Yell Group's Recent Acquisition Znode Makes Inc. 500 List of US's Fastest-Growing Private Businesses

BOSTON, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Yell Group today announced that Znode, a leading ecommerce software solutions provider that it acquired in July, has been included in this year's list of the fastest growing, privately-owned US businesses. Znode, based in Columbus, Ohio, has been included in Inc. magazine's prestigious Inc. 500, published this month for the thirtieth successive year. Znode ranked 223rd overall, 21st in the software category and 1st in the Columbus, Ohio, region.

The list represents the most comprehensive look at the US's fastest-growing private businesses and is viewed as a key indicator of US enterprise. Microsoft, Intuit, and Omniture are all companies from the technology and software sectors that have had prominence in the past in Inc. 500 or the separate Inc. 5000 list. The 2011 Inc. 500 list was compiled by ranking companies according to percentage revenue growth from 2007 through to 2010, prior to Znode's acquisition by Yell Group.  In that period, Znode reported a 1,430% increase in revenue.

Znode's technology will serve as Yell's ecommerce platform, which is an important part of its new strategy, announced in July, for becoming the leader in the emerging local eMarketplace for consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Znode, which is being incorporated into Yell Group as part of its new consumer division, Yell Connect, will also continue to develop new and innovative solutions for businesses of all sizes.

Vish Vishwanathan, founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Znode and now  Executive Vice President and General Manager at Yell Connect, said: "It is a great honor to be recognized for this award and is a direct reflection of the dedication and work ethic of the entire Znode team.

"Our laser-focus on building innovative, high quality ecommerce software based on customer feedback has led us to where we are today. We are gaining significant recognition in the industry for our pioneering work with multi-store ecommerce strategies. Our ultimate goal is to achieve market leadership in this space."

Bob Gregerson, Yell Group Chief Consumer Officer, said: "Znode's inclusion in the influential Inc. 500 is a strong endorsement of the talent within the workforce and the huge potential benefit their technological capability will bring to Yell Group as we seize the opportunities offered by the expanding digital marketplace."    

Znode is this week exhibiting for the first time at the Shop.org Annual Summit (http://www.shop.org/summit11), being held between September 12 and 14 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston, Massachusetts, one of the major events for the ecommerce industry.

Enquiries:

Yell
Jon Salmon
Tel: +44 (0)118 358 2656
Mobile: +44 (0)7801 977340

Maria Mitchell
Tel: 1 (610) 731 2596

Znode
Travis Williams
Tel: 1 (614) 839 1420  

About Znode

Znode® is a pioneer and industry leader in Multi-Store ecommerce. With its innovative solutions, businesses can significantly expand their online footprint using Multi-Store and Online Franchising strategies.

Its flagship product Multifront® is the industry leading .NET ecommerce software that enables retailers to quickly launch multiple web and mobile stores using a single integrated system. Marketplace™ enables your distributors, affiliates, vendors and business partners to quickly set-up turnkey stores across web, mobile and other devices. Znode's software products include rich customer experience features and enterprise class scalability. Znode's extremely flexible, standards based .NET architecture enables developers to quickly build complex custom-tailored solutions for the most demanding business requirements.

For more information about Znode, visit www.znode.com

About Yell

Yell Group is a leading provider of digital services within the emerging local eMarketplace for consumers and SMEs across its operations in the UK, US, Spain and some countries in Latin America.

Building on its strong presence in the local market through its current digital and print portfolio, Yell is developing a broad range of digital services tailored to the converging needs of SMEs and consumers.

These address both the SMEs' need to grow, transact and be efficient in the digital world, and the consumers' need to connect locally to the goods and services they want, in a way which saves them time and money, and moves their lives forward.

In the year ended 31 March 2011, Yell Group had 1.3 million SME advertisers.

www.yellgroup.com

SOURCE Yell Group