These are the fastest-growing companies in Central Europe

London, U.K. – A few days ago, the Financial Times published the list of the 1.000 fastest-growing companies in Europe – an exhaustive ranking of Europe-based firms that achieved the highest compound annual growth rate in revenue from 2014 to 2017.

To make the prestigious ranking, now in its third year, companies had to meet several criteria, including reporting revenue of at least 1.5 million euros in 2017 and being an independent company (no subsidiary or branch office are accepted in the ranking). If a company is listed on a stock exchange, its share price shouldn’t have fallen by 50% or more since 2017, in order to appear on the Financial Times‘ list.

Only 91 companies across Europe have demonstrated consistent turnover growth to make the FT‘s list three years in a row.

This year, the fastest-growing company on the continent is U.K.-based Blue Motor Finance, which provides point-of-sale car finance, edging off the top spot British food-delivery startup Deliveroo, now number 2, followed by Estonia’s very own Taxify.

All in all, 36 of Europe’s 1.000 fastest-growing companies have their headquarters in one of the V4 countries: Poland takes the lion’s share with 22 companies, followed by Hungary (7), Slovakia (4) and the Czech Republic (3).

With an absolute revenue growth of nearly 2.800%, Poland‘s TenderHut (23rd fastest-growing company in Europe) tops the charts and is the most financially successful company in Central Europe: founded in 2010 and based in Białystok, in the country’s north-east, TenderHut is the Polish leader in IT and digital solutions.

Other top performing Polish companies include Tooploox (28th in the ranking, digital solutions company), Domator24.com (35th, personal & household goods sales), ENPIRE (73rd, transportation and logistics company based in Bydgoszcz), advertising company Salelifter (75th), technology and marketing firm RTB House (187th), batteries and electronic equipment supplier Pawel Ochynski CSG (200th) and the IT consulting and software development company Codete (336th).

Other fast-growing Polish businesses are mostly concentrated in the high-tech sector, including Absolvent.pl (339th), The Software House (350th) and ANT (379th). E-commerce website Travelist (389th) and advertising group TENSE (481st) also made it unto the FT‘s list. Nine other Polish companies are ranked between the 500 and 1.000 fastest-growing in Europe.

With seven companies among the 1.000 fastest-growing firms in Europe, Hungary comes at the second position among V4 countries. But only one company made it to the top 500: Optiwella, a telecoms company based in the southern Hungarian city of Szeged, near the Serbian and Romanian borders, and leading supplier of cable modems. Founded in 2011, Optiwella is the 444th fastest-growing company in Europe and reported an absolute revenue growth of nearly 400%.

Other top performing Hungarian companies operate in the e-commerce and technological sector, automotive industry or agricultural commodities trade.

Slovakia has four companies listed in the FT‘s ranking, three of which are placed in the top 500 fastest-growing businesses in Europe: Laudaco (140th in Europe) is an interior and laminate flooring company based in Presov, with an absolute revenue growth of over 900%. Connect Partner (267th) is a sales and marketing company founded in 1997, while Instarea (340th), founded in 2008, deals in big data monetization for clients in Slovakia and elsewhere in Central Europe.

And finally, the Czech Republic counts three companies among the most financially successful in Europe: with an absolute revenue growth rate of over 1.500%, Accolade Holding is ranked at the 56th place Europe-wide. Founded in 2010, the company leases and invests in industrial and business property, mostly in the Czech Republic and Poland, and owns and manage the airport of the country’s second largest city, Brno.

STRV (171st) is a digital services and technology company whose clients include the famous dating app Tinder and German airline Lufthansa; already present in the two previous editions, popular Czech retailer ZOOT is ranked 330th fastest-growing company in Europe this year.

Although London remains the top city for highest-growing companies, with 63 businesses based there, Germany has the lion’s shares, with nearly a quarter of all the Financial Times‘ top 1.000 firms (232 companies listed). The country is followed by Italy (210), France (176) and the United Kingdom (131 companies listed). Combined, these four countries accounted for more than 75% of the businesses listed in the ranking.