2020 Ready to Rocket lists Announced to Profile Growth Companies in B.C.’s Technology Sectors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Rocket Builders today released its eighteenth (18th) 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 2019 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. Last year, greater than half (103) received investment.

The annual 2020 “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 200 companies across 5 different technology sectors:

• Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
• Cleantech (CT)
• Life Science (LS)
• Digital Health (DH)
• Agri-Food (AF)

The “Ready to Rocket” lists are the only predictive lists of its kind in North America, requiring many months of sector and company analysis.

“Over the 18 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 600 companies reviewed to make our selections of 200 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 2019 Ready to Rocket list for ICT performed extremely well. The average growth rate on that list was over 40% growth, with 31 companies with double digit growth and 12 exceeding 100% growth. The list as a whole represented the creation of over 500 jobs. 29% of companies on the list received new investment in 2019. Two companies graduated (achieve >20M revenue or over $50 in investment) and two were acquired.

“2019 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. “Despite the economic uncertainty, we foresee great growth potential for many of these companies as they offer leading edge technology that provides transformational capabilities that the world needs.”

CLEANTECH (CT)

The 2019 Ready to Rocket list for Cleantech performed extremely well. The majority of companies on the list had in excess of 50% growth, and the lists together created over 200 jobs in 2019. Four companies graduated (achieve >20M revenue or over $50 in investment) and Ecotagious was acquired.

According to Dave Thomas, Senior Partner at Rocket Builders, “The Cleantech sector in B.C. continues to see growth. It is an exciting time in cleantech as renewable energy is reaching an economic tilting point and investors are keen on large investments in post-demonstration technologies that are ready to scale.”

LIFE SCIENCE (LS)

The 2019 Ready to Rocket list for Life Science featured many new investments (70% received new investment) and key milestones. There were over 75 jobs created among companies on the list.

According to Thealzel Lee, Senior Partner at Rocket Builders, “The Life Science sector in B.C. continues to demonstrate interesting and innovative technology, especially in medical devices and genomics. Although the healthcare industry is currently under economic strain, most analysts predict strong growth potential coming out of the current pandemic crisis.”

DIGITAL HEALTH (DH)

2019 was the third year for the Digital Health sector list, and it continues to show growth. With over 200 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.

“2019 was a great year for Digital Health in British Columbia as there was significant job creation and many breakthrough companies,” said Geoffrey Hansen, Managing Partner at Rocket Builders. “In the current pandemic crisis, we are seeing a real acceleration in interest in all areas of digital health. In particular, telehealth is observing exponential growth.”

AGRI-FOOD (AF)

2019 was 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 mix of Agricultural Technology (AgTech), Food Technology (FoodTech), Food Delivery and Cannabis Technology (CannabisTech) is an area of great innovation but still early in mass adoption. Over 125 jobs were created by companies on this list, with about 60% of them racing investment.

According to Dave Thomas, Senior Partner at Rocket Builders, “The Agri-Food sector in B.C. is making great progress. Each of the sub-sectors in growing with Food Delivery experiencing particularly strong growth for obvious reasons.”

MORE INFORMATION

For details on the “Ready to Rocket” lists, please visit http://www.readytorocket.com
Today (April 14th), a webinar detailing the trends and unveiling the launch of these lists.

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SOURCE Rocket Builders