BrazilThe 20 fastest growing tech companies in the Middle East
What are the fastest growing technology companies in the Middle East? What are the most promising tech startups? Having concluded its annual Technology Fast 50 assessment, Deloitte’s number crunchers have come with the insights.
Deloitte’s annual Technology Fast 50 Program is a competition for technology companies and start-ups with a single aim: identifying the fastest growers. Concepted in the United States close to three decades ago, the Fast 50 Program has over the years sprung across the globe, with the Middle East edition first taking place last year.
Nearly 100 businesses entered the second edition, nearly half of which are based in the UAE, with others coming from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar, as well as Lebanon, Cyprus and Egypt. Demonstrating the high bar set by the participants, the average growth rate across companies was 277% during the four-year period studied.
The top ranked technology grower is Capital.com, a fintech company that helps people buy and trade shares, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies. The firm’s easy-to-use app is used by more than 7 million users, enabling them to trade across markets worldwide. Over the past four years, Capital.com (which is headquartered in Cyprus) realised a massive growth of 2,210%.
Jordan based fintech company Dinarak and UAE based media & entertainment company Brandripplr ranked second and third, with 820% and 816% growth respectively. The top ten is rounded off by Municorn, CSP Solutions, AlgoDriven, Payabl, Justlife, Moodfit, and Trukker.
Dinarak is an impact-driven and customer-centric mobile payment service provider licensed by Central Bank of Jordan. Dinarak serves more than 400,000 customers, businesses, and government agencies with a full suite of innovative digital financial services. Established in 2016, Dinarak has been playing a fundamental role in increasing financial inclusion in Jordan.
Brandripplr is an influencer agency and platform. Its platform partners with 18,000+ vetted regional creators to help brands deliver effective influencer marketing campaigns. Since its inception, Brandripplr has facilitated launched 2,000+ campaigns across the GCC region for some 500 clients.
The spots eleven to twenty are held by: Mekdam Technologies, Solar Staff, Beyon Cyber, 3CX, CI8, Plant Shop, You Cloud Pay, Softline, and AdTech Holding.
“The Technology Fast 50 competition has shown that even in times of uncertainty, tech companies can adapt and capture phenomenal growth,” said Kyriacos Charalambides, the Leader of the Fast 50 Program in the Middle East.
David Stark, a partner at Deloitte, added: “It has been exciting to see the pool of companies participating in this year’s program with regional entrepreneurs exploring a wide variety of fields and developing innovative solutions that address different business challenges. We are confident that they will continue to contribute to the region’s digital transformation and job creation, as well as play a significant role as drivers of future growth.”
Top tech start-ups
As part of the Technology Fast 50 program, Deloitte also provided the Rising Star accolade, dedicated to start-ups that don’t qualify for the competition (as they have been trading for less than three years and therefore are not eligible to participate) but demonstrate “great growth potential”.
The Rising Star ranking is topped by Flexfin, a Cyprus-based start-up. Englease (an edtech from the UAE) and AdOperator (a Cypriot martech) complete the top three, with Sure Payment, The Mighty Kitchen, EShipfinance, Lumofy, Dieture, and Sim Lead also featured in the list.
Winner Flexfin is a digital factoring (invoice financing) company providing liquidity and receivables management services predominantly to SMEs in Greece and Cyprus through its online platform.
Reflecting on the completion of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 in the region, partner Emmanuel Durou said: “The second edition of the Fast 50 program for the Middle East highlights Deloitte’s commitment to the continued growth of the region’s booming tech scene. We look forward to the next edition!”
