 |
Norwood Systems*
Private company based in Richmond, England
• CEO: Paul Ostergaard
• What it does: Uses
Bluetooth wireless technology for office connectivity.
• Why it's hot: Reduces
telecom costs while giving employees the freedom to
communicate without being tied to their desks.
www.norwoodsystems.com
Pocit Labs
Private company based in Uppsala, Sweden
• CEO: Christer
Rindebratt
• What it does: Produces
software for Bluetooth wireless communications.
• Why it's hot: Once
switched on, a mobile phone equipped with BlueTooth and
BlueTalk software will automaticallty spot similarly
equipped devices and synchronize them for multi-player
gaming or chatting. The company won first prize for the most
innovative use of Bluetooth technology at the Bluetooth
Congress in 2001.
www.pocit.com
Red-M
Private company based in Wooburn Green, England
• CEO: Mike Wilson
• What it does: Combines
multiple local wireless technologies in a single platform.
• Why it's hot: Red-M’s
technology allows the delivery of voice, video and data
services across a variety of wireless networks—including
Bluetooth and 802.11 —to a range of devices from mobile
phones to personal digital assistants.
www.red-m.com
Symbian
Private company based in London, England
• CEO: David Levin
• What it does: Wireless
software.
• Why it's hot: The
recent decision by Siemens to take a 5% stake gives Symbian
another ally in its battle with Microsoft to become the
leading operating system for mobile phones. Symbian’s other
shareholders include Nokia, Psion, Sony/Ericsson, Matsushita
and Motorola.
www.symbian.com
BUSINESS APPLICATIONS
These companies make the under-the-hood stuff to help the
Internet truly revolutionize the way we live and work.
Autonomy*
Public company based in Cambridge, England and San
Francisco, California
• CEO: David Mike Lynch
• What it does:
Autonomy’s software uses pattern recognition to identify
concepts, tag them and automatically set up hyperlinks with
related information on company Intranets and the Web.
• Why it's hot: Analysts
give it high marks for the efficient way it solves content
and knowledge-management issues for corporations.
www.autonomy.com
Kiala*
Private company based in Brussels, Belgium
• CEO: Denis Payre
• What it does: Provides
software backbone and distribution services to direct
vendors in Europe, from catalog retailers (La Redoute) to
beauty companies (Yves Rocher).
• Why it's hot: Headed
by two of Europe’s most experienced serial entrepreneurs, it
is the first to target this specific market in Europe.
www.kiala.com
Open Business Exchange
Private company based in London, England
• CEO: Alain Falys
• What it does: Enables
large buyers of goods and services to receive electronic
invoices from suppliers directly into their accounting and
other systems.
• Why it's hot: In the
U.S. and Europe more than 15 billion paper invoices are
processed each year, at an estimated cost of $40 per
invoice. The company automates the back office functions of
both buyers and suppliers resulting in potential cost
reductions of some 80%.
www.obexchange.com |
|
|
|
SAP*
Public company based in Walldorf, Germany
• CEOs: Hasso Plattner
and Henning Kagermann
• What it does: Designs
and implements efficiency-building software that
consolidates company information, from order taking to
production and accounting.
• Why it's hot: In an
economic downturn, products that make businesses more
efficient are in demand. Thirty-year-old SAP had revenues of
$6.53 billion and profits of $1.68 billion in 2001.
www.sap.com
Streamserve
Private company based in Stockholm, Sweden and Lexington,
Massachusetts
• CEO: Nick Earle
• What it does: Business
communication software for the management of document
exchange between different computer and software systems.
• Why it's hot: It has
more than 3,000 global customers across a wide range of
industries and partnerships with major software and hardware
vendors such as SAP, Oracle and Hewlett-Packard.
www.streamserve.com
Systinet* (formerly Idoox)
Private company based in Prague, Czech Republic and
Cambridge, Massachusetts
• CEO: Roman Stanek
• What it does: Provides
a software platform for Web services.
• Why it's hot: Web
services have emerged as the next generation of distributed
computing. And Systinet is well positioned to be a leading
independent software-platform provider for Web services,
even though Microsoft is a competitor.
www.systinet.com
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
These companies provide a glimpse of things to come.
Cambridge Display
Technologies
Private company based in Cambridge, England
• CEO: David Fyfe
• What it does: Creates
a new class of flat panel displays from light-emitting
polymer technology.
• Why it's hot: As the
inventor and licensor of the technology, the company is
laying the groundwork for lighter, brighter, less
power-consuming displays for mobile phones and eventually
televisions.
www.cdtltd.co.uk
MEMSCAP
Public company based in Ismier, France and San Jose,
California
• CEO: Jean-Michel Karam
• What it does: Provides
the wireless and optical-communications industries with
microelectromechanical systems, or mems, which are used to
integrate miniature devices, such as gears, motors, mirrors
and levers, with controlling electronics.
• Why it's hot: It is
the first European public company specializing exclusively
in mems technology, which can help improve product
performance by miniaturizing functions and equipment.
www.memscap.com
Smart Fuel Cell
Private company based in Brunnthal-Nord, Germany
• CEO: Manfred Stefener
• What it does: Makes a
micro fuel cell that runs on methanol, providing much longer
life than any other portable battery.
• Why it's hot: It aims
to replace the batteries used in today’s laptops and
camcorders.
www.smartfuelcell.com
Firms marked with an asterisk (*) appeared on Time’s 2001
list of the hottest tech companies in Europe.
By TIME’s Jennifer L.
Schenker, with input from independent analyst Ron Belt, as
well as venture capitalists and research firms: Accel
Partners, Apax, Ariadne Capital, Atlas, Brainheart Capital,
Deloitte Touche, edVentures, Gartner Group, IDC, Index
Ventures, Insight Capital Partners, Intel Capital,
Lightreading, Merlin BioSciences, Northzone, Philips Venture
Capital, Sofinnova Partners, Wellington Partners and 3i.
|
|
