A Hungarian student staffing startup has stormed into Europe’s business elite, landing the 15th spot on the Financial Times’ FT1000 – Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies 2026 ranking.
Quantum Digitális Diákszövetkezet, known from the Shark Tank show Cápák Között, grew revenues more than 42-fold from 2021 to 2024, entirely through organic expansion and HR process automation.
Founded in August 2020, Quantum posted €68.5 million net revenue in its 2021 base year. Growth accelerated exponentially: 2022 – €538.6 million, 2023 – €1.64 billion, 2024 – €2.94 billion, 2025 – over €4.8 billion, as full reports are still pending.
Digital-first student work revolution
Quantum’s edge is its fully digital model, Hungary’s first end-to-end student staffing platform, backed by in-house HR tech from QuantumSoft. While traditional cooperatives wrestle with admin burdens, Quantum automates matching, payroll and compliance for Gen Z preferences.
Headcount scaled from 4 in late 2021 to over 50 employees in 2025. It now serves over 1,500 corporate partners and has placed over 50,000 students since its launch in 2021.
The FT1000, compiled by the Financial Times and Statista for the 10th year, ranks Europe’s top growth stories based on 2021–2024 financials. France, Germany, the UK and Italy dominate with 75% of entries, while fintech (77%), IT/software (21.3%) and HR services (just 2.4%) lead sectors. In this field, Quantum’s result is unmatched across Europe.
