Top-line revenue growth is considered an important benchmark for sustainable companies. And consideration of the overall revenue growth rate over time is also a key factor.
Ukrainian companies first appeared in the Inc. 5000 EU list in 2016 (1). At the time, there were a total of 20 in 11 industries. There were no companies in the IT Services or Software categories then, but one (Clickky) was in online Advertising/Marketing. In 2018, the list has grown to 32 companies with two in online Advertising/Marketing (Clickky, Netpeak), one in IT Services (Macpaw) and two in Software (Intellias and N-iX).
Outside of IT/Software, Manufacturing is the single largest category with five companies. The companies are spread geographically throughout Ukraine with the most in Kyiv (8), Lviv (3) and Odessa (3). The country dropped by five companies compared with the 2017 Inc. EU list.
How does Ukraine’s performance on the 2018 Inc. EU 5000 list compare with CE countries like Poland and Estonia?
Poland (with a 2016 GDP of $469.5 billion) has 17 companies on the list with six in IT Services and one in Software. Estonia (with a 2016 GDP of $23.14 billion) has 56 companies on the list with two in IT Services and seven in Software.
Both Poland (49 companies) and Estonia (12 companies) were in the first Inc. EU list in 2015, but Ukraine was not. Ukraine (with a 2016 GDP of $93.27 billion) now compares favorably with Poland, but is well behind Estonia based on the Inc. 2018 EU list benchmark.
Estonia’s favorable business climate, widespread digital capability and ease of doing business are probably the major factors contributing to the Baltic country’s success.
(1) Inc. Magazine first produced an annual list of 500 high-growth, privately held U.S. companies in 1982. In 2007, the scope of the list was extended to 5,000 companies. In February 2015, the publication launched its first EU edition. The 2018 EU list is fully searchable online by country, industry segment and the number of times a company has appeared in the list.
