutch Tech5
The Netherlands shows a lot of young companies with substantial growth and very healthy business models, but it lacks the hyper-growth rates we see in Sweden, Germany and the UK.
Technology company Eyefreight comes in first with its b2b supply chain applications. Cleeng, launched at TNW Conference in 2011, is also making tracks with its e-commerce platform for digital content.
If you have kids (or just want to find great businesses, take a look at Squla too. Dutch parents and their kids are raving about it, and it’s one of those businesses parents love to spend their money on.
- Eyefreight (+700%)
- Cleeng (+513%)
- Greenclouds (+500%)
- imgZine (+380%)
- Squla (+257%)
Next up: The Swedish Tech5
The Swedish Tech5
Sweden is where startups are exploding, figuratively speaking of course. Probably the most beloved startup with Swedish blood is IKEA Spotify, but take one look at the Swedish Tech5 and you see that there is more where that came from.
A new gaming giant is emerging from mist: MAG interactive are the creators of addictive titles such as Ruzzle and Quizcross. Word on the street is that this is the most profitable company in Sweden. iZettle too is showing exponential growth. The Swedish are really doing a “Bra jobb”.
- MAG interactive (+5740%)
- iZettle (+4140%)
- Fyndiq (+1324%)
- Lifesum (+695%)
- Campanja (+524%)
Next up: The French Tech5
The French Tech5
In France there are lots of super young companies doing fantastic work. Leetchi helps to collect money among friends for group gifts and events, while Lima received more than $1.2 million in pre-orders from Kickstarter for its mini smart hard-drive. Creads, the network for creatives, not only demonstrates a 200% growth, but also raised $5 million just last week.
- Leetchi (+340%)
- Uplike (+323%)
- Meetlima (+260%)
- Creads (+200%)
- KelBillet (+186%) (winner public vote)
Next up: The Belgian Tech5
The Belgian Tech5
The Belgian tech scene might not be the biggest one, but it’s healthy and moving. As well as making great beer, the country also builds cool companies.
Showpad is quickly making a mark in the world of sales, while Engagor has built an all-in-one social media management tool that’s finding its market. Posios is a neat point-of-sale SaaS business that we will definitely hear more from in the future.
- Showpad (+700%)
- Engagor (+540%)
- WooRank (+488%
- Argus Labs (+114%)
- Posios (one to watch)
Next up: The Spanish Tech5
The Spanish Tech5
If there are five companies that can get Spain out of its economic predicament, I’d bet my money on these five.
Akamon Entertainment creates online casino and betting games that are played globally. And Cabify, which raised $8 million on April fools day (no joke), is expanding its taxi service in Latin American countries at a rapid rate and GetApp is doing well with its business apps marketplace.
- Akamon (+860%)
- Cabify (+396%)
- GetApp (+347%)
- ReviewPro (+142%)
- Kantox (one to watch)
Next up: The EU Tech5
The EU Tech5
All country winners will present their company during TNW Europe Conference where the overall official EU Tech5 will be announced.
TNW Europe Conference is the place where the tech scene gathers for two days of business, inspiration, pragmatic marketing and digital business tips. If you’ve never been, grab one of the last 250 tickets today.
If you have been in the past, there is a 91% chance that you already registered. The whole TNW team is looking forward to seeing you there.
P.S. Big ups to Adyen, without whom we couldn’t have organised this. A truly great partner.
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