Deloitte has released the Technology Fast 50, a list of top growing companies per country in various technology sectors. Each year, Deloitte chooses companies that are less than 5 years old  No surprises for France, with Criteo taking the number one slot – the company has seen a reported 202,100% growth over the past 5 years. The #2 slot was taken by Deezer (10,455% growth over 5 years), who recently raised a €100M round of funding and launched their App Studio today. The two companies are synonymous with the French tech scene and its potential for creating global leaders.

Facts & Figures on Paris’ top Technology Companies

Criteo’s 102,000% growth is a curious one, and the figures paint a picture of a company with just that kind of growth potential. 40% of employees work to improve the company’s algorithms, the core of its technology. Criteo works with 3,000 eCommerce brands in the US, Europe & Asia. Everyday, Criteo generates millions of qualified leads due to their display ad technology, which makes the ROI on par with search ads, and they have disrupted display advertising altogether by offering a pay per click model, in a market otherwise dominated by pay per impression models.
Deezer’s music site, which offers users 5 hours of music listening free per month from a virtually endless catolog, also had a curious tale to tell. With over 26 million subscribers, 2 million of which are premium users ( there are 4.99€ and 9.99€ monthly plans), Deezer is now available in over 160 countries, the major exception to which is the USA, which they have notoriously avoided.
The third prize went to Sewan Communications, a B2B telecom company.
Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Investor Award
Deloitte also gave credence to Idinvest Partners, awarding them the Prix Capital Investissement (Capital Investment Prize). The firm counts both Deezer & Criteo among their investments, along with Meetic, Viadeo & Dailymotion. We wrote about them last year, calling them the “most active VC in France,” so it’s no surprise to see them on top.
You can read about our 3 takeaways from the Technology Fast 50 2011, the overall European list that Deloitte puts out each year.