Compass Datacenters has been selected as a finalist for Red Herring's Top 100 North America award, a prestigious list honoring the year's most promising private technology ventures from the North American business region.

"Compass is honored to be selected as a finalist for Red Herring's 2014 list of most exciting emerging companies. We are particularly proud to represent the data center industry as one of the innovators that is transforming the way organizations around the world plan, design, build and operate data center facilities," said Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Datacenters. "Data centers are indispensable infrastructure for the global economy today, and the groundbreaking work that Compass has done makes it possible for standalone mission critical data center facilities to be located in any geographic location where an organization needs it. We have also pioneered engineering and construction processes that make these data centers more cost-effective, more efficient, more flexible, more ergonomic and much more."

Red Herring has been selecting the most exciting and promising start-ups and "scale ups" since 1995. Finalists are still evaluated individually from a large pool of hundreds of candidates based across North America. Twenty major criteria underlie the scoring and process. They include, among others: the candidate company's addressable market size, its IP and patents, its financing, trailing revenues and management's expertise. Each company goes through an individual interview after filling out a thorough submission, complemented by a due diligence. The list of finalists often includes the best performing and prominent companies of that year. This unique assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the company's actual track record and standing, which allows Red Herring to see past the "buzz" and make the list a valuable instrument for discovering and advocating the greatest business opportunities in the industry.

2014 will be remembered as a special vintage. "The finalists list confirms the excellent choices made by entrepreneurs and VCs and the start-ups' solid roots in corporate America, embracing their innovations. By all metrics, it emphasizes the United States' entrepreneurial excellence," said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring.