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Top 250 Scale-ups 2020

Takeaway.com fastest grower in the Netherlands!
Download the Top 250 About the research

Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship monitors in collaboration with Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) growing companies in the Netherlands. Every year, we present the results of our research in the ScaleUp Dashboard, which is made of different data sources, own research and already existing data bases. This results in a ranking of the fastest growing companies in the Netherlands: The Top 250 Scale-ups.

Both startups and scale-ups are important innovators of the economy and a crucial part of the Dutch economy in terms of new business activities and job creation. Scale-ups have been suggested to be early adopters who are able to disrupt existing markets and industries by making current offerings obsolete.

Despite the importance of scale-ups for the viability of the Dutch economy, there are only limited companies that grow into a scale-ups. Our research into scale-ups provides fundamental new insights into the landscape of Dutch scale-ups and the characteristics of their accelerating growth. These insights contribute to our mission to empower entrepreneurs by translating academic insights into practical knowledge and skills. With our ultimate goal to stimulate their entrepreneurial success and increase the proportion of companies that ‘scale-up’ and make an impact.

Do you want to be part of the Top 250 Scale-ups 2021? Applications for the 2021 list are already open. Apply now

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How the Top 250 scale-ups cope with the Corona crisis

Known for our open culture and strong focus on entrepreneurship and innovation, the Netherlands scores as one of Europe’s top scale-up nations. However, the measures taken to restrict the spreading of the coronavirus in the Netherlands have led to a drop in sales and financial difficulties for these companies too. That’s why we had a closer look at our Top 250 Scale-ups and investigated how some of them act to cope with this Corona Crisis.

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Top 250 scaleups

Download the Top 250 Scale-ups 2020 Insights Report

Download the Top 250 Scale-ups Insights Report (in Dutch), which includes the list of companies that truly belong to the Top of scale-ups in the Netherlands, interviews with some remarkable companies and insights into the factors that influence the  rapid growth of scale-ups.

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Top 10

The Top 10 Scale-ups have been ranked twice: once in the number of jobs created in FTE in the period 2016-2019 and once in the average annual growth in FTE. The average of these two placements then determines the final score. With an equal ranking, the ratio of growth of the scale-ups to the two criteria was examined. The largest grower ends up higher.

1. Takeaway.com

CEO: Jitse Groen; Year of establishment: 2000; Growth rate: 96%; New jobs created: 4703; Location: Amsterdam.
Takeaway.com is a leading online food delivery marketplace, focused on connecting consumers and restaurants through its platform in 10 European countries and Israel.

Takeaway.com

2. Picnic

Founder: Michiel Muller; Year of establishment: 2015; Growth rate: 97%; New jobs created: 2068; Location: Amsterdam.
Picnic is the world’s fastest growing online supermarket with a unique business model and a highly engaged customer base. Their mission is to make grocery shopping simple, fun, and affordable for everyone.

Picnic

3. Rituals

CEO: Raymond Cloosterman; Year of establishment: 2000; Growth rate: 37%; New jobs created: 4357; Location: Amsterdam.
Inspired by natural ingredients and ancient Eastern beauty traditions Rituals aims to produce inspiring products for the care of your body and home.

Rituals

4. Dept Agency

CEO: Dimi Albers; Year of establishment: 2016; Growth rate: 50%; Location: Amsterdam.
Dept Agency is an international digital agency with over 1,500 experienced thinkers & makers in 13 countries across Europe and the Americas.

Dept Agency

5. YoungCapital

CEO: Ineke Kooistra; Year of establishment: 2000; Growth rate: 38%; New jobs created: 951; Location: Hoofddorp.
YoungCapital connects high-educated, young talent to employers with their central database, in which data of thirty niche-job boards and -websites are bundled.

YoungCapital

6. Workrate

Founders: Michiel Muller, Jop Wolff, Eelco Wiertsema; Year of establishment: 2003; Growth rate: 51%; New jobs created: 462; Location: Schiphol-Rijk.
Workrate is a security company with a unique approach for the manned guarding industry. The company provides a service of transparent and measurable processes and a culture of continuous improvement.

Workrate

7. Coolblue

CEO: Pieter Zwart; Year of establishment: 1999; Growth rate: 20%; Location: Rotterdam.
Coolblue is an online enterprise that’s made up of 11 physical stores in the Netherlands and Belgium, with one important goal: to make customers happy.

Coolblue

8. NewCold

CEO: Bram Hage; Year of establishment: 2012; Growth rate: 38%; New jobs created: 570; Location: Breda. NewCold provides leading food companies with the most compelling logistic cold chain experience possible.

Newcold

9. Adyen

CEO and founder: Pieter van der Does; Year of establishment: 2006;  Growth rate: 35%; New jobs created: 702; Location: Amsterdam.
Adyen provides a single payments platform globally to accept payments in a single system, enabling revenue growth online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale.

Adyen

10. MediaMonks

CEO: Victor Knaap; Year of establishment: 2001; Growth rate: 23%; New jobs created: 493; Location: Hilversum.
MediaMonks is a creative digital production company producing websites, games, and films, often to serve the needs of advertising agencies.

Mediamonks

Top 11-250

In alphabetical order

Scale-up Research

About the Top 250 Scale-ups

The Top 250 Scale-ups is an overview of fast-growing companies (scale-ups), based on the ScaleUp Dashboard and is published in collaboration with nlgroeit. The research is led by Prof. Dr. Justin Jansen, Academic Director of Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship and Professor of Corporate Entrepreneurship at Rotterdam School of Management.

The Top 250 Scale-ups differentiates itself from other lists by its focus on growth in employees and turnover, instead of only focusing on turnover like other lists often do. The Top 250 Growth Companies is an overview of fast-growing companies (scale-ups), they:

  • have at least 10 FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) and / or at least 5 million euros in turnover at the start of the measurement period;
  • achieved an average growth of at least 20% in FTE and / or revenue in three consecutive years in the 2016-2019 period.

The Top 250 Scale-ups is made up of the 250 Dutch companies that grew the most in turnover and/or employees during the period 2016 until 2019. The Top 10 is based on companies that created the most jobs during this period and showed the highest average annual growth in employees.

Discover the rankings of previous Top 250 Scale-ups editions (click on the photo):

2020

Top 250 Scale-ups

2019

Top 250 Scale-ups

2018

Top 250 Scale-ups

2017

Top 250 Scale-ups
Insights

More about the Top 250 Scale-ups

Takeaway.com has once again achieved the fastest growth in the Netherlands

Takeaway.com has won the ‘Gouden Groeier’ for the second time. The award, an initiative of Erasmus Center for Entrepreneurship and nlgroeit, was presented during...

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What we can learn from scale-ups

Erasmus University has the largest academic research group on entrepreneurship in Europe, through its Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship together with...

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About us

More about Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship

The Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship is the leading centre for entrepreneurship in Europe. Fueled by our belief that entrepreneurship is the primary driver for innovation, we strive to embed entrepreneurship in the DNA of people by applying the knowledge and network of Erasmus University Rotterdam, a university founded by entrepreneurs more than 100 years ago. Find out more about what we can do to support you:

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Grow your startup and boost your innovation, productivity and profitability in our business programme.

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Prepare yourself for the next stage of growth by building a culture of innovation that drives your company forward.

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Get practical insights in how entrepreneurship could be embedded better in your organisation to innovate faster.

Research