Press Release - 2012 Ready to Rocket List

Rocket Builders Names Top British Columbia Technology Companies To the “Ready to Rocket” lists for 10th Consecutive Year

Annual list highlights technology trends and those private
BC companies positioned for high growth in 2012.

VANCOUVER, BC – February 29, 2012

Rocket Builders today released its tenth annual “Ready to Rocket” lists of British Columbia technology companies that are best positioned to capitalize on the 2012 technology sector trends that will lead them to faster growth than their peers. Rocket Builders also released results from its 2011 lists, with 5 companies being acquired and 5 companies graduating from future consideration having achieved between $20 million and $30 million in revenue.

The annual “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.

“Each year, our team of analysts get lots of inquiries on how we are able to predict so accurately which companies will grow revenue. This year we put an interesting presentation together for investors which explained parallels to our approach and the approach demonstrated in the popular film Moneyball,” said Geoffrey Hansen, Managing Partner at Rocket Builders. “In the film, Beane broke with conventional thinking and put an emphasis on ‘on-base percentage’ to pick players. Similarly, the Ready to Rocket selection committee puts an emphasis on ‘customer acquisition’ metrics and potential.”

The 2011 Ready to Rocket list for ICT performed extremely well. The median growth rate on that list was 100% growth, with the majority of the 25 companies more than doubling revenue. Based on the success of the ICT sector in British Columbia, the 2012 Ready to Rocket list for ICT was expanded to showcase 30 companies. The list can be found here: http://www.readytorocket.com/2012/02/2012-ready-to-rocket-ict-list.html

“With the growth of mobility, tablets and cloud computing as major drivers of the ICT sector, there are many market opportunities that BC companies are capitalizing on,” said Reg Nordman, Managing Partner at Rocket Builders, “And despite slow economic growth in most global markets, ICT companies are finding ways to win customers in the United States and abroad.”

The 2011 Ready to Rocket list for Cleantech also performed extremely well, with 3 companies exceeding $30 million in revenue, and many more were able to more than double their revenues. The 2012 list will feature 12 companies, and the list can be found here:
http://www.readytorocket.com/2012/02/2012-ready-to-rocket-cleantech-list.html

According to Dave Thomas, Senior Partner at Rocket Builders, “B.C. continues to be a leader in cleantech innovation, and investments into this sector continue to grow. Despite a weak global economy, investments in clean technology such as solar power and energy efficiency rose 13% worldwide last year and 30% in North America. B.C. is well positioned for further growth with a very diverse group of companies covering many different clean technology approaches including alternative energy, waste management, and smarter power management.”

The 2011 Ready to Rocket list for Life Science featured many new investments and the acquisition of Wolfe Medical by Telus. The 2012 list will feature 12 companies, and the list can be found here:
http://www.readytorocket.com/2012/02/2012-ready-to-rocket-life-science-list.html

According to Thealzel Lee, Senior Partner at Rocket Builders, “B.C. has a strong tradition of creating successful companies in Life Science sectors like biotechnology and medical devices. We are also seeing a lot of innovation in the use of information technology to provide breakthroughs in research and healthcare. This week, many of the Ready to Rocket companies will be dealmaking at the 10th Annual BioPartnering North America event in Vancouver.”

For details on the “Ready to Rocket” lists, please visit http://www.readytorocket.com