The list is elaborated by the pan-European technology media company Tornado Insider in conjunction with industry insiders, high-tech analysts as well as regional specialists. Eligible for the 2004 Tornado100 list were companies in Europe and Israel founded after 1998 and involved in all technology areas including the ICT, life sciences and clean-tech sectors.

The selection of the 2004 Tornado100 Winners from thousands of candidates was judged according to several criteria such as the companies’ ability to delivering an innovation that shows the promise to set new standards, supply a key piece of the ICT infrastructure, to influence a major market and to command a significant customer base.

Based in Naerum, Greater Copenhagen, Napatech is focused on programmable and intelligent Ethernet adapters. The core idea is off-loading real-time/streaming traffic and payload analysis and control applications traditionally implemented in software or proprietary hardware. Napatech expects a huge growth in the demand for intelligent and programmable adapters as Ethernet speeds increase. Napatech offers its products to OEM customers.

Hymite, headquartered in Lyngby, Greater Copenhagen, provides silicon based packaging solutions for the optical telecom and the MEMS market. The end product markets range from automotive, medical and communications all the way to consumer electronics. Founded in 1998, the company is currently undergoing commercial qualification through prototyping projects in cooperation with a number of main players on the market.