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The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Australia awards this year have highlighted the resilience of the digital economy as the pace of disruption for traditional businesses picked up speed during COVID.
This year's list is also notable for a rise in the number of female entrepreneurs represented with four women making it into the top 10, and 15 in the top 50. This was up from three and 13 respectively in 2019.
Despite a tough year for Victorian businesses, Melbourne-based media buying agency Half Dome has been named overall winner of the 2020 awards.
The company, which has achieved stellar revenue growth of 2390 per cent over the past three years, has jumped from 12th place in Deloitte's Rising Star category last year to take out the title.
Half Dome co-founder Tom Frazer says the company acts more like an advisor than an agency and its primary strategy is to change the perspective of paid media channels from a "cost-saving metric to a value add" proposition.
"We have strong growth aspirations, in particular to make waves in the Australian market over the next several years," he says.
"Not by being the largest agency, but definitely the smartest."
Half Dome's clients include The Good Guys, BetEasy and Maurice Blackburn.
The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 assesses the highest revenue growth of companies with annual sales of more than $8 million over the last three years.
Runner up to Half Dome with 1621 per cent growth is My Plan Manager, which assists people living with a disability to maximise their NDIS plan, followed by car-service booking app Autoguru, with 1148 per cent growth.
In the Leadership category, which ranks companies with annual turnover of at least $50 million, fintech Zip Co (ASX: Z1P) is ranked fastest with 303 per cent growth, followed by data services group Appen (ASX: APX) with 221 per cent, and carbon neutral shipping service Sendle with 181 per cent.
The Female Leadership award went to My Plan Manager with 1621 per cent growth. The runners up were online retailer Modibodi (929 per cent) and finance platform Brighte Capital (912 per cent).
The ones to watch in the Rising Star category are this year's winner, the online retailer JSHealth Vitamins with a massive 21,540 per cent growth, followed by runners up Coviu Global (11,553 per cent), which is a telehealth platform, and digital engineering service iGreenData (2132 per cent).
"The top two companies in our Rising Star list are also female led, with a third female lead in the top 10," says Deloitte TMT Financial Advisory leader Kat McMaster.
Overall, there was a 15 per cent increase in female representation in this year's list.
Technology Fast 50 leader, Deloitte Partner Josh Tanchel, says this year's winners highlight an acceleration of disruption of traditional industries due to COVID-19.
"Every company nominated this year has shown great resilience and resourcefulness," Tanchel says.
"We're delighted that despite the extraordinary circumstances, so many Australian tech companies are continuing to experience growth.
"The rise of businesses that have successfully harnessed technology is clear.
"The largest category this year was online/direct to consumer, with COVID-19 accelerating the shift from physical stores to online by at least three years.
"We're also seeing big sector wins in software and converging sectors, such as fintech and health-tech, where the intersection of consumers and technology continues to drive change, and communications/IT services which are enabling the digital transformation."
Most of the companies appearing in this year's Technology Fast 50 are in the online, direct-to-consumer sector (34 per cent), followed by software (28 per cent) and fintech (16 per cent).
More than half were based in NSW (56 per cent), followed by Victoria (24 per cent) and Queensland (12 per cent).
The Top 50 fastest growing tech companies in Australia are:
Half Dome (Growth 2,390%)
My Plan Manager (Growth 1,621%)
Autoguru (Growth 1,004%)
Orca Tech (Growth 1,059%)
Modibodi (Growth 929%)
Brighte (Growth 912%)
Peter Manettas Seafood (Growth 834%)
Seer (Growth 734%)
Mable (Growth 721%)
SelfWealth (ASX: SWF) (Growth 668%)
Home Delivery Services (Growth 653%)
Envirosuite (ASX: EVS) (Growth 640%)
Alcidion (ASX: ALC) (Growth 518%)
Equalution (Growth 517%)
Prezzee (Growth 509%)
Reflow Hub (Growth 465%)
Miss Amara (Growth 380%)
Makeup Cartel (Growth 372%)
Wisr (ASX: WZR) (Growth 351%)
VALD (Growth 350%)
Zip Co (ASX: Z1P) (Growth 303%)
Zuuse (Growth 285%)
Shippit (Growth 283%)
Spacetalk (ASX: SPA) (Growth 281%)
Impressive (Growth 273%)
PLAYGROUND XYZ (Growth 269%)
Raiz (ASX: RZI) (Growth 254%)
ServiceM8 (Growth 248%)
Max Kelsen (Growth 231%)
Lexicon Digital (Growth 226%)
Appen (ASX: APX) (Growth 221%)
MyDeal.com.au (ASX: MYD) (Growth 216%)
Practice Ignition (Growth 206%)
Airtasker (Growth 197%)
Sendle (Growth 181%)
Koh (Growth 175%)
Lawpath (Growth 170%)
Babyboo Fashion (Growth 165%)
GetCapital (Growth 165%)
Plenti (ASX: PLT) (Growth 164%)
Openpay Group (ASX: OPY) (Growth 163%)
Employment Hero (Growth 162%)
Vamp (Growth 158%)
Koala (Growth 152%)
Engage Squared (Growth 150%)
Luvo Store (Growth 150%)
MTP Services (Growth 148%)
King Kong (Growth 146%)
Idea 11 (Growth 146%)
Flora & Fauna (Growth 145%)
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