Every year, more and more entrepreneurs seem to recognise the potential of Amsterdam as a hub for innovation. As per the report, Amsterdam is the 5th most trusted among 89 European startup hubs wherein 53% of startup founders are foreign-born. They are making a beeline for Amsterdam’s flourishing startup ecosystem.
According to a recent Dealroom/StartupAmsterdam report, the combined value of Amsterdam’s tech ecosystem has expanded to €73B, compared to €10B in 2015. This makes Amsterdam the third-ranked tech ecosystem in Europe, by the total value of tech companies founded since 2000.
In a recent development, for the 21st consecutive time, Deloitte has organised the Technology Fast 50. This annual ranking recognises fast-growing technology startups in the Netherlands for their exceptional growth performance.
This year, the top 3 startups that won the Technology Fast 50 awards are based out of Amsterdam. These include:
Otrium
Rank & turnover growth: Finished 1st with a turnover growth of 11212%. (Winner of the Rising Star award last year)
Founded in: 2015
Founder(s): Max Klijnstra, Milan Daniels
Otrium is a technology platform on which fashion brands can sell their leftover stocks at a discount.
Zivver
Rank & turnover growth: Finished in 2nd place, with a turnover growth of 7082%
Founded in: 2015
Founder(s): Rick Goud
Zivver provides a secure document sharing and email communication solution for enterprises. It offers a secure mobile communication platform for encrypted emails and sharing large documents. It uses two-factor authentication (2FA) so that only the recipient can open the message. The company had already been nominated for the Rising Star award in 2018.
Windowsketch
Rank & turnover growth: Grabbed 3rd place with sales growth of 6,550%
Founded in: 2015
Founder(s): Floris Sanders
Windowsketch is a technology company in the retail business, focusing on digitisation and data-driven communication in retail stores. The company is a platform provider and system integrator for digital signage and label technology in the retail and real estate business.
About Deloitte Technology Fast 50
Technology companies older than four years (founded on or before 31-12-2015) can participate in the Technology Fast 50. The selection is based on the percentage growth in turnover over the past four years (2016 to 2019).
If a startup participates in the Technology Fast 50, in addition to placing in the rankings, it also has a chance to be declared a sector winner. These sectors include hardware, software, communications, media & entertainment, health care & life sciences, fintech, and environmental technology.
In addition, every year, an award for the Most Sustainable Grower is presented to the company that has achieved the highest positions in the annual ranking during the longest consecutive period. Besides, there’s also a Rising Star category wherein, companies which are under the age of four participate automatically.
Speaking on the development, Bart de Vries, a partner at Deloitte and program leader of the Technology Fast 50, says, “2020 is a very special and difficult year for many organisations. Startups and scaleups are looking for knowledge, money, and partners to further grow their company, especially in these times. It is great that we can give innovative organisations extra recognition through this award.”
The award ceremony was organised completely digitally for the first time to maintain social distancing amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
Rising Star 2020 and Most Disruptive Innovator award
Besides the top 3 awards, the fast-growing companies under the age of four also competed for the Rising Star 2020 and Most Disruptive Innovator award. Lightyear was the winner in both categories. A Dutch startup that offers solar-powered driving that is more efficient and delivers a range of over 700 KMs (most of the current and upcoming EVs deliver about 300 KMs). The independent jury assessed nine nominees on, among other things, scalability, innovative strength, and sales potential.
Most Sustainable Grower
Another category award – “Most Sustainable Grower”, was presented to Sendcloud – an all in one shipping platform for e-commerce platforms. Sendcloud was also a winner of The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 in 2017. This is the award for the company that has been in the ranking for the longest consecutive time. Sendcloud has been in the Technology Fast 50 ranking with the highest rating for four years in a row and has already won the Rising Star award in 2014.
8 out of the 10 winners are Amsterdam-based startups
Besides the top three, there were five more startups in the top 10 list that are based out of Amsterdam. These include:
- Mews (turnover growth of 3662%): Mews is designed to simplify and automate all operations for modern hoteliers and their guests. From the booking engine to check-out, from front desk to revenue management, and more
- Experiencegift (turnover growth of 2364%): The company makes the process of gifting easier. It offers unique gift cards for notable experiences. These gift cards include hotel-gift cards, which can be used to book rooms in 200,000 hotels from 140 hotel brands. There’s also an option to gift flights, cruises, and activities
- Picnic (turnover growth of 2044%): Picnic is an online supermarket that delivers all your groceries to your home for free
- Recruitee (turnover growth of 1363%): Recruitee is a modern talent acquisition platform, designed for recruiters and hiring managers alike. With Recruitee, you can address the needs of your hiring team at any stage. It is designed to help you launch your hiring, scale your practices, and lead your hiring team
- 3D Hubs (turnover growth of 1136%): With 3D Hubs’ online prototyping & manufacturing platform, engineers and designers can turn ideas into objects in only a few days, with precision 3D printed, CNC’d, or injection moulded parts, and even move straight into volume manufacturing
Image credit: Otrium
