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Featured
CEOs
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In the current economic storm smashing the global economy,
we celebrate those companies in the DN Capital portfolio that are not
only performing well despite the turbulent markets, but are expanding
rapidly. Here are just a few that are riding high:
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Leading mobile music discovery provider Shazam grew over 500% on the back of an extensive distribution network. This includes being a Top 10 iPhone application globally. In 2009, Shazam will also launch the service on the BlackBerry as well as other smart phones to continue this hyper growth. Management continues to focus on service quality and additional functionality, which CEO Andrew Fisher sees as paramount to the success of a service like Shazam. Andrew notes: “As the global popularity and demand for Shazam continues to expand, we have seen our user base grow from 20 million to 35 million users since September 2008. We have a passionate team committed to making Shazam ubiquitous and a magical experience; and by delivering compelling features we will change the way music lovers experience mobile music.” |
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Datanomic’s holistic approach
to delivering fit-for-purpose data and screening accuracy has enabled it
to succeed in satisfying an array of European and North American blue
chip clients. In 2008 the Company was able to add 45 new customers
and grow its revenues by 200%. CEO Jonathan Pell expects
2009 to be a promising year as a rise in fraud related
crime on the back of the credit crunch,
together with increased regulation of financial services
firms and their control systems, should drive substantial demand
for Datanomic’s Anti-Money Laundering and Customer Screening
solutions. Jonathan Pell notes: "The combination of proactive risk management and the growing burden of legislation and regulatory compliance reporting requires a granularity of detail and a holistic single view of an entity that has enabled Datanomic to buck the economic downturn, expand our market share, and continue to win significant new customers in our key markets."
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Brands are realising that customer engagement marketing is
a more efficient and successful way in this environment to build brand
affinity. Many of these brands are turning to Eyeka as an
innovative way to turn their audiences into advocates by leveraging a
global community of over 40,000 creative agents. In 2008, Eyeka ran
customer engagement campaigns for MTV, Philips, Corel, and Emporio
Armani among others. CEO Francois Petavy is pushing ahead with full
power as Eyeka’s offering demonstrates the value of talent
generated content: “In such challenging times, brands need to
re-think their investments, and this is a unique opportunity for
innovative solutions such as Eyeka to make a difference.” (Francois
Petavy)
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In under a year of commercial operation, new investment
from GVC II, dezineforce (SaaS based engineering design software) signed
8 new customers including Arup, Hyde Engineering Ltd, Contour, and
Gifford. Companies value dezineforce’s SaaS service solution
versus licensing engineering design software for technical capability,
collapsed design cycle times and greatly reduced cost - particularly
important in the current economic environment. dezineforce’s CEO,
Dr. Peter Collins notes, "Activity levels in key target sectors for
us, such as aerospace and wind energy, remain strong. Customers have become more cost conscious - but this is actually an opportunity. Our
cost message is opening doors that would not previously have opened to
us.”
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In these times more than ever people around the world feel
a need to connect with friends and family. Sonico is one of the
largest and fastest growing social networks aimed at the Hispanic
community, reaching 34 million registered users. Sonico also
provides low-cost phone services to millions of people calling to and
from Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries, and offers premium
virtual greeting cards and gifts. CEO Rodrigo Teijeiro comments:
“Our explosive growth of over 450% in the 19 months since launch as
well as our continuous adaptation to the needs of our users is proving a
unique advantage to capturing a market that has enormous
potential.”
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Individuals are increasingly using free online classifieds
as a way to turn assets and services into cash. Growing at a
CAGR of 177% since 2006, OLX has become one of the leading online
classified companies in the world, particularly for non-English speaking
countries. CEO Fabrice Grinda has assembled a world-class team to
take on market leaders Craigslist and eBay, and has accumulated a war
chest of close to $14 million to acquire strategic sites to further drive
this growth, adding: “We are excited by the opportunities the
crisis is providing us to acquire companies at reasonable prices and buy
advertising at large discounts.”
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