Czech businesses dominate Deloitte's Fast 50 rankings for 2021

For foreign investors, central and eastern Europe has long held attractive growth possibilities. Despite the inevitable negative effects of the Covid pandemic, recent years have seen continued growth in private equity investments in the region. Such investment has driven the region’s economic growth, with one of the highest job creation rates per investment in Europe.

Now, global consultancy firm Deloitte has compiled a ranking of the 50 fastest-growing companies in this rapidly developing region, based on revenue growth over a four-year period from 2017 to 2020. The good news? A huge proportion of the companies included in the list come from the Czech Republic.

19 out of the 50 fast-growing companies are Czech. The Czech Republic easily beat its much larger neighbor Poland, which is home to 16 of the companies on the list. These two countries were far ahead of the rest of the countries in the region: third place went to Slovakia, with only five of the 50 companies.

It’s clear that the Czech Republic’s rapidly growing IT sector is in large part responsible for its position at the top of the rankings. Recent months have seen several notable investments by foreign IT companies in the Czech Republic, but the growth spurt is being felt by local companies too. The vast majority of the 50 fastest-growing companies are financial technology or software firms benefiting from the rapid digitization of the economy hastened by the pandemic.

Some of these have recorded truly astonishing growth. The fastest-growing company in the region, Czech fintech company FTMO, had a four-year growth rate of 39,432 per cent. FTMO provides a platform for experienced, independent financial traders who lack capital the opportunity to operate as “FTMO traders.”

“These growing young companies will go on to develop the talent that in turn provides the bedrock for the next generations of young businesses. And they will forge stronger relationships with larger, more established businesses that want to embrace ‘digital optimization’ to compete better on an increasingly global stage,” said Nir Chinsky, Managing Director Google Cloud CEE, the partner for Deloitte’s study.

The Czech Republic’s integration with western Europe and its strong economic development compared with other former eastern-bloc states has given it an advantage in attracting investment for local business. This advantage is only likely to get bigger as growth for local companies outstrips regional rivals. Success breeds more success; and with the Czech Republic’s reputation as a technology powerhouse already established, the post-pandemic era could see even more exciting developments in the country.