Esmertec, Jaluna, Mellanox, MySQL, Symbian, Skype, and Tao are among the 100 companies named this week to “The 2005 Red Herring 100 Europe,” in what marks the publication's first “top 100” list focused exclusively on the most promising startups in Europe. The magazine says its top-100 lists are aimed at identifying new and innovative technology companies and entrepreneurs, and that in their early days, Google and eBay were named to the lists.

Companies familar to the embedded market that made Red Herring's first European top-100 list included:

• Esmertec — Esmertec provides software for mobile phones and embedded devices used in mobile and landline telecommunications, home-multimedia, machine-to-machine, consumer electronics, and industrial automation. The company offers Jbed, an embeddable Java virtual machine, and an object-oriented software platform (OSVM).
• Jaluna — Jaluna secured a $12 million round of investments last fall, making it France's 4th-best funded startup in 2004, according to CEO Michel Gien (read our extensive interview with Gien). It sells OSware partitioning and virtualization software, and is working on an EAL5 Linux project funded by the French military.
• Mellanox — a provider of InfiniBand-based chips, boards, and systems used in server, storage, communications, and embedded systems.
• MySQL — the company's open source MySQL and MySQL Cluster databases are supported by MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition (CGE) and Professional Edition, and used by numerous telecom and datacom equipment makers, including AdventNet, Alcatel, Aprisma, Atchik, Cox Communications, F5 Networks, Onlinetel, Siemens, and Tekelec.
• Symbian — maker of the Symbian OS, widely used in cellphones, and largely owned by mobile phone leader Nokia.
• Skype — Skype markets VoIP software that supports Linux as well as Windows, thanks in part to Trolltech's Qt graphics framework, which allows Skype's native binaries to be compiled from the same codebase for various OS targets.
• Tao — Tao's core product is Intent, an embeddable Java virtual machine. The company claims that Intent has achieved than 10 million licensed sales to date, and is currently being used in mobile phones, PDAs, cameras, home servers, and digital televisions.

The 100 companies were selected from among 600 private companies that were evaluated through an analysis of financial data and subjective criteria, including quality of management, execution of strategy, and dedication to research and development, Red Herring says.

“Our list shows that despite obstacles posed by regulations, bureaucracy and tradition, innovation and entrepreneurship continues to thrive in Europe,” said Red Herring editor-in-chief Joel Dreyfuss.

The complete “2005 Red Herring 100 Europe” list follows:

CNSystems Medizintechnik GmbH, ORMvision, End2End, CRF Inc., Hybrid Graphics Ltd., Jutel Oy, Leiki Ltd, Meridea Financial Software Ltd, ALCHIMER S.A., ASK S.A., CIRPACK, Diatos, InFusio, Jaluna, KXEN, LTU technologies, VARIOPTIC S.A, VoluBill, 12snap AG, CoreMedia AG, EnOcean GmbH, immatics biotechnologies, mental images GmbH, SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG, VoiceObjects AG, VOICE.TRUST AG, Skype, Holografika Kft., Altobridge, Simtel Group, Valista, BitBand Technologies, CableMatrix, Connect One Ltd., D-Pharm Limited, Exanet, Exent Technologies Ltd., EZchip Technologies, Flash Networks Ltd., FlexLight Networks, Kayote Networks Ltd., Mellanox Technologies,Ltd., OrSense Ltd., Safend Ltd., SANRAD LTD, StoreAge Networking Technologies, TdSoft Ltd., Telmap Ltd, Unicorn Solutions, Unipier, Wisair, Media Lario International SA, Emexus Group B.V., Mobileye N.V., OTB, Kaspersky Lab, Tech Foundries, Cypak, Hotsip AB, MySQL, Operax AB, Transmode Systems AB, Apoxis S.A., BridgeCo, ESBATech AG, Esmertec, FreshPoint Holdings SA, BuildOnline, Cambridge Broadband, Celoxica, CMR Fuel Cells Ltd., Cramer, Cyclacel, Digital Bridges, Followap, Fractal Edge Limited, Frontier Silicon Limited, Future Forests Ltd, Icera Inc, Inclarity Plc, Intense, Kalido, MessageLabs, Multimap.com, Nexagent, Optos plc, Orthogon Systems, Plastic Logic Limited, Psytechnics Limited, Pulsic, ReNeuron, Saw You Ltd, ScanSafe Inc., Shazam Entertainment, Splashpower Ltd, Symbian, Tao, TeraView Limited, The Cloud, Volantis Systems

 
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