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Red Herring Top 100:

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Top Technology Companies Europe & North America

12 RED HERRING | SPECIAL EDITION 2014

Europe:A-ZActLight

Actual ExperienceadQuota

Adra MatchAdways

agnion EnergyAgnitio

All SquareAnnelutfen

APATEQAppGyver

AppicalAppLift

Audio-3D LabsB.I.S. Advanced Software Systems

BewonsBionext

BizagiBizOnRate

Bonnyprintsboolino

Cambridge Broadband NetworksCanonical

CheckmarxChelsea Apps FactoryChoice Technologies

Cloud9 CommunicationsCodership

CrimtanCrossject

Crowdynewsdacadoo

Direct2InternetDynAdmiceSellerPro

EssenceExtreme RealityFact-finder.com

FamocoFeedvisor

FenergoHibox Systems

HoodinHopitalWeb

idemama.comInfectious Media

ininalInnoTelinRiver

INSOFT Development & ConsultingInvesdor

InvoiceSharingIXL PremFina

justAdKomfo

MadgicMaeglin SoftwareMagistoMangopayMassiveImpactMessageBirdmobiLeadmobilikeMoveaMusementNanoplasNexstimNexthinkNexwayNGDATAOmadaParantezPayTopPiceasoftPitcherPontisProgenitorRated PeopleRecite meSafer PlaceSecure MailboxSGP TechnologiesSimplifydigitalSingOnSN4MobileSoftKineticSol VoltaicsSopsyStarmind InternationalSwyx SolutionsTasit.comTeadsTeevityTespackThe InstitutionThetaRayTikleTranslateMediaUnicheckValopaaVeliQvideantisVisionsConnectedVivochaWebforum EuropeWeroomWithingsXbyMe GlobalZertisa

TOP

Technology Companies

2014:

Top 100 Companies: Europe

Top 100 Companies: Europe

RED HERRING | SPECIAL EDITION 201490

business. Later receiving funding becomes easier but then it’s a question of relevance and if taking venture capital seems the right way of backing up the growth for a business.”

With awards and customers in the bank, Hyttinen is planning this year to expand SN4Mobile’s reach throughout its existing markets, and perhaps to move into new European regions. Globalization, he feels, will dictate which markets the company enters in force: “I expect the voice of customer markets to grow especially within the industries where global competition arises and new means are needed to ensure customer loyalty.”

Then, the next step is for SN4Mobile to be made a truly international outfit. It’s something that Hyttinen thinks his brand can achieve, and something he is relishing the opportunity to try: “My personal plan is and ambition is to internationalize the company. That I can see as a great and really interesting challenge.”

softKineticwww.softkinetic.com

Michel Tombroff

Consumer Electronics

Belgium

Yes

» The speed at which camera and motion capture technology has developed is beautifully symbolized by the fact that products that were considered revolutionary 15 years ago are now collectors’ items, adorning shelving units in trendy New York loft spaces.

While most areas of technology took off, niches that struggled included virtual reality and motion sensors. Consumer imagination had been ignited, but the

tech was not there. The results included seizures, product recalls, and a litigious minefield.

But virtual reality and workable motion capture are now very much back on the agenda, and the technology and engineering that is fuelling this resurgence is finding a plethora of uses.

SoftKinetic is one such company that, in a few short years since its inception in Brussels in 2007, is already partnering with some of the biggest names in technology across a wide range of fields. Its DepthSense® 3D Imaging time-of-flight CMOS sensor is smart enough to understand the most subtle of everyday human gestures, while its award-winning iisu® (‘The Interface is You’) is a complete platform for natural gesture development and deployment.

Michel Tombroff, the company’s CEO, joined SoftKinetic in its first year and quickly put to use his 17 years of software engineering and management experience of start-up, pre-IPO, and public stages of corporate development. He helped mould a small team of talented creative people into the core of a fast growing international company.

Tombroff believes success so far is down to a “mix of creativity and discipline”, but emphasizes the “creative spirit” and talented members that make up SoftKinetic.

The company has doubled every year since it began, in terms of revenue and footprint. With headquarters in Belgium, offices in Sunnyvale, California and Seoul, South Korea and just under 100 staff, the company turned over $16 million in 2013, up from $7 million in 2012 and is EBITDA profitable. It also boasts a robust IP with 58 granted patents, covering 14 inventions and more than 100 pending applications across sensors, systems, and software.

When it comes to competition, Tombroff says the company is difficult to categorize. “We have three components; there’s the sensor or brain of the thing, then you need

the architect, the sensor system with the right optics, and that in itself is also hard,” he explains. “Then you need the software to detect all of these things and then wrap it up into a product.”

Tombroff says that while certain companies focus on one element, “we found the only way to do it properly is to solve the whole problem”. And this ‘whole-solution’ strategy has clearly worked.

Intel is a client and Mark Yahiro, managing director of new business, perceptual computing, Intel, praises SoftKinetic as a leader in the field of 3D gesture recognition “who is helping make our vision of natural, interactive user experiences a reality”.

“We are excited to enable new experiences using 3D gestures in combination with voice, augmented reality, and other perceptual capabilities,” he adds.

Gaurang Shah, VP audio & imaging, Texas Instruments, says opportunities are abundant. “There are a plethora of applications that can benefit from the accuracy and resolution of this technology,” he asserts.

“Imagine an end equipment designer tilting, rotating, compressing and expanding a new product in 3D to inspect and evaluate it on their PC before committing to a hardware prototype. We believe our collaboration with SoftKinetic will ignite more applications like this, and foster further technology innovation to simplify the way we interact with machines.”

Ubisoft is also a fan and praises SoftKinetic’s iisu architecture for allowing the company to “quickly develop and refine our latest Just Dance game for PS4”, asserts Nino Sapina, executive producer, Ubisoft.

While the company is clearly well regarded there are of course challenges, according to Tombroff. “Success depends on adoption by consumers, and we are not controlling this as these are customers of Intel, Sony etc. so they need to be successful.”

Top 100 Companies: Europe

www.REDHERRING.com 91

He adds that the second challenge is catering to the very different natures of the organizations they work with, noting the differences between Sony as a videogame company in Tokyo and Intel in Silicon Valley.

The company is looking to model itself on semiconductor intellectual property supplier ARM and in doing so will license its technology in the same fashion. And with solutions for a multitude of industries, it is easy to accept Tombroff ’s assertion that the company could become a $100 million entity in a short space of time.

Last year the company crossed an important milestone by becoming profitable. Tombroff also suggests the company has perhaps grown more organically than some Silicon Valley companies, thanks to it being based in Brussels – not the land of $50-$100 million funding rounds.

Plans are well underway to penetrate the automotive market, where 3D and sensor technology is becoming a crucial element of any modern car and is very much integral to driverless cars of the future.

SoftKinetic is also already in conversation with other companies about putting 3D elements and scanners in phones. Perhaps the most “exotic market”, as Tombroff nicely puts it, is that of augmented reality, where the company sees “a lot of potential”.

With so many opportunities and an already impressive client list, there is a real sense that the company’s impressive future is not virtual, but a distinct reality.

sol Voltaicswww.solvoltaics.com

Mats Reimark

Clean Tech

Sweden

No

» Lund University, in the southernmost Swedish province of Scania, has a long tradition of turning scientific research into technological innovation. Ultrasound, dialysis, and Bluetooth technology are all examples of discoveries that have their roots at the institution.

The nearby Ideon Science Park is home to a number of companies that grew out of the University’s research departments. Among their ranks is Sol Voltaics, a Swedish startup, that manufactures miniscule structures less than one billionth of a meter wide, known as nanowires. These nanowires link tiny components into extremely small circuits and have a wide variety of commercial applications.

Sol Voltaics uses the unique light absorption properties of nanowires to create their signature product, Solink, an ink-like material, which when added to solar panels can increase their efficiency by up to 25%. The expensive and highly specialized equipment needed to manufacture nanomaterials means that they are currently only produced on a small scale in laboratories around the world. But, Sol Voltaics is currently developing a production line to manufacture the nanostructures on an industrial scale.

“We have a proof of concept for the factory and hope to have the machines up and running by the end of the year. Right now, we have over 120 patents, both granted and

pending ones, there is a lot of know how in this business, and its a very groundbreaking thing that we are trying to do,” says Erik Olsson director of business development at Sol Voltaics.

In 2008, a group of researchers led by Professor Lars Samuelson launched the company after his efforts to improve solar panel efficiency using nanomaterials started producing spectacular results. They received early backing with a $22.9 million investment from Foundation Asset Management and began the difficult transition from a research laboratory into a competitive business.

But significant challenges still remain for the firm, which recorded a $2 million loss in 2012, driven by employee costs of $1.4 million. Unless they can scale up production of their nanotubes quickly and cost effectively, they are in danger of being snuffed out by the market incumbents.

Three years of consolidation in the solar photovoltaic manufacturing industry has created a significant market for Sol Voltaics’ signature product. According to the latest market research by NDP Group’s Solarbuzz, the prices of solar photovoltaic cells have fallen by more than 50% since 2011 while the number of suppliers has declined from 250 in 2010 to 150 in 2013.

This has driven a search for ways to improve the efficiency of these cells, thereby reducing the number of produced and cutting costs. According to Olsson, when Sol Voltaics’ customers see the efficiency gains from its Solink product, they become “religious”.

“When they see that they can have better performance at lower costs, it takes their breath away, the value proposition makes this an extremely compelling market. The solar market is worth $45 billion a year, and we are advancing to the whole market, particularly China,” he says.