Abstract—A significant, and often decisive, contribution to the growth of GDP and employment in the economy, according to data repeatedly verified using broad international data, is provided by a small stratum of
High-growth firms, (HGFs, or “gazelle firms”). However, according to the prevailing in the literature, the
effectiveness of state support for the HGF is questioned due to the unstable and unpredictable nature of their
growth. Many of the companies that received assistance not only fail to grow at their previous rates but also
reduce production. The article proposes an approach to forecasting the continuation of rapid growth of a firm
based on the assessment of the parameters of the free market niche that is available to the firm using a set of
nonlinear micromodels. Based on the analysis of dynamics of 24 thousand permanent Russian firms for the
period 2003–2022, firms were selected that had adapted well to the changing trends in the development of
the Russian economy after the global crisis of 2008–2009 (95th percentile in terms of revenue growth rates
and above for 2010–2014). It has been established that within this dynamic group of firms, large HGFs will
demonstrate sustainable rapid growth in the future (2014–2022). On the contrary, the smallest and smallest
HGFs, after the end of the period when they experienced rapid growth, experience a decline in revenue. The
identified patterns may be useful for improving the methods for selecting firms supported as HGFs within the
framework of industrial policy