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Netlog wins the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 prize

The on-line community website of Belgian origin records the fastest growth rate of all Benelux technological companies

Brussels, 30 October 2009 - Yesterday evening, at the prize-giving ceremony in “The Talent Factory” in Den Bosch, the Deloitte Fast 50 Prize was awarded to Netlog. Of Belgian origin, this on-line community, which already has more than 56 million members worldwide, was elected the technological company with the fastest growth rate of all Benelux countries. Over the last five years, Netlog has seen its turnover climb by 11,285%! Albumprinter – last year’s winner – came second, and Webprint third.

Each year, Deloitte Technology Fast 50 ranks the fifty technological companies with the fastest growth rate. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, Technology Fast 50, which until now has covered only Dutch firms, was extended to include Belgian ones. The selection criterion is turnover growth expressed as a percentage over the five last years (2004 - 2008).

André Claes, Partner at Deloitte Belgium, recognised: “With its Fast 50 initiative, Deloitte means to promote and support the technology sector and other segments of that market in the Benelux countries. It is indeed a very promising sector and we would like to contribute to its success. At a time when social networks are playing a major role, we are particularly proud that the Belgian company, Netlog, has won first prize this year”. Daan Witteveen, Partner at Deloitte and in charge of the Fast 50 programme, added: “Despite their rapid growth, the companies on the Fast 50 List are of course feeling the effects of the economic downturn, but they have been able to overcome the challenge. Many Fast 50 companies were founded during or immediately after the previous crisis, which had hit the technology sector. They have therefore learnt to continue to grow with limited financial resources. They show moreover that this sector still offers immense potential and constitutes the main accelerator of scalability.”

Founded in Ghent in 2003 by Lorenz Bogaert and Toon Coppens, Netlog is an on-line community website where young people can find (new) friends by building a digital identity, sharing experiences and playing on-line games. The website has enjoyed thunderous success among the young, both in Europe and elsewhere. The Netlog community has already more than 56 million members today and this figure is growing all the time, at a rate of a half a million members per week. Lorenz Bogeart, CEO and co-founder of Netlog, is particularly proud of this success: “This prize rewards all the hard work and perseverance of our team of the recent years. It confirms that we are on the right track and that we are continuing to grow. As lately as yesterday, we announced a completely new makeover of the website, which proves that we are constantly banking on innovation and optimising our on-line community”.

The Number 2 of the classification, Albumprinter, achieved an average turnover growth of 8820% over the last five years. Albumprinter started its activities in 2003 with a solution for printing photographs in an album. Since its foundation, Albumprinter has extended its activities to other European countries and is now serving a huge number of customers. In 2009, the Albumprinter brand was taken over by the international seal of approval, Albelli.

Webprint came third among the Fast 50. Over the last five years, its turnover has increased by 7,975%! Webprint, for its part as well, specialises in the on-line composition and printing of photo albums but also has a print centre for the production of other print material.

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Gaëlle Vilatte
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Deloitte Belgium
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PR Manager
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