Applications open for Deloitte Romania’s 20th edition of the Technology Fast 50 Central Europe competition

Deloitte Romania has opened applications for the 20th edition of Technology Fast 50 Central Europe competition, the prestigious regional ranking for fast growing companies in the technology sector. Large and small, public and private local companies can now apply for the competition, simultaneously with companies in other 17 Central European countries, namely Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.  

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Central Europe is a program that ranks 50 fast growing technology companies, based on percentage revenue growth over the previous four years, and includes all related industry sectors – communications, environmental technology, fintech, hardware, healthcare and life sciences, media and entertainment, software. The competition provides both established and emerging technology companies the platform to highlight their leading position in their field of activity.

For the Fast 50 2019 edition, winners are selected by ranking their revenue growth for the 2015-2018 period. In order to be considered eligible for the main CE Fast 50 ranking, companies must meet several financial criteria: have a minimum of EUR 50,000 in annual operating revenue in the first three years (2015-2017) and at least EUR 100,000 in 2018, be headquartered in Central Europe and own proprietary intellectual property or proprietary technology.

“Technology Fast 50 Central Europe competition has been the powerhouse of many local players that became market leaders, which reinforces Romanian’s position at the forefront of innovation in technology not only at CE level, but also worldwide. Companies acknowledge the Fast 50 as a way of gaining regional, European and worldwide recognition,” said Dinu Bumbăcea, Consulting Partner-in-charge, Deloitte Romania, and Local Leader for Technology Fast 50 Central Europe competition.

Romania embarked on the competition journey in 2008 and since then, 30 local businesses have been either included among the fastest growing 50 companies in Central Europe or awarded with distinctions in special categories, such as “Rising Stars” or “Big 5”. For instance, UiPath, a global leader in robotic process automation, was one of the Romanian companies recognized in 2017 with the “Rising Stars” award. The travel agency Vola.ro was awarded for the “Biggest Growth in Central Europe” in 2011 and held the first position for the next two consecutive years.

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In 2018, two Romanian companies were present in the fast 50 ranking – Trencadis and Mondly. The first is specialized in software solutions for the government and business environment, founded in 2007, ranked 13th in the 50 fastest growing, with a revenue growth rate of 730 percent. Mondly is a platform that uses cutting-edge technologies like chatbots with voice recognition, augmented and virtual reality to help users learn foreign languages, entered the “Rising Stars” category.

The competition has three categories – “Fast 50”, “Rising Stars” and “Big 5” – and two special recognitions – the “Most Disruptive Innovation” and the “Social Impact” award.

The impact of the Fast 50 program extends beyond Central Europe. All participating companies that meet the program’s criteria (not only those that make the top 50) also have the opportunity to be recognized in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Fast 500 ranking. Alongside Deloitte’s US and Asia Pacific Fast 500 initiatives, this will bring them local, national, international, and social media exposure.

The online application and eligibility criteria can be found on the regional Technology Fast 50 website. Eligible applicants will automatically enter in the Deloitte EMEA Technology Fast 500 competition. The application process will close on July 31, 2019. The results will be announced in October 2019.