Annual list
highlights technology trends and those private
BC companies
positioned for high growth in 2014.
VANCOUVER,
BC – March 12, 2014
Rocket
Builders today released its twelfth annual “Ready to Rocket” lists of British
Columbia technology companies that are best positioned to capitalize on the
technology sector trends that will lead them to faster growth than their peers.
Rocket Builders also released results from its lists, with 1 company being
acquired and 2 companies graduating from future consideration having achieved
greater than $20 million in revenue.
The
annual 2014 “Ready to Rocket” lists provide accurate predictions of private companies
that will likely experience significant growth, venture capital investment or
acquisition by a major player in the coming year. The lists cover 3 different
technology sectors:
●
Information and
Communications Technology (ICT)
●
Cleantech (CT)
●
Life Science (LS)
The
“Ready to Rocket” lists are the only predictive lists of its kind in North
America, requiring many months of sector and company analysis.
“The technology sector continues to grow
in B.C. and presents a growing challenge to select and identify the most likely
to succeed.” said Geoffrey Hansen, Managing
Partner at Rocket Builders. “Three elements characterize these ‘most likely to
succeed’ high growth firms: a growing market opportunity, a unique competitive
position and customer validation of a must-have value proposition.”
“The majority of companies on the Ready
to Rocket lists do the majority of their business in the United States,” said
Reg Nordman, Managing Partner at Rocket Builders, “Economic growth in the USA
was modest (about 2%) in 2013, but is expected to be well over 3% in 2014. This
economic boost, along with the weakening Canadian dollar, is expected to give
B.C. technology companies a revenue boost next year. In past years when the
Canadian dollar weakened, Ready to Rocket companies were able to be more
competitive and increase profitability.”
The 2013
Ready to Rocket list for ICT performed extremely well. The median growth rate
on that list was 50% growth, with the 6 companies exceeding 75% growth and 3
companies exceeding 100% growth. The majority of companies on the list had
between 20% growth and 100% growth, and the list as a whole represented the
creation of over 400 jobs (40% headcount growth). The 2014 list will feature 25 companies, and the list
can be found here:
“The number of ICT companies in B.C. continues to grow,
with a number of high profile accelerators contributing to this trend.” said
Steven Forth, Senior Partner at Rocket Builders. “The ICT sector as a whole has
been driven by cloud computing, mobile and social trends and technologies, and
we see those factors driving many of the B.C. companies. Of particular interest
is the trend of the ‘Internet of Things’ and ‘Big Data’ which seems to be
influencing some of the emerging companies.”
The 2013 Ready to Rocket list for
Cleantech also performed extremely well, with a median revenue growth rate
approaching 75%. The Cleantech list companies created over 125 new jobs, representing
over 35% employment growth. The majority of companies had between 20% and 100%
revenue growth and an impressive 33% of the companies on the list were able to
more than double their revenue. The 2014
list will feature 15 companies, and the list can be found here:
According
to Dave Thomas, Senior Partner at Rocket Builders, “The Cleantech sector in
B.C. is broad and becoming more diverse. Growth rates are better than many
other regions of North America. B.C. has strong Cleantech companies across key
industrial verticals such as: Clean energy, Oil Sands, Petroleum, Transportation
and Construction.”
The 2013
Ready to Rocket list for Life Science featured many new investments and key
milestones. The 2014 list will feature 10 companies, and the list can be found
here:
According to Thealzel Lee, Senior Partner at Rocket
Builders, “2013 has seen significant investments in BC’s life science companies.
The major trends influencing this sector include evolving regulatory issues,
the need for efficiency in healthcare delivery, and the ongoing convergence
with IT technologies.”
