Deloitte Announces 2012 Technology Fast 500 Rankings

On November 14, Deloitte announced the 2012 Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, and clean technology companies in North America.

Tesla Motors, Inc. clinched the top spot with fiscal year 2011 revenue of $204.24 million and a growth rate of 279,684 percent from 2007 to 2011. Based in Palo Alto, California, the company designs and manufactures electric vehicles and electric vehicle power train components.

"The 2012 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 winners have demonstrated remarkable innovation and spectacular growth", said Eric Openshaw, vice chairman and US technology, media, and telecommunications leader, Deloitte LLP. "Some of the most exciting and useful developments of the future are being created by the companies on this list. We congratulate Tesla and all of the winning companies on this impressive achievement."

"Tesla took great strides as a company this past year by successfully delivering Model S, the world's first premium electric sedan, to customers and executing a steep production ramp while creating more than 2,000 jobs in the United States. We also expanded our partnerships with Toyota and Daimler in order to increase sales of electric vehicles globally", said Deepak Ahuja, chief financial officer at Tesla Motors. "We are honored to be part of a sector that continues to achieve high growth, and we are committed to building the best car in the world while setting new standards for efficiency, safety, style, technology, operating cost, and performance. We thank Deloitte for this recognition."

The top ten companies are as follows:

Innovation hot spots continue to sizzle

Deloitte Technology Fast 500 winners hail from cities across North America - from Portland, Maine, to Vancouver, British Columbia. Of the dozens of cities represented on the list, some have a particularly strong track record of consistently attracting inventive entrepreneurs and providing them with a supportive environment.

"Creative and cutting-edge cities often have several things in common, including access to capital, supportive local governments, and world-class education systems", said Bill Ribaudo, national technology, media, and telecommunications leader for audit and enterprise risk services, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "Many of these cities have the resources and culture that start-ups need to thrive, and so they have become innovation powerhouses and consistently turn out fast-growing companies year over year."

Following is a list of innovative cities with a significant concentration of winners:

Software still dominates

For the seventeenth consecutive year, software companies dominated the list, comprising 40 percent of the overall list with 200 companies. Consistent with prior rankings, the biotechnology/pharmaceutical, Internet, and communications/networking sectors also had strong showings. The biotechnology/pharmaceutical sector and Internet sectors were tied for second place with 13 percent of the list, and the communications/networking sector came in at a close third place with 12 percent of the list.

Sector rankings are as follows:

For additional details on the Technology Fast 500, including the complete list and qualifying criteria, visit www.fast500.com.

Source: November 14, 2012, Deloitte Press Release