Seven software companies place Romania fourth in Deloitte's CEE technology top

Seven Romanian software companies have sent Romania on the fourth position in Deloitte's Central Europe Technology Fast 50 top, the company has announced. However, Romanian companies have registered a slower pace of growth than the region. “This is the first time that Romania sees a slower growth rate compared to the whole region, which indicates not only that companies must face a difficult environment given the global downturn, but also that they are slowly, yet definitely maturing as an industry,” said Ahmed Hassan, Audit Partner in Charge and TMT Leader with Deloitte Romania. The list of Romanian finalists includes TeamNet International (headquartered in Bucharest, 2nd place, with a growth rate of 3,120%), AROBS Transilvania Software(Cluj-Napoca, 13th, +831%), Crys Computers (new entry, Bucharest, 18th, +635%), Fortech (new entry, Cluj-Napoca, 19th, +629%), LASTING Software (Timisoara, 23th, +541%), The RED Point (Iași, 26th, +510%), and Advantage Software Factory (Bucharest, 41th, +301%). Romania joined the competition in 2008 and has been improving its performances ever since, from 6% (with three companies) to 14% (seven companies) today. This places Romania on the 4th position, after Poland (11), Hungary (10) and the Czech Republic (8). Deloitte Central Europe Technology Fast 50, now in its 11th edition ranks the fastest growing technology companies in the region, based on the growth rate of the revenues they have experienced over the last five years (2004 – 2008). Entrants must also own intellectual property that significantly contributes to the company's operating revenues; or they must devote a significant portion of revenues to research and development of technology. The largest company on the 2010 Fast 50 ranking in terms of revenue was the Slovak anti-virus company ESET. Slovakia had the highest average revenue (nearly EUR 30 million in 2009), followed by Estonia (EUR 15 million) and the Czech Republic (EUR 11 million). By comparison, Poland’s average revenue is almost EUR 5 million. editor@romania-insider.com