Deloitte Announces 2015 North America Technology Fast 500™ Rankings

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Deloitte today released the 2015 Technology Fast 500, an annual ranking of the fastest growing North American companies in the technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech sectors. StartApp claimed the top spot with a growth rate of 21,984 percent from 2011 to 2014. Based in New York, StartApp provides a free monetization and distribution platform that integrates with applications on mobile devices. Founded in 2010, StartApp now partners with more than 200,000 applications, and has generated over seven billion software development kit (SDK) downloads to date.

Awardees are selected for this honor based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2011 to 2014. Overall, 2015 Technology Fast 500 companies achieved revenue growth ranging from 109 percent to 21,984 percent from 2011 to 2014, with an average growth of 850 percent.

"The technology space is constantly, and rapidly, evolving as new startups and overnight sensations enter the market delivering goods and services on a quicker and cost-effective scale," said Sandra Shirai, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. technology, media and telecommunications leader. "The 2015 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 winners have demonstrated remarkable innovation and at the same time have had a profound impact on businesses large and small. StartApp is just one example of a company disrupting the technology industry and we congratulate them for claiming the top spot and all of the winning companies on this impressive achievement."

"StartApp is truly honored to be recognized by Deloitte as the fastest growing company on the Fast 500 list of technology companies in North America," said Gil Dudkiewicz, CEO and co-founder of StartApp. "This award reflects our effort to build a platform based on machine learning and data insights in order to provide not only the most targeted advertising, but by far the most creative and innovative advertising. We are thrilled to receive this industry recognition and we'll continue our efforts in supporting our partners' growth and enhancing customer engagement through mobile technology. Finally, we emphasize that it is a collaborative effort and we thank our employees and partners around the world for helping us achieve this milestone." 

The top 10 ranked companies are as follows:

Regional innovation remains strong
This year's Deloitte Technology Fast 500 winners hail from cities far and wide across North America – from San Francisco; to Rockville, Maryland; to Richmond, British Columbia. Of the dozens of locations represented on the list, some have a particularly strong track record of turning out successful, fast growing companies that are releasing new, emerging technologies.

Well known as an innovation hotspot, Silicon Valley-based businesses are the most prominently ranked representing 20 percent of the companies on the list, with 62 percent in software. The New York Metro area came in second, with 14 percent of companies on the list coming from the area in software and digital content, and the media and entertainment sectors. Finally New England, Los Angeles and the District of Columbia also dominated as innovation centers in software, digital content, media and entertainment, and biotech.

Following is a list of innovative cities with a significant concentration of winners.

Software companies maintain 20-year stronghold
Software continues to have the greatest impact across technology sectors, representing 57 percent of the entire list and three of the top 10 winners overall. Of the private companies, 55 percent identified themselves in software as a service (SaaS), 37 percent in cloud computing, 37 percent in data analytics and 35 percent in mobile. Each year, since the creation of the ranking, software companies have made up the majority of winners, with an average growth rate of 667 percent this year.

Digital content, media and entertainment companies make up the second most prevalent sector in this year's rankings, comprising of 15 percent of the Technology Fast 500.

Biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies follow next with 11 percent of companies representing this year's list and an average growth rate of 938 percent. 

The percentage of companies from industry sectors represented on the Technology Fast 500 are as follows:

Majority of companies received venture backing
In the 2015 rankings, 64 percent of the companies were backed by venture capitalists at some point in their company history.

"North American technology hubs, including Silicon Valley and the New York Metro area continue to retain and reinforce investor confidence in both the ability to fundraise, as well as to achieve favorable returns on investment," said Jim Atwell, partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and national managing partner of the emerging growth company practice. "These regions will remain hotbeds for new technology companies and we expect that we will continue to see investors remain confident in investments in these regions as more startups emerge."

For additional details on the Technology Fast 500, including the complete list and qualifying criteria, visit www.fast500.com. Connect with us on Twitter: @DeloitteTMT; #Fast500.

About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including 80 percent of the Fortune 500. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to make their most challenging business decisions with confidence, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society.

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

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