The Red Herring editorial team selected the most innovative companies from a pool of hundreds from across Europe. The nominees are evaluated on 20 main quantitative and qualitative criterion: they include disruptive impact, market footprint, proof of concept, financial performance, technology innovation, social value, quality of management, execution of strategy, and integration into their respective industries.
This unique assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the actual track record and standing of a company, which allows Red Herring to see past the "buzz" and make the list a valuable instrument for discovering and advocating the greatest business opportunities in the industry.
"This year was rewarding, beyond all expectations" said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. "The global economic situation has abated and there are many great companies producing really innovative and amazing products. We had a very difficult time narrowing the pool and selecting the finalists. FACT-Finder shows great promise and therefore deserves to be among the Finalists. Now we're faced with the difficult task of selecting the Top 100 winners of Red Herring Europe. We know that the 2014 crop will grow into some amazing companies that are sure to make an impact."
Finalists for the 2014 edition of the Red Herring 100 Europe award are selected based upon their technological innovation, management strength, market size, investor record, customer acquisition, and financial health. During the months leading up to the announcement, hundreds of companies in the telecommunications, security, Web 2.0, software, hardware, biotech, mobile and other industries completed their submissions to qualify for the award.
The Finalists are invited to present their winning strategies at the Red Herring Europe Forum in Amsterdam, April 7-9, 2014. The Top 100 winners will be announced at a special awards ceremony the evening of April 9 at the event.
About FACT-Finder
Omikron creates software for outstanding shopping experiences putting the right data in the right channel. The Omikron ecommerce technology FACT-Finder - www.fact-finder.com - is Europe's market leader for on-site product search, navigation and merchandising in online shops. FACT-Finder is language independent, and increases conversion rates in more than 1,300 online shops. FACT-Finder is easy to integrate. Online shops have been able to increase their ecommerce sales up to 33 percent shortly after integrating the technology. Other intelligent technologies such as the Omikron Data Quality Server (built for SOA) and Worldmatch (developed for the fuzzy match of international data) provide clean and consistent data in all business processes. Leading European ecommerce pure players and retailers use Omikron's search and data quality solutions among them brands like Yves Rocher, Conrad, Hobbycraft, and Leroy Merlin.