Four of the Most Innovative Companies You’ve Never Heard Of

Fast Company Magazine has just released their annual list of The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.  Included are a lot of players you’d expect to see, like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google (Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively).  There are a few surprises on the list too, like Nike’s rise to 13^th from 27^th, PG&E’s debut at number 7 and Twitter’s premiering at the very bottom of the list.  Also on the list are a few companies you might never have heard of – until now.

Huawei – No. 5

One of the companies behind the scenes in the (non-U.S.) wireless network wars, Huawei, based in Shenzhen, China, owns a 20% global market share and saw a 17.5% boost in sales for 2009.  This leading telecom service provider looks to emerge as a major player in the Android-based smartphone market, introducing four such phones at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain earlier this month.  One such phone was the U8800, the world’s first HSPA+ Android phone, allowing download speeds of up to 14 Mb/s. (i.e. A 400Mb feature-length movie within thirty seconds.)

Spotify – No. 15

Unless you live in Europe (especially Sweden), Spotify, a sort of hybrid between iTunes and Napster, probably isn’t on your radar.  With a U.S. launch planned for this year, that will change soon enough. What’s exciting about Spotify (and the primary reason they made the FC list) is they offer their 6-million-plus selections of streaming music with no buffering.  That means you can listen to your favorite tunes just as seamlessly as if they resided on your hard drive or smartphone, without waiting for downloads or taking up the space.

BYD – No. 16

Can’t wait to buy your first all-electric plug-in car?  Chances are it won’t come from Ford, GM, or even Honda or Nissan.  BYD’s E6, set to hit the U.S. market late this year, is full-sized and “purely electric,” as the company puts it.  Their Most Innovative status is well-earned, having developed the battery technology for their cars in-house.  And quite a technology it is.  Their batteries cost half of what standard lithium-ion models run, while lasting over 2,000 charges and running up to 200 miles on a single charge.  Given some help with their marketing copy (the interior and exterior features listed on the site for the E6 are the same, and kind of… well, lame) and some luck overcoming the hurdles involved with safety compliance in U.S.-sold cars, this company won’t be on the unknown list for long.

Gilt Groupe – No. 21

Retail was hurting in 2009, right?  So how did a fledgling online retail clothing company grow 600% while so many struggled?  By differentiation, and, yes innovation.  Boasting designer brands at up to 70% off, Gilt is on course to bring in $500 million in revenue this year.  And that’s with an invitation-only membership site that limits daily memberships, creating “competition” among its customers for the bargains of the day.  You’ll not only find deep discounts on men’s women’s and kids’ clothes at Gilt, you can also find some killer travel deals.  What the FC article won’t tell you is the inside scoop on getting into the site without having to wait for an invitation: Go to http://www.gi​lt.com/invite/getgil​t to sign up!