Almedia Tops Sifted 100 Revenue Per Employee

Almedia, the Berlin advertising technology company behind Freecash, has ranked first for revenue per employee in the Sifted 100: DACH & CEE 2026, generating €2.6 million per employee. The company placed 25th overall among the 100 fastest-growing startups across 25 countries, based on revenue growth over the past three financial years. Almedia also ranked first among bootstrapped companies and in the marketing and advertising technology category. Founded in 2020 with €20,000 of founder Moritz Holländer’s personal savings, it has funded its growth through business revenue rather than external capital.

Efficiency Rankings

Only two companies on the leaderboard generated at least €1 million in revenue per employee, with Almedia producing the higher figure. It was also one of five businesses on the list with revenue above €100 million.

The Sifted 100: DACH & CEE 2026 list was published on September 9 and measures startups’ two-year compound annual revenue growth rates. Almedia says it was the fastest-growing company on the leaderboard that had received no funding, at more than double the growth rate of the next company.

Rewarded User Engagement

Almedia’s business centers on rewarded engagement, a model intended to give users a reason to discover and interact with products while helping advertisers find users likely to remain active. Its Freecash platform uses proprietary machine learning and first-party data to match campaigns with users it identifies as likely to convert and stay engaged.

Freecash has more than 80 million registered users, with 9 million people earning rewards each month and more than 60,000 new members joining daily. Almedia says the platform connects users with games, apps, and brands, and has paid more than $400 million in rewards.

Growth Without External Capital

Almedia has been profitable and has not raised external capital since its founding. Alongside user acquisition services, the company offers Link, a monetization product that it says helps publishers generate incremental revenue and maximize lifetime value.

The Sifted result follows Almedia’s third-place position in the Financial Times FT1000 ranking of Europe’s fastest-growing companies in 2025. The full Sifted leaderboard is available on Sifted’s website.