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Thursday, November 14, 2013

2014 Call for Nominations

Have a "hot" growth company in the technology sector you want the world to hear about? Nominate them to BC's 12th Annual "Ready to Rocket" list.


Call for Nominations Poster
Call for Nominations Poster



Rocket Builders is Seeking Nominations for the 2014 "Ready to Rocket" and "Emerging Rockets" Lists. This recognition program will showcase companies in ICT, CleanTech and Life Science sectors and will be presented March 12 2014.

BC is home to many of Canada's most exciting technology companies. Rocket Builders has built a unique methodology for analyzing market trends and using this knowledge to predict revenue growth in the coming year. Each year Rocket Builders publishes lists which profile the BC companies that have the greatest potential in the coming year. This is the first year the list is sponsored by Colliers International, and the second year that the list is sponsored by Espresso Capital, Fasken Martineau, Go Recruitment and PWC as corporate sponsors to enhance the quality of the program. 

The "Ready to Rocket" Lists feature top technology companies that are best positioned to capitalize on the largest growth trends in the technology industry. This upcoming list will be the 12th year of this recognition list.  We expect that companies selected to the "Ready to Rocket" list will outperform the economy and represent important trends that are creating rapid revenue growth. 

We are seeking nominations for the 2014 "Ready to Rocket" lists that we will present on March 12th 2014. Nomination deadline is February 28th 2014, but submission as soon as possible will allow the selection committee more time to consider your nomination. 

What are we looking for in "Ready to Rocket" companies? 

CleanTech Ready to Rocket List for 2014

To qualify for nomination, a company must be beyond the proof of concept stage - customer validation, scalable demonstration project, and established industry relationships.

The selection committee is looking for companies that have the potential for 50% to 100% growth in the coming year, and are in good position to leverage industry trends or key industry partnerships.

CleanTech includes renewable energy (wind power, solar power, biomass, hydropower, biofuels), green transportation, electric motors, green chemistry, lighting, environmental protection (air, water, soil) and any innovation that improves energy efficiency.

Life Sciences Ready to Rocket List for 2014

To qualify, a company must be entering a breakthrough stage in their maturity - customer validation, regulatory approval, and established industry relationships.

The selection committee is looking for early indicators of long-term potential and increasing shareholder value, such as passing key regulatory hurdles and achieving related validation steps.

Life Sciences Technology includes Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Healthcare Information Technology and other innovations improving health.

ICT Ready to Rocket List for 2014

To qualify for nomination, a company must have more than $500K in revenue and a growing base of customers. 

The selection committee is looking for companies that have the potential for 50% to 100% growth in the coming year, and are in good position to leverage industry trends or key industry partnerships.

ICT includes Information, Communications, Wireless, New Media and Internet technologies.

Nominations

Nominations can be submitted online at http://www.readytorocket.com/p/nominations.html

Please nominate a company even if the company is "too early" to qualify as Rocket Builders also recognizes emerging companies. Many promising companies are too early in commercialization, too early in first revenues, or in transition to new markets or business models. Based on the potential of their technology alone, Rocket Builders recognizes their potential in a "Emerging Rockets" list. These companies represent companies to watch over the next few years and are likely to mature into "Ready to Rocket" companies.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Press Release - Mid Year Review of the 2013 Ready to Rocket List


Growth in BC’s Tech Companies Driven by Investment and Increased Revenue

Rocket Builders Mid Year Review of the 2013 Ready to Rocket List.

VANCOUVER, BC  -  November 4, 2013

Rocket Builders has just completed a mid year review of the 2013 Ready to Rocket List and found that companies on the list are attracting investment and increasing revenue, resulting in job creation and economic benefit for the province.

Ready to Rocket is an annual list of the companies in Information Communications and Technology (ICT), Cleantech and Life Sciences that Rocket Builders believes are most likely to show break out growth in the coming year.  The mid-year review involves contacting all companies on the lists and arranging interviews to gather insights and metrics regarding company growth. The median growth rates are over 30% compared with the previous year's base revenue.

"Our mid-year review of the Ready-to-Rocket companies confirmed that this set of companies is growing and attracting investment. And it is good to see that revenue is growing faster than job creation so the average revenue per employee is going up.” Said Steven Forth, Partner at Rocket Builders.

Six ICT Companies have closed a total of $14,700,000 in investment, most of which was equity.  Revenue per employee in Cleantech is forecasted to grow to an average $171,000 in 2013 from $103,000 in 2012.  Cleantech companies are demonstrating strong, stable growth and this signifies advancement beyond simply early adopters for this sector's technology innovation.

The fastest growing companies are those that are focusing on a more precise target market.  There is also a relation between simplicity of business model and ability to grow: the simpler the business model the easier it is to focus, execute and grow.  Complex business models can generate very valuable companies, but generally take more time and capital to execute.  The best performers on the Ready to Rocket list have in common a valuable management technique – they have managed their business decision making with analysis of business metrics, and benefit most from a single key business metric specific to their business model.

Reg Nordman, co-author, Managing Partner at Rocket Builders states, "These Ready to Rocket companies remain fast growing and attract significant investment. Having a tight focus on their markets with simple business models appears to be part of a winning strategy."

Virtually all of the companies in Ready-to-Rocket are focused on the US market for their revenue growth.





Contact Rocket Builders (rnordman@rocketbuilders.com) for access to more metrics.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

2013 Ready to Rocket Presentation



Here is the briefing provided to investors and advisors of technology companies in Vancouver on March 12th 2013. We are getting a lot of traffic today, so the following link may work better:
http://portal.sliderocket.com/ACPRT/R2R2013_briefing

The full press release can be found here:
http://www.readytorocket.com/2013/03/press-release-2013-ready-to-rocket-list.html

Press Release - 2013 Ready to Rocket List


Rocket Builders Names Top Technology Companies To the “Ready to Rocket” lists for 11th Consecutive Year


Annual list highlights technology trends and those private
BC companies positioned for high growth in 2013.

VANCOUVER, BC – March 12, 2013

Rocket Builders today released its eleventh 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 2012 lists, with 2 companies being acquired and 3 companies graduating from future consideration having achieved greater than $20 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 received lots of inquiries on how we are able to predict so accurately which companies will grow revenue.” said Geoffrey Hansen, Managing Partner at Rocket Builders. “Three elements characterize these high growth firms: a growing market opportunity, a unique competitive position and customer validation of a must-have value proposition.”

The 2012 Ready to Rocket list for ICT performed extremely well. The median growth rate on that list was over 50% growth, with the 10 companies exceeding 75% growth and 5 companies exceeding 100% growth. The 2013 list will feature 25 companies, and the list can be found here:

“With the growth of mobility 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 2012 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 2013 list will be expanded to feature 14 companies, and the list can be found here:


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. Unlike information technology, Cleantech innovations need longer timeframes to establish a market foothold. This year, many new B.C. startups have transitioned from innovation to commercialization.”

The 2012 Ready to Rocket list for Life Science featured many new investments and key milestones. The 2013 list will feature 10 companies, and the list can be found here:

According to Thealzel Lee, Senior Partner at Rocket Builders, “2012 has seen significant investments in BC’s life science companies as well as changes to the business landscape that is reflective of the challenges faced by the regulatory environment as it tries to keep up with the advances and convergence of molecular biology, chemistry, digital media, nanotechnology, ICT and other interfacing technologies.”