Player X in Top 5 fastest growing firms

A REPORT issued by researcher Library House appears to suggest that technology companies are no longer the Darlings of VC business in the UK. The opposite seems to be true.

Library House stated that technology companies "appear to require a longer commitment from investors than is commonly anticipated," at almost eight years.

Which is a strange thing to say given that seven IT companies are in Library House's Top 20 fastest growing VC backed companies in Britain. Most of them have links to the telecommunications industry, too.

At No. 1 was Rocela - a consultancy that helps Oracle clients, which sowed a compound annual growth 224 per cent in one year [2006].

But the biggest surprise must surely be mobile games and TV specialist Player X, whose antics have long been recorded by the INQ.

Player X grew by an impressive 179 per cent in 2006 and came fourth. That compares to Number Five slot, Eazyfone, a company that repackages mobile phones for developing countries and grew at 164 per cent.

Player X was also selected as one of the finalists for the 2007 Red Herring 100 Europe Awards which recognises the top 100 private ventures in Europe.

Down at Number 11 is Neowave Distribution which claims to be a top supplier of GSM gateways. Formerly known as Wavelink, it grew by 112 per cent. But at Number 10 was another mobile orientated company - Pedagog.

Based in Wales this company specialises in sending video directly to a mobile phone from a wireless camera.

Instead of being the scourge of VC companies, IT and comms companies appear to be more than over-represented in the Top 20 fastest growing companies. µ

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