Deloitte recognises entrepreneurial ICT success

The need for entrepreneurship and innovation among small ICT businesses, and the potential that these organisations have to alleviate poverty and stimulate the economy, has been widely acknowledged by organisations such as the United Nations and the World Economic Forum, as well as by the South African government.

So says Sharoda Raperti, a director of technology, media and telecommunications at Deloitte, who adds that the local ICT industry plans to create one million jobs in this sector by 2020, as well as reach a target of 100% broadband penetration by the same year.

For Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos, success comes when a company embraces “aculture that high-fives small and innovative ideas” and companies need to be patient in order to allow these unique ideas to bear fruit.

It is this kind of enterprise that the Deloitte Fast 50 programme looks to highlight.

Over the past decade, Deloitte has rewarded companies through the Fast 50 and Fast 500 programmes, which rank the fastest-growing international technology companies, showcasing the extent of their growth. Deloitte South Africa joined the Fast 50 programme this year and is searching for the next generation of technology companies that embody a spirit of business growth, technological innovation and entrepreneurship.

“Across both developed and developing economies, we estimate that companies that have ranked in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 have generated more than £5 billion of value for their shareholders in exits and IPOs since featuring in the Fast 50,” says Raperti, adding that many have become “Tier 1 companies” in their own capacities or have been acquired by blue chip corporates. Companies such as TomTom, Crucell, ByBox and Albumprinter have featured on the index in the past.

In 2011, the UK winner was Mobile Interactive Group (MIG). Under a decade old, MIG employs just 160 people. The company has invested in mobile and digital infrastructure and recently acquired a mobile CRM software business. It has also opened two subsidiary businesses - a mobile advertising agency and a digital technology agency. MIG's success stems from the fact that it offers a variety of services that companies previously had to deal with multiple suppliers to obtain.

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 China programme was won by yihaodian.com, a company that pioneered the "online supermarket" in the Chinese e-commerce industry. The start-up has more than 12 million registered customers, several thousand suppliers, and sells over 120 000 types of commodities. At just four-years-old, today yihaodian.com is one of China's largest and fastest-growing e-commerce companies.

South African companies that wish to enjoy the same success can enter the Fast 50 programme by visiting the Deloitte Web site. Entries close on 14 September.