Top 10 Global Companies

SingleHop
Chicago

No. 25
2010 Revenue: $12.6 million
Three-Year Growth: 7,305%

SingleHop, a dedicated web hosting company, is especially popular in countries like Bulgaria and Egypt, where data centers aren’t always stable. But doing work in unstable countries isn’t easy. When the Egyptian riots broke out this spring, SingleHop deferred clients’ payments until they could get back on their feet. “One client that paid $40,000 a month didn’t come back,” Zak Boca remembers, “but overall it was a decision that really helped us strengthen our roots with clients.”

KG Technologies
Cotati, Calif.

No. 49
2010 Revenue: $40.7 million
Three-Year Growth: 3,920%

KG Technologies makes relays, switches that allow electric companies to turn their meters off remotely. This means unoccupied buildings can be shut off without wasting gas on a technician trip. As more countries join the so-called smart grid trend, KG Technologies reaps the benefits. In 2010, 50 percent of KG’s revenue came from overseas, and there’s still plenty of room to grow. By 2020, all homes in the European Union will be required to be on the smart grid.

FastSpring
Santa Barbara, Calif.

No. 53
2010 Revenue: $36.6 million
Three-Year Growth: 3,851%

Managing shopping cart pages in dozens of languages and currencies is hard work. That’s why e-commerce companies hire FastSpring, which hosts the order pages, to do it for them. About half of FastSpring’s end users are outside the United States, so FastSpring has hosted order pages in about 20 different languages. “Most companies have to do something to expand,” Dan Engel says. “For us, it happened naturally, because people buying things on the web is an international industry.”

Black Mountain Systems
San Diego

No. 63
2010 Revenue: $4.4 million
Three-Year Growth: 3,446%

Black Mountain Systems develops management software for financial institutions, so it’s natural to target London, one of the financial capitals of the world, for business. The time difference makes soliciting new clients tough, though, so this summer, Kevin MacDonald temporarily moved across the pond to formally set up a London office. “As much as we are a technology company,” MacDonald says, “the collaboration tools available are not always as effective as meeting with someone face to face.”

NextDocs
King of Prussia, Pa.

No. 67
2010 Revenue: $9.8 million
Three-Year Growth: 3,213%

NextDocs, which customizes Microsoft SharePoint software for the pharmaceutical industry, has been global since the beginning. Half of its first 10 clients were international. Now, the company has employees in the U.K., France, Switzerland, Munich, Canada, Sweden, and soon Japan. “It’s important to find customers regardless of where they live,” Zikria Syed (pictured front center) says. “It can be a small market, but if lots of clients are popping up, that’s where we want to be.”

TekScape
New York City

No. 72
2010 Revenue: $5.8 million
Three-Year Growth: 3,135%

Most American companies expanding abroad for the first time aim for the low-hanging fruit—Canada or the U.K., for instance. TekScape’s first international client was based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. When David Smith found out the United Nations had funding to build its presence in the Congo and required IT services, Smith leapt at the opportunity. Now, TekScape has an office there and has completed projects in more than 20 other countries.

K2 Energy Solutions
Henderson, Nev.

No. 79
2010 Revenue: $5.5 million
Three-Year Growth: 2,984%

The race to create the best electric vehicle on the market is on worldwide. That’s why K2 Energy Solutions, which manufactures rechargeable batteries, has had luck lately infiltrating foreign markets. Not only have K2 batteries been used in the Fiat 500 EV in Sweden, but they’ve also become popular in the U.K. for use in electric motorcycles. K2 will now begin expanding in Finland, after recently licensing its technology to a Finnish investor. Dr. Johnnie Stoker is pictured top left.

Green Earth
Iselin, N.J.

No. 145
2010 Revenue: $2.3 million
Three-Year Growth: 1,933%

Dr. Suresh Kumar started Green Earth because he was interested in sustainability. The easiest way to start, he says, was to sell eco-friendly office supplies online. Now, however, the company’s focus has shifted, and it has begun consulting with businesses and governments in India, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore on how to use technology and mobile apps to become more sustainable. Green Earth now employs 13 developers in Kerala, India, the very place where Kumar grew up.

Enstoa
New York City

No. 154
2010 Revenue: $3.5 million
Three-Year Growth: 1,848%

The first international client Enstoa, an IT services company, ever had was a petrochemicals company in Saudi Arabia. Jordan Cram (pictured top left) is fluent in Arabic, so he jumped at the opportunity. Since then, Enstoa has set up offices in the U.K. and Australia, and has its sights set on Panama. Though the company has six international employees, Cram travels to each location frequently. “I like face time,” he says, “and I don’t mind flying to Australia for lunch.”

Alpha Synopsys
Rochester Hills, Mich.

No. 166
2010 Revenue: $2.1 million
Three-Year Growth: 1,770%

Sanjjib Das, who is originally from India, has seen first hand what a hot market his home country is for software development and testing. That’s why he set up a development center there, where about 30 employees test and tweak software for Indian clients. Meanwhile, Das is also growing Alpha Synopsys’s European footprint, starting with IT staffing work for a Swiss financial consulting company. “We think European business could be good for us,” Das says. “Switzerland is an entry point.”

--Issie Lapowsky