FEM, the Dutch news weekly, annually publishes the Deloitte Fast 50, a list of fastest growing technology companies. LiveCom was the 16th fastest grower in 2009.

16. LiveCom

NEW 1364 %
Who: Floris van der Veen
What: customer contact via chat
Turnover: confidential, profitable

Floris van der Veen was active in website technology when he realized that this niche was becoming congested with providers. "Conquering the world with this technology was not feasible, so we had to raise the stakes." So, in 2004 he set up LiveCom, offering chat software as a service to companies who use it for their customer contact. By now, LiveCom also supports contact by telephone, e-mail and self service. "We aim for a platform with all requirements for customer approach. LiveCom will, for example, also link Facebook and Twitter to this platform. But chatting is still a substantial component; that's where our roots lie."

Philips, ING and Wehkamp are some customers of LiveCom, which currently employs 25 people. "We have to put our back into it to keep up the growth, but the market expansion is huge. As a result of the credit crunch, consumers turn to the web more than ever before. Having a button next to a form adds just that touch of confidence that may lead to business." Via large clients such as Philips, LiveCom is operational in 21 countries.