Thirty-one visionary companies selected as technology pioneers 2011

The World Economic Forum today announced its new class of Technology Pioneers, comprising 31 of the most innovative technology start-ups from around the world. These companies represent the cutting edge in innovation and are poised to have a critical impact on the future of business, industry and society. These innovators will be presented with their recognition during the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, People's Republic of China, from 13 to 15 September 2010.

The identification of the Technology Pioneer companies is the result of a vigorous selection process, for which the Forum received more than 330 applications from around the world, and that were evaluated by 68 global technology experts. This year, the Forum received the widest range ever of country of origin, with 13 countries represented: Australia, Canada, India, Israel, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Nigeria, People's Republic of China, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Over half of the Technology Pioneers are from the United States, underscoring the country's position as a leading incubator for innovation.

The Technology Pioneers 2011 are active in areas such as antibody discovery and optimization platforms, augmented reality, faster and cheaper genome sequencing, location-based social networking, on-line security and reputation management, smart energy solutions, and water management and treatment.

Through the selection process this year, the Forum witnessed the ever-increasing importance of finding clean and green solutions to meet the world's energy and consumer needs, reflected both in the number of candidacies received in the clean tech sector and in the final number of Technology Pioneers selected in that category – a record 13 companies.

The selected companies are in alphabetical order: Adimab, Aster Data, Atlassian, Digital Lumens, Ecovative Design, Ferrate Treatment Technologies, Flexoresearch Group, foursquare, GetJar, Ion Torrent, Knewton, Layar, Medicine in Need, Molecular Partners, NetQin Mobile, Neuronetics, Novacem, On-Ramp Wireless, OpenDNS, OPOWER, Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, Quintas Renewable Energy Solutions, ReputationDefender, Scribd, SecondMarket, Spotify, TaKaDu, Tendril, Topell Energy, Transonic Combustion, Vortex Engineering.

"The World Economic Forum is proud to recognize an outstanding group of innovative companies as Technology Pioneers for 2011," said André Schneider, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the World Economic Forum. "Their technologies and business models will have a durable and valuable effect in several industries and society as a whole. We look forward to their unique contributions to the mission of the Forum: improving the state of the world."

"We were truly impressed with the quality, quantity and diversity of the applicants this year, thereby making the selection process one of the most difficult to date. I would like to congratulate the Technology Pioneers Class of 2011. These companies can be very proud of receiving such a respected and coveted distinction," stated Kevin E. Comolli, Managing General Partner, Accel Partners.

"I strongly believe that a robust innovation ecosystem is crucial for building both sustainable information based economies a "As a long-term Strategic Partner, the Kudelski Group is more than proud to be involved again in the Technology Pioneer programme community and has enjoyed meeting with most of the 2010 class members. We are excited to see this year a diverse class of innovators that are bringing information technologies, clean tech and life sciences that would definitely inspire the Global Growth community as well as members of the World Economic Forum," said Christophe Nicolas, Senior Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer, Kudelski Group.

To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of a major technology and/or innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership and show all the signs of being a long-standing and sustainable market leader – and its technology must be proven. Previous Technology Pioneers include 23andme (2008), Amyris Biotechnologies (2006), BloomEnergy (2010) Dr Reddy Laboratories (2001), Google (2001), Gridpoint (2008), Kaspersky Lab (2001), Mozilla Corporation (2007), Nanosolar (2007) and Twitter (2010).

BY Matthias Lüfkens ,WEF