Deloitte Fast 500 – Encouraging Technological Innovation

Established in 1997 during what came to be known as the ‘dotcom boom’, or ‘dotcom bubble’, the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Awards highlight the outstanding success of US technology companies in an ever-evolving world of innovation. Run and moderated by renowned professional services provider Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, more commonly referred to and branded simply as Deloitte, the awards incorporate all areas of technology and include both private and public companies. Participants include everything from internet service providers, through to computer software and hardware providers, life sciences and semiconductors, with the main criteria being relative growth in revenue over a period of five years.

The aim of the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Awards is primarily to acknowledge the efforts of technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) providers to “innovate, overcome obstacles and systematically defy the odds” – and anyone involved in information technology would no doubt agree that in this age of high-speed access to information, it takes tremendous effort to remain in the running, let alone to become the leader of the pack.

Although originally aimed at American companies, technology has turned the world into a global village, and Deloitte has responded to this by expanding the competition to include three categories, being: North American and Canada; Asia Pacific; and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Moreover, the competition includes the Fast 50 award, which is made at country level in a number of different locations around the world and is co-sponsored by Taylor Wessing and Fidelity Growth Partners Europe.

For 2010, the top 5 companies in North America were Hughes Communications Inc. (164.079% growth), Affymax Inc. (155.169% growth), Insulet Corp. (131.964 % growth), Ener1 Inc. (57.9% growth), and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (48.972% growth). In the EMEA ranking, London-based Mobile Interactive Group took first place with a five year revenue growth of 26.885%, followed by Netmedia from Poland (15.005% revenue growth), Rosservice from Russia (11.623%), DisplayLink from the UK (9.041%), and Mimecast from the UK (7.579%) in fifth place. Winners in the Asia Pacific region included Giga Solar Materials Corp of Taiwan in first place, followed by Vocus Communications from Australia, China United Cleaning Technology, GREE Inc from Japan, and Guodian United Power Technology from China.

The new year brings new opportunities for technology-oriented companies to make their mark and gain global recognition in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 awards. Investors will no doubt be watching with interest to see which companies should be included in their investment portfolios.