Vancouver's Avigilon Corp. (TSX:AVO) earned top honours Tuesday night at a Deloitte-sponsored awards ceremony to recognize Canada's top 50 technology companies.
Avigilon was one of six B.C. companies named to this year's Technology Fast 50 list. Meanwhile, four B.C. companies were named to Deloitte's Green 15 list.
Avigilon's phenomenal 29,917% revenue growth rate and its performance on the Toronto Stock Exchange helped earn Avigilon the Leadership award. Avigilon went public on November 8, 2011, and its stock has more than doubled, from $4.50 per share at debut to $10.99.
Avigilon bucked an otherwise downward trend that saw lower revenue growth for many other technology companies in Canada.
"We run the Technology Fast 50 program to celebrate the winners in Canada's technology sector," said Richard Lee, national leader for Deloitte's Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) industry practice.
"This year we've seen the lowest cumulative growth rate for the Fast 50 winners. That is a direct consequence of the lack of investment in the critical technology sector. The good news is that we saw a lot of exciting new companies in the start-up segment."
Other B.C. companies named to Deloitte's Fast 50 list this year are Clevest Solutions, Global Relay, In Motion Technology, Vision Critical and Tantalus Systems.
Tantalus scored a double this year by also being named to Deloitte's Green 15 list. The company, which makes smart grid communications technology, has made the Fast 50 and Green 15 lists three years in a row.
Other B.C. companies named to the Green 15 list were Ballard Power Systems (TSX:BLD), Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies and Pulse Energy.
Meanwhile, Canada's hottest social media company – HootSuite – received Deloitte's Companies To Watch award, which identifies promising young tech companies that have been in business less than 10 years.
"It's kind of a slam dunk to call them a company to watch," Fraser Liptrot, the B.C. leader for Deloitte's TMT industry practice, said Tuesday night at a dinner held in Vancouver for the B.C. winners.
Most of the Technology Fast 50 winners come from Ontario (30) and Québec (11).
