NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Fast Company's annual Most Innovative Companies issue honors leading businesses including Apple, Amazon, Google and Target along with such rising newcomers as Square, Fab and Tumblr. Nike ranks No. 1 following the release of two major innovations, FuelBand and Flyknit technology. 

The Most Innovative Companies is Fast Company's most significant, high-profile editorial effort of the year. Our editorial team spends months gathering and sifting data, to identify those enterprises that exemplify the best in business from across the economy and around the world. The end result is a package that dares to be different, emphasizing not just revenue growth and profit margins but also progressive business models and an ethos of creativity. This year's honorees include major brands like Samsung and Coca-Cola, creative upstarts like Nasty Gal and Uber, and social disruptors like Coursera and D-Rev. Internationally Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies package spans the globe celebrating such companies as Kenya's Safaricom (No. 9), Israel's SodaStream (No. 23), Russia's Oktogo online travel service (No. 35) and China's Landwasher (No. 38).

In addition to the Top 50, Fast Company also ranks the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in ten categories, including Big Data, Entertainment, Finance, and Food—all  which are featured in the print edition and on FastCompany.com. Additional Top 10 lists will continue to be rolled out online and through social channels in the weeks to come. Special online-only coverage: The Most Innovative Moments in Business, from Apple to Starbucks, Airbnb to Disney.

Notable on this year's list: the absence of social media giants Facebook and Twitter. "Neither produced innovations worth celebrating," the magazine explains in an accompanying article. "In the history of our list, fewer than one-third of the companies return from one year to the next. This year, only seven are consecutive honorees, an indication of how more companies in more corners of the world are innovating to seek a competitive edge, with the stakes only getting higher."  

Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies issue (March 2013) is on newsstands beginning February 19th and available online at www.fastcompany.com/MIC as well as in app form via iTunes.  

About Fast Company

Fast Company is the world's leading progressive business-media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design. In print and through digital and social channels, as well as live events, Fast Company reports on and addresses the most progressive business leaders. Editor Robert Safian was named AdWeek's Editor of the Year in 2009. Under the leadership of publisher Christine Osekoski, Fast Company made AdWeek's Hot List for three consecutive years, and FastCompany.com executive editor Noah Robischon has tripled traffic and revenue. Fast Company is owned by Joe Mansueto, founder, chairman, and CEO of Morningstar, a leading provider of independent investment research.

Media Contact:
Cole Wilson, Director of Editorial Relations 
cwilson@fastcompany.com

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SOURCE Fast Company