Deloitte Romania opens application for the 21st edition of Technology Fast 50 Central Europe competition, addressed to large and small local companies in the technology sector, public and private, which register accelerated growth. Held simultaneously 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 competition provides both established and emerging technology companies the platform to highlight their leading position in their field of activity.

Andrei IonescuFoto: Deloitte Romania

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 winners of the Fast 50 2020 edition are selected by ranking their revenue growth for the period 2016-2019. In order to be considered eligible for the main CE Fast 50 ranking, companies must meet several financial criteria. Thus, they will have to have a minimum €50,000 annual operating revenue in the first three years (2016-2018) and at least €100,000 in 2019, be headquartered in Central Europe and own proprietary intellectual property or proprietary technology.

“Technology Fast 50 Central Europe competition represents for many local players the recognition of their commitment and desire to innovate in technology, their capacity and strategic entrepreneurial vision. Romania is among the countries that witnessed this appreciation both at European and global level, confirming the high appetite of companies for the development of technologies capable of shaping the world,” said Andrei Ionescu, Partner-in-Charge, Management Consulting and Risk Advisory, Deloitte Romania, and Local Leader for Technology Fast 50 Central Europe competition.

Since 2008, the moment Romania first entered the competition, 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”. They include, UiPath, a global leader in robotic process automation, one of the Romanian companies recognized in 2017 with the “Rising Stars” award, and the travel agency Vola.ro, awarded for the “Biggest Growth in Central Europe” in 2011 and holder of the first position for the next two consecutive years.

The competition has two categories – “Fast 50” and “Rising Stars” - and one special recognitions - the “Impact Stars” category, the newest addition to the ranking, which recognizes a company for successfully linking great products and services with a positive impact on society, business, innovativeness, environment and diversity.

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, here. Eligible applicants will automatically enter in the Deloitte EMEA Technology Fast 500 competition.

The application process will close on 14th of August 2020. The ranking results will be announced in November 2020.

Historical winners are available here: www.deloitte.com/cefast50.

Deloitte provides worldwide audit, consulting, legal, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and related services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. Deloitte serves four out of five Fortune Global 500 companies through a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries and territories, bringing world-class capabilities, insights, and high-quality service to address clients' most complex business challenges. Deloitte's goal is to make an impact that matters through its more than 312,000 professionals.

Deloitte Romania is one of the leading professional services organizations in the country providing, in cooperation with Reff & Associates | Deloitte Legal Romania, services in audit, tax, legal, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, business processes as well as technology services and other related services, through more than 1,700 professionals.

Please see www.deloitte.com/ro/about to learn more about the global network of member firms.