The fastest growing technology companies list published annually by Deloitte has been topped by NextDC, an ASX-listed operator of data centres. Over a three-year period from 2012 NextDC expanded its revenues by a whopping 3626%.
Deloitte measures the growth of tech companies over 3 year periods, and only includes candidates in the list if they have achieved cumulative revenues of at least $8 million in the 3 years.
NextDC is a provider of cloud hosting services for business servers. They are essentially an outsourced IT provider, which helps other businesses who cannot afford or do not want to manage their own IT team.
Other companies to make the list were Temple & Webster, a furniture and homewares retailer, online digital marketing agency SEO Shark, Pepperstone, which is a currency exchange platform, and coupon sales website DEALS.com.au.
The technology sector has experienced wide-spread growth as major players such as OzForex have made public offerings, according to ASX chief Elmer Funke Kupper. Over $2 billion in listings were made available by the tech sector in 2013 alone.
Funke Kapper said that: “The listed technology sector in Australia has a strong history. Companies such as Seek, REA Group and Carsales.com have achieved strong success and are world leaders in their respective fields. Their leaders have been determined advocates for the sector and for the growth that can be achieved by technology companies in Australia.”
Josh Tanchel, a partner at Deloitte, says that internet companies have experienced the fastest growth, with software businesses a close second – and the two often blur. He predicts that the next big area for expansion will be in telecommunications and network support, as the demand for data in Australia grows and more companies shift their servers to the cloud.
Tanchel believes that companies which manage IT services like NextDC have strong prospects for further growth. They will continue to reap the rewards as small and medium sized enterprises opt to shift their servers to the cloud, rather than maintain and manage their own infrastructure.
He also says that we need to increase the amount of capital available to the tech industry if we want to see further significant growth. Some local venture capital houses are starting to emerge, but he thinks that it will be necessary (and productive) for the big players to invest, rather than technology start-ups needing to rely on grassroots investment for capital.