2019 Ready to Rocket lists Announced to Profile
Growth Companies in B.C.’s Technology Sectors
Rocket Builders Names Top Technology Companies To the
“Ready to Rocket” lists for 17th Consecutive Year to Highlight
Companies with Highest Growth Potential
VANCOUVER, BC – March 11, 2019
Rocket Builders today released its seventeenth (17th) annual
“Ready to Rocket” lists. These lists profile 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 2018 lists, with
strong revenue growth across all sectors. As is typical with this list,
companies profiled tend to attract investment, partnerships and even
get acquired. This year, the two notable acquisitions were the exits by
Mazza Innovations and S2G Biochemicals.
The annual 2019 “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. This year the lists feature 203 companies across
5 different technology sectors:
- Information and Communications Technology (ICT) - 85 companies
- Cleantech (CT) - 39 companies
- Life Science (LS) - 20 companies
- Digital Health (DH) - 39 companies
- Agri-Food (AF) - 20 companies
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 2019 Lists feature 85 “Ready to Rocket” technology growth companies
and 118 “Emerging Rocket” early stage startups.
“Over the 17 years of the program, the B.C. technology sector has
steadily grown each year, and presents a growing challenge to
select and identify the most likely to succeed for our Ready to
Rocket lists.” said Geoffrey Hansen, Managing Partner at Rocket Builders.
“In recent years, a startup economy has blossomed yielding a rich field
of companies for our consideration, with over 450 companies reviewed
to make our selections of 203 winners. Our Emerging Rocket lists enables
us to profile those earlier stage companies that are well positioned
for investment.”
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (ICT)
The 2018 Ready to Rocket list for ICT performed extremely well.
The average growth rate on that list was over 40% growth,
with 32 companies with double digit growth and 6 exceeding 100% growth.
The list as a whole represented the creation of over 400 jobs.
39% of companies on the list received new investment in 2018.
The 2018 Ready to Rocket list for ICT features 38 companies
and the 2018 Emerging Rocket list for ICT features 47 companies.
"2018 was a great year for ICT in British Columbia as there was significant
job creation and many breakthrough companies." said Reg Nordman,
Managing Partner at Rocket Builders. "We have great ambitions for the
2019 list as many of the featured companies are maturing to the stage
where they are likely to be acquired."
CLEANTECH (CT)
The 2018 Ready to Rocket list for Cleantech performed extremely well.
The majority of companies on the list had in excess of 75% growth,
and the lists together created over 200 jobs in 2018.
The 2019 Ready to Rocket list for Cleantech features 19 companies,
while the Emerging Rocket list features 20 companies.
According to Dave Thomas, Senior Partner at Rocket Builders,
“The Cleantech sector in B.C. continues to see growth and diversity
with noteworthy examples in waste management and in alternative energy.”
LIFE SCIENCE (LS)
The 2018 Ready to Rocket list for Life Science featured many new i
nvestments (70% received new investment) and key milestones.
There were over 65 jobs created among companies on the list.
The 2019 Ready to Rocket list for Life Science features 10 companies,
and the Emerging Rocket list features 10 companies.
DIGITAL HEALTH (DH)
2018 was the second year for the Digital Health sector list, and it
continues to show growth. With over 100 jobs created, it was a
great year for a developing sector. The earlier stage “Emerging Rockets”
are really accelerating, with over 75% of them raising investment last year.
In 2019, a total of 38 companies are being showcased.
AGRI-FOOD (AF)
2019 is the first year for the Agri-Food sector list -- it is a sector
comprised of technology companies in the agriculture and food value chains.
This inaugural lists features 20 companies in Agricultural Technology (AgTech),
Food Technology (FoodTech) and Cannabis Technology (CannabisTech).
For details on the “Ready to Rocket” lists, please visit http://www.readytorocket.com
