During the SME Data Science Top 50 event 2023 once again three companies competed for first place. ElastIQ-Connect captured first place, followed by Amsterdam Data Collective and Veneficus.
The event was organized by Florijnz Corporate Finance, De Breed & Partners, the MKB Datalab, Gemeente 's-Hertogenbosch and the Data & Insight Network. These formed the basis for the ranking of the 50 "fastest risers within the data science industry. We compiled the list together with the Data & Insights Network, based in part on an extensive questionnaire that participants had to complete.
The top three rankings were given the stage to pitch during the event.
What do these types of companies have in common?
Wim van Slooten, director of the Data & Insights Network, spoke at the event about the overlap within the market research and data-science sectors. He noted that many data-science and analytics firms are start-ups. "They are also a tad stubborn and go their own way," he said, "and they tend not to exist for more than 10 years. They use many of the same techniques used in traditional research and their approach to problems is similar.
As trends, he sees market research firms embracing data science and data analytics. However, there is less emphasis on the method of data collection and more on analytics and AI. Predictions are increasingly informed by expert interviews and focus groups.
Data science and analytics firms have in common that they more often use traditional research techniques. With these, they substantiate and test their own analyses. With more interest in marketing and sales, new functions are emerging to link marketing and data-science. In addition, there is a lot of focus on data quality and preventing leaks.
Moreover, both are growth sectors. Whereas market research sales grew by 4 and 8.5% over the past two years to €484 million, the SME data science sector grew by 7 and 9% to €468 million.
Top 3 ranking
After the pitches from the data science companies, it was up to the expert jury and the audience to announce the favorite. The final result was based half on the judgment of the professional jury, supplemented by the votes from the public. ElastIQ-Connect received the most public votes, and this was the deciding factor. The jury's verdict was based on the criteria of presentation, impact, innovativeness and scalability. ElastIQ-Connect thus walked away with the win, followed by Amsterdam Data Collective and - in third place - Veneficus.
