Deloitte Technology Fast 50: No. 9
Northern Ireland region Deloitte Fast 50 2009 winner SLA Mobile has seen organic growth of 4436 per cent in the last year. Founded in 2003, the company provides mobile technology architecture and professional services to mobile network operators, mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and large media companies.
With offices in Belfast, London, Düsseldorf and a significant operation in Kuala Lumpur boosting its reach in the Asia Pacific market, the company's technology aims to reduce the time and cost of taking rich media content and advertising to market. Clients include Fox Mobile Distribution, international policy and charging company Volubill and some of the world's largest mobile operators.
The company was originally a professional services business, according to Nic Stirk, CEO, but has gradually begun to develop in-house as well. "We've chosen products to develop in our own right, such as an advertising solution that inserts 'interstitial' adverts into a user's mobile browser, and a widget management platform for carriers. These are seeing a lot of interest at the moment, especially from Asian markets who are tracking the European developments very closely. We're confident that Asia will be of key importance to us next year."
SLA Mobile is self-funded and is on target to post earnings of €1.2m this year. Stirk believes that this relative financial freedom will continue to work to its advantage. "Independence from VCs has brought a range of benefits and enabled us to be flexible as many mobile operators move away from the old, utility-style CAPEX models. Unfortunately many start-ups have been dependent on this same model and have not been able to respond swiftly. For us, external funding could only have a role to play if it helped contribute to the vision and strategy for future expansion."
Stirk is confident that SLA's relationship with its customers is one of the businesses' major strengths. "We take great care in understanding the needs of our customers and are ready to adapt quickly to changes in the marketplace. Our customers know this, which is one of the reasons why we can compete on the same footing as some of the global integrators and technology companies. We know the mobile data market is evolving fast and that time to market is a major factor. Our success is in helping customers deal with change in a positive and strategic manner."
