A new study conducted by Merchant Machine has analysed 1,360 of the fastest-growing companies across Europe and the US to find the top locations and industries for booming businesses.
The study also looks into metrics such as growth per employee, projected industry growth and companies with female CEOs.
Across the world, new and exciting businesses are being born and growing at a rapid rate, with some transforming our world entirely. But what industries have the fastest growing companies?
Top industries for fast-growing companies
Technology ranks as the top industry accounting for the highest number of fastest-growing companies in the list (1,360 analysed). The technology industry accounts for an impressive 289 (21.3%) of the fastest-growing companies in the study, with 188 of these being in Europe and 101 companies in the US.
In the US, the Gaming company Niantic is heading the top growing American companies with an absolute growth rate of 180,307% over three years. As for Europe, the British OakNorth Bank from the fintech industry is leading the ranking with a 37,463% revenue growth.
Support Services is the second biggest industry in the study and accounts for a total of 123 (9%) companies, with 91 in Europe and 32 in the US.This was closely followed by the construction industry with 88 (6.5%) companies in total – 74 in Europe and 14 in the US.
Top industries for projected growth in the UK & US
Merchant Machine analysed the projected industry growth by employment between 2018 and 2024 to find the top 10 industries leading the way in the UK and the US.
The UK’s Accommodation and Food industry is expected to have the highest growth rate (8.2%) followed by tech & IT (8.1%) and construction (6.8%).
In the US, the top three industries with the highest projected growth between 2018 and 2028 are Health Care and Social (17%), Educational Services (12.7%) and Construction (11.1%).
The numbers show that, in general, there’s a higher projected employment growth in the US than the UK. The highest growth projected in the US sits at 17% for health care and social versus 8.2% for the accommodation and food industry in the UK.
There is a big difference in the projected employment growth in the Health & Social sector, which ranks 1st in the US (17%) and 10th in the UK (3.1%). However, the data also shows that construction has the same ranking across both the UK and the US (3rd place), as does the professional services industry which ranks 5th for employment growth.
The top 3 countries accounting for the most are:
- USA – home to 360 (26.5%) of the 1,360 companies. Software company Niantic is their fastest-growing company, with an absolute growth rate of 180,307%.
- Germany – ranks 2nd and is home to 191 (14%) of the fastest-growing companies. Germany’s fastest-growing company is industrial equipment supplier Farmermobil, which has an absolute growth rate of 6,056%
- Italy – ranks 3rd just behind Germany with 190 (14%) companies. Their fastest-growing company is e-commerce site is the female-run Mamma 2.0 which has an absolute growth rate of 7,110%
Fastest-growing companies with female CEOs
The study analysed the gender of the CEOs in the fastest-growing companies in Europe and the US to find the fastest-growing female-led companies.
Italian e-commerce company Mamma 2.0 is the fastest-growing company with a female CEO and is led by Martina Cusano, generating an absolute growth rate of 7,110%. This is followed by Sonia Summers and California-based Beauty Barrage, achieving an absolute growth rate of 5,459.4%.
The third fastest company with a female CEO is once again Italy-based. Rinah is co-led by Hannah Raccah and generated an absolute growth rate of 3,425%.
Finally, AI company Darktrace is the 4th fastest-growing company with a female CEO and is led by Nicole Eagan, who was named AI Leader of the year and held the top position on the Software Report’s Top 25 Women Leaders in Cybersecurity in 2020. They generated an absolute growth rate of 2,446% with their 1,200 employees across the world.
Ian Wright from Merchant Machine comments:
We wanted to find the top countries and industries across Europe and the US accounting for the most growth. We also thought it would be interesting to see just how much growth each employee accounts for across all 1,360 companies, with some boasting up to 4,301%.
It’s clear that technology is a winner when it comes to the top industries generating the most fast-growing companies. It’s interesting to see the projections for industry growth in the UK and US as we wish to help business owners prepare for the future and develop concepts and companies that create jobs for their communities and help their local economy grow.”
To find out more about the top companies, countries and industries generating the most growth in Europe and the US, see the full study here.
