Local companies dot list of Canada’s fastest-growing

Companies based in Waterloo Region, Guelph and midwestern Ontario feature prominently in a new list looking at some of the fastest-growing firms in the country.

Canadian Business has released its annual list of Canada’s fastest-growing companies.

The list is based on a self-application process. To qualify, companies must submit financial documents showing their revenue growth over the past five years. Companies needed to have earned at least $2 million in revenue in their most recent fiscal year to qualify.

The fastest-growing company in all of Canada, according to the report, is Toronto-based construction firm Gillam Group.

The top-ranking local company is Kitchener’s Sortable, which was listed in 12th place. According to the Canadian Business report, Sortable saw revenue growth of 4995% over the five years in question.

Sortable, which is based in Kitchener and had 53 employees as of 2016, creates software to help content publishers better understand their audience and the effectiveness of their advertising.

Two larger companies based in Waterloo clocked in slightly behind Sortable. Axonify ranked 25th with a 2421% revenue increase, where a 2386% increase saw Magnet Forensics land the 27th position.

Axonify makes corporate training software, while Magnet Forensics has software used by forensic investigators.

Other local companies in the top 100 include Waterloo’s Dejero (ranked 53rd), which makes broadcast video technology, Kincardine-based human resources firm Garneau Group (57th), Guelph furniture manufacturer Vivere (66th), Cambridge real estate investment network Keyspire (69th), Guelph’s QuickContractors.com (77th), and MSW Plastics of Palmerston (83rd).

Twenty local companies were ranked between 101st and 500th. You can view the full list here.

Canadian Business also released a separate list looking at the country’s 50 fastest-growing startups.

That list was based on revenue growth over the past two years, and companies must have earned at least $1 million in their most recent fiscal year and must have been founded between 2011 and 2014 in order to qualify.

Swift Labs, a six-person Kitchener startup which focuses on helping companies bring their products to markets, reported two-year revenue growth of 863% and was ranked 14th. Landing 20th spot was GreenMantra Technologies, a Brantford-based chemical company.