TECH TRACK 100: Research Report 2015

T E C H T R A C K 1 0 0 R E S E A R C H R E P O R T 2 0 1 5 B R I T A I N S F A S T E S T -G R O W I N G P R I V A T E T E C H N O L O G Y C O M P A N I E S

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C O N T E N T S

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A N D E N J O Y I T S I M O N C A LV E R2 3 C O N TA C T D E TA I L S


0 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N

The Tech Track 100 ranks private technology, media and telecoms (TMT) companies based on their growth in sales over the last three years of available data.

This year, the average sales growth for the 100 companies was 86% a year, to a combined total of 2.4bn. They employ 13,000 staff, having added more than 9,000 jobs over the same three-year period, some as a result of acquisitions. This is a significant advance since the first Tech Track 100 was published in 2001, a year after the dotcom crash, when total sales were 414m and the companies employed a combined total of 5,270 staff. Since then, some 39 companies which featured in Tech Track 100 have gone on to float on stock markets (see page 10), and less than 10% have gone bust, despite up to 50% of startups failing after four years.

Companies on the table this year include well-known names such as online flight search engine Skyscanner (No 51), which makes its sixth consecutive appearance, online fashion portal Farfetch.com (No 17) and price comparison website money.co.uk (No 62). The top company is Ve Interactive, an advertising software developer that helps online retailers increase sales. It grew revenues by 306% a year, from 313k in 2011 to 20.9m in 2014.

This report looks at some of the most interesting trends and themes that have emerged from this years research, as well as listing the full 2015 TechTrack 100 league table.

I hope you find both inspiration and insight in the following pages.

Stephen Welton, Chief Executive

This is the 15th year of The Sunday Times Tech Track 100, the league table of Britains fastest-growing private technology, telecoms and media companies.

Stephen Welton Chief Executive, BGF


0 2 I N T R O D U C T I O N

T O P 1 0 T E C H T R A C K 1 0 0 C O M PA N I E S

Rank 2015 Company Activity HQ location Year end

% annual sales rise over 3 yrs

Latest sales 000 In profit? Staff Founded

1Ve Interactive Ecommerce technology developer

Central London Dec 14 305.55 *20,891 Yes 840 2009

2Neuven Staff administration software

Manchester Jul 14 270.98 36,870 Yes 37 2010

3FanDuel Fantasy sports game developer

Edinburgh Dec 14 261.71 *34,399 No 400 2009

4Funding Circle Peer-to-peer lending

Central London Dec 14 195.93 13,102 No 182 2010

5RateSetter Peer-to-peer lending

Central London Mar 15 184.36 *12,481 Yes 110 2010

6LMAX Exchange e-FX trading technology

West London Dec 14 181.30 26,155 No 120 2008

7Palringo Messaging & gaming platform

Central London Aug 14 172.80 8,398 Yes 34 2006

8The Media Image Digital marketing agency

West London Feb 15 171.10 *8,090 Yes 17 2009

9Immunocore Bio-technology developer

Oxfordshire Sep 14 168.25 6,381 No 94 2008

10Impulsepay Mobile payment technology

Central London Dec 14 168.23 11,599 Yes 10 2009

compound annual growth rate between 2011/12 and 2014/15 * supplied by company annualised

David Brown, CEO of Ve Interactive (No 1) founded the company following a

professional music career.

#1


0 3 E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y

O V E R V I E W

n This years Tech Track 100 companies increased their sales by an average of 86% a year over three years (compared to 79% on last years table), from a total of 492m to 2.4bn

n Over two thirds (70) of the companies made an operating profit (OP) in their latest year (2014/15), with an average profit margin of 13%. 11 had margins of more than 20%

n 66 of the companies on the league table are majority-owned by an entrepreneur and/or founders, while 22 are owned by private equity or venture capital firms and 3 by business angels. External investors back a total of 40 companies

n Software companies dominate the league table with 23 companies developing software for anything from tracking vehicles (Tantalum Corporation, No 14), to accountancy software (Crunch, No 63) and identity document authentication (IDscan, No 36)

n The majority of companies on the league table are based in London (52) and the southeast (15)

K E Y T H E M E S

Billion-dollar unicorn companies: Five of the companies in this years Tech Track 100 are privately-owned unicorns tech companies valued at over $1bn; out of a total of eight which are privately owned in Britain (page 12)

Growth capital fundraising: Some 12 companies have received growth capital from new or existing investors in the past 12 months (page 12)

Women in tech: 10 of the companies are run, or over 20% owned, by women entrepreneurs (page 2)

International expansion: Over three quarters of the companies earn at least some of their revenue overseas, and many are establishing international offices (page 13)

High-tech manufacturing: The league table is home to 9 high-tech manufacturers (page 13)

IT services and consulting: 15 companies are involved in consulting and services related to networks, IT and computing systems (page 13)

Fintech: Technology has increased the number of financial transactions consumers are conducting online and on the move, and 11 companies are active in this area (page 14)

Adtech: Eight companies are focused on delivering increasingly personalised adverts to web browsers and mobile devices (page 14)

Emerging brands: The league table contains a number of companies making themselves household names, such as money.co.uk, Skyscanner, Zuto and Farfetch.com (page 14)

Growth in sales

Number of companies in each range of compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of sales over latest three years.

Characteristics of a typicalTech Track 100 company

SalesAverage growth over three years 86% paSales in 2011/12 4.9mSales in 2014/15 23.8m

Profits Operating profit in 2014/15 300k Number of profitable companies 70 Margin (profitable companies only) 12.7%

StaffTypical number of staff 130 in 2014/15Typical increase in staff 91 over three years

Company characteristics Region Greater London (52) Sector Software (23) Founded 2005Majority ownership Entrepreneur and/or founder (66)Angel, VC or corporate investment 40

4

3

3

>200%

175%-200%

150%-175%

125%-150%

100%-125%

85%-100%

70%-85%

55%-70%


0 4 K E Y S TAT I S T I C S

Sales breakdown

Number of companies in each range

Companies with the biggest sales

Rank Company Activity

2014/15 sales m

100Essence Digital marketing agency

211.4m

17Farfetch.com Online portal for fashion boutiques

199.2m*

52Skyscanner Travel search engine

92.9m

90Click Travel Travel management developer

92.5m*

44EDM GroupInformation management services

69.7m*

26Tech21Device impact protection maker

67.1m*

includes total transaction value* supplied by company

S A L E S B R E A K D O W N

n The top ranked company, advertising technology platform Ve Interactive, saw sales growth of 306% a year, from 313k in 2011 to 20.9m in 2014, and made a small profit. The 100th ranked company, London-based digital marketing agency Essence, reported the highest sales on the table of 211.4m in 2014 which represents total billings

n The next highest is fashion portal Farfetch.com (No 17), which had sales of 199.2m, made up of the value of goods purchased through the site, in 2014 when it made a loss. The next highest was travel search engine Skycanner with sales of 92.9m in 2014, with one of the highest profits on the table. Market research technology developer ServiceTick reported the lowest sales at 5m

n Twelve companies reported sales in excess of 50m: they include IT services provider Maindec (No 43); Travel management software developer Click Travel (No 90); and Device impact protection maker Tech21 (No 26)

S TA F F & J O B C R E AT I O N

n Companies employed 13,005 staff in 2014/15, which gives average revenues per employee of 182,972

n Some 9,000 jobs have been added over the past three years; however, as a result of acquisitions, not all of these are new jobs

n The biggest employers on the league table were EDM Group (No 43) with 1,324 staff; Ve Interactive (No 1) with 840; Skyscanner (No 51) with 583; and Essence (No 100) with 456

n 13 companies employed fewer than 30 staff, including cloud service provider essensys (No 52), with 27 staff and sales of 10.3m, and mobile software developer Fonix Mobile (No 34), with 20 staff and sales of 28.1m

F O U N D AT I O N D AT E

Tech Track 100 companies are typically young and dymanic, with 90 founded after the turn of the century, and 12 founded in the last five years. Three companies were founded in 2011: payment systems developer EPOS Now (No 13), which reported latest sales of 5.2m; digital marketing agency Captify (No 25, 6.3m); and advertising technology company Affectv (No 11, 5.1m).

Number of employees

Number of companies in each employee range

>100

51100

3050

100m

51m100m

21m50m

10m-20m



P R O F I TA B I L I T Y

n Tech Track 100 companies are not required to be in profit. However, 70 companies on this years league table reported an operating profit in their latest financial year, with 11 showing an OP margin of more than 20%. Combined profits of the 70 companies were 164.8m in 2014/15

n Of the 30 companies reporting a loss, 18 are backed by venture capital firms or private equity firms, supporting them through an unprofitable period in the hope of building value for a future exit (see Biggest Losses)

B I G G E S T P R O F I T S & O P E R AT I N G P R O F I T M A R G I N S

n Telecoms services provider OneCom (No 79) made the biggest operating profit on the table at 19.4m, followed by financial services comparison website money.co.uk (No 62) with 15.4m

n Financial services comparison website money.co.uk (No 62) had the biggest profit margin on the league table, at 66%, followed by imaging technology developer Apical (No 72) at 53%

n The average margin among the 70 profitable companies was 13%

B I G G E S T L O S S E S

n 16 companies reported operating losses of over 2m. Of these, 6 have published full accounts at Companies House, with the three biggest published losses as follows:

n Peer-to-peer lending website Funding Circle (No 4) reported the biggest operating loss in 2014/2015 of 19.6m. It raised 100m in a funding round led by DST Global this year

n Bio-technology developer Immunocore (No 9) reported a loss of 7.3m. In July, it completed the largest financing for a private life sciences company in Europe so far, raising 205m from investors including Eli Lilly & Co, Malin and Woodford Investment Management

n Data centre services provider Infinity SDC (No 30) reported an operating loss of 5m. It is currently developing its largest data storage facility to date, located at the digital cluster in Londons Olympic Park

1 0 C O M PA N I E S W I T H B I G G E S T O P E R AT I N G P R O F I T S

Rank#

Company Activity

Latest sales 000

Latest OP 000

Profit margin

79OneCom Telecoms services provider

60,849* 19,416 31.91%

62money.co.uk Price comparison website

23,290 15,430 66.25%

51Skyscanner Travel search engine

92,897 10,764 11.59%

72Apical Imaging technology developer

16,613* 8,871 53.39%

43EDM Group Information management services

69,731* 6,549 9.39%

60Core Group Telecoms services provider

33,263 5,756 17.30%

12Bullitt Group Mobile phone designer

60,924 5,611 9.21%

93EFC Group Oil & gas technology developer

34,129* 4,917 14.41%

83EV Wellbore diagnosis technology

21,587* 4,303 19.93%

45Reflex Gaming Gaming machines manufacturer

14,233 4,301 30.22%

* supplied by company



E X T E R N A L C A P I TA L

40 companies have secured equity investment from venture capital/private equity firms, corporations and/or business angels

n 31 are backed by PE/VC firms, of which 22 are majority-owned, such as regulatory compliance consultancy Cordium (No 97), which was sold by Sovereign Capital to European Capital in January this year, which took at 85% stake for an undisclosed sum

n PE/VC houses hold a minority stake in 9 companies, including mobile phone designer Bullitt Group (No 12), which has been funded by 3.5m from BGF

n 8 companies have received equity investment from business angels. They include electric vehicle charging developer POD Point (No 86), which launched with backing from an angel investor in 2009

n 66 companies are majority-owned by an entrepreneur and/or founders, such as IDScan (No 36), which was set up by founder and majority owner Tamlyn Thompson, 47, in 2006

n One company, e-FX trading platform LMAX Exchange (No 6, and last years number one company) has backing from betting firm, Betfair

G R O W T H C A P I TA L I N V E S T O R S

26 venture capital or private equity firms hold majority or minority stakes in companies in the Tech Track 100. BGF has two investee companies: Zone and Bullitt Group.

#36Tamlyn Thompson set up IDscan in 2006

External investor breakdown

Note: some companies have received backing from more than one type of investor

PE and/or VC

Business angels

Corporate investors 1

31

8



I N D U S T R Y B R E A K D O W N

Software companies are the largest sector on the league table (23 companies), generating 490.5m of sales and employing 3,645 staff in their latest year. These range from companies producing workplace management software, such as Neuven (No 2), whose platform is used by companies such as Sainsburys to manage temporary staff, to App developers Chelsea App Factory (No 16) and The App Business (No 24)

IT consulting and services companies account for over a sixth of the table (15 companies). These include companies such as CloudReach (No 20) and essensys (No 52), which specialise in cloud computing services, as well as Infinity SDC (No 30), which provides datacentres, and companies that combine service provision and expertise with re-sale of IT equipment such as GBM Digital (No 31). Together, the 15 companies generate sales of 330.6m and employed 1,201 staff in their latest year

Eleven fintech companies feature on the league table, including Funding Circle (No 4), which matches businesses looking for loans with investors, and Ratesetter (No 5), which matches mostly individual borrowers and lenders online.

Industry breakdown

Last years figure in brackets

Software (20)

IT consulting & services (16)

Fintech (7)

Media & entertainment (n/a)

Advertising technology (13)

Other (9)

High tech manufacturing (9)

Telecoms services & technology (6)

Online consumer services (10)

23

15

11

9

9

9

8

5

11



R E G I O N A L B R E A K D O W N

n The regional breakdown of this years Tech Track 100 companies is broadly similar to 2014. Greater London is home to the highest proportion of companies, with just over half (52) of this years table based there

n The next biggest region is the southeast, with 15 firms. This covers the areas surrounding the M4 corridor technology hub, and there are a number of companies located in Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire. These include Oxfordshire companies Immunocore (No 9), which is developing drugs that harness the bodys immune system to fight cancer, and mobile phone designer Bullitt Group (No 12), based in Reading, Berkshire

n Eight companies are headquartered in the Midlands. They include Newarks Reflex Gaming (No 45), which develops fruit machine games, and Infomedia (No 37) from Northampton, which enables people to charge small items like car parking and coffees to their mobile phone bills

Regional breakdown of HQ in UK

Greater London 52

South East 15

Midlands 8

North West 4

North East 6

East 6

Scotland 5

South West 3

Northern Ireland 1

5

46

8

1

6

153

52



S U S TA I N E D G R O W T H

47 of this years list have not appeared on any previous Tech Track 100 league table. 20 companies make a second appearance this year, 13 appear for a third time in a row, and four make a fourth appearance. Essence (No 100) appears for the fifth time, while Skyscanner (No 51) appears for a sixth consecutive year.

According to the Office of National Statistics, just over half of startups fail within four years, but less than 10% of Tech Track 100 companies have gone bust.

CompanyNo of years

Years appearing on Tech Track 100

Skyscanner 62010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Essence 52010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015

Click Travel 42012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Equal Experts 42012, 2013, 2014, 2015

OneCom 42011, 2012, 2014, 2015


1 0 F I F T E E N Y E A R S O F T E C H T R A C K 1 0 0

Tech Track 100 was launched 15 years ago to recognise Britains fastest-growing private technology, media and telecoms (TMT) companies by sales. Since its launch, more than 850 British companies have appeared on the league table.

The vital statistics of the league table companies have changed significantly over the last 15 years. The combined sales figure for all 100 companies is over five times as large at 2.4bn and total staff has more than doubled to 13,005.

S T O C K M A R K E T F L O TAT I O N S

Thirty-nine companies have floated on the stock market.

n Sophos, the Oxford-based IT security firm, first featured in 2002 with sales of 22.6m, and floated earlier this year valued at 1bn

n Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) featured in 2003 and floated in 2004 with a value of 240m, and was acquired by US group Qualcomm Inc in August 2015 valued at $2.2bn

n Abcam was valued at 58m when it listed on AIM in 2005, and is now worth 1.2bn

n Ocado, which first featured in 2006, was valued at 937m when it floated in 2010, and is now worth 3bn

n Just Eat was valued at 1.5bn when it floated in 2014, and is now worth 2.6bn

n Zoopla floated at 919m in 2014, and is now worth 1bn

ARM Holdings appeared on sister league table Fast Track 100 in 1997, which predated Tech Track 100, with sales of just 16m and floated the following year; it is now a leading FTSE 100 company worth 13.4bn.

S U S TA I N E D G R O W T H S TA R S

Two companies, The Hut Group and Cheapflights (now Momondo Group), sustained the growth needed to feature on Tech Track 100 for a record seven consecutive years in past league tables.

A C Q U I S I T I O N S & M E R G E R S

Other Tech Track 100 companies have been acquired, including Lovefilm.com, which was acquired by Amazon in 2011 in a deal which valued the company at a reported 200m, and Toptable.com, which was bought by US rival OpenTable for 35m in 2010. NET-A-PORTER.com was bought by Swiss luxury goods maker Richemont in 2010 in a deal valuing the company at 350m, and was valued at 1.5bn in a merger announced in March this year with Italian web-based clothing company Yoox.

David Cameron with Matt Moulding, co-founder and CEO of The Hut Group, which featured on Tech Track 100 for a record seven consecutive years, and has since been No 1 on Profit Track 100

Total sales

Total staff

Average staff increase

2001

414m

5,270

2.4bn

13,005

2015

How the Tech Track 100 has changed

33 91


1 1 F I F T E E N Y E A R S O F T E C H T R A C K

T H E F I R S T T E C H T R A C K 1 0 0

Companies that featured in the first Tech Track 100 league table in 2001 include:

n Web and email security firm Messagelabs, which was sold to Symantec for $695m in 2008

n Jobsite.co.uk, with sales 6.9m, which was acquired by Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, in 2004 for 36m; and it was sold again to German media group Axel Springer last year for $145m

n Digital marketing company Global Beach, started by serial entrepreneur Clive Jackson, who has gone on to found private jet travel app Victor (No 15) which features on Tech Track 100 for the first time this year with sales of 7.9m

FA I L U R E S

According to the Office of National Statistics, just over half of startups fail within four years, but less than 10% of Tech Track 100 companies have gone bust.

Among these are IT services provider 2e2, which featured in 2009 but fell into administration in 2013, having grown to 2,000 staff and sales of 404m; and computer game developer VIS Entertainment, which featured twice before entering administration in 2005.

#15Serial entrepreneur Clive Jackson founded private jet app Victor, and Global Beach, which featured on the first Tech Track 100


1 2 K E Y T H E M E S & S E L E C T E D C O M PA N Y P R O F I L E S

#50

W O M E N I N T E C H

10 of the companies on this years Tech Track 100 are run or more than 20% owned by women.

Examples include Agenor Technology (No 39), which Jackie Smith co-founded with her husband Andy, and Fanduel (No 3), which was co-founded by Lesley Eccles and her husband Nigel.

#4

B I L L I O N - D O L L A R U N I C O R N C O M PA N I E S

Five of the companies in this years Tech Track 100 are unicorns privately-owned tech companies valued at over $1bn out of a total of eight which are privately owned in Britain. Farfetch.com (No17) is one example. Founded by Portuguese entrepreneur Jos Neves, 41, in 2007, its portal connects 300 independent fashion boutiques around the world, which sell their wares through the site.

Peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle recently raised 100m in a funding round led by DST Global

#92

G R O W T H C A P I TA L F U N D R A I S I N G

Some 12 companies on the Tech Track 100 have received venture capital or private equity backing in the last 12 months.

For example, in June this year digital marketing agency Captify (No 25) raised 8m in a funding round led by Smedvig Capital with follow on commitments from all existing investors including Panoramic Growth Equity. In December last year cloud computing consultancy IP Solutions (No 40) secured 5.74m from private equity firm Living Bridge, which took a 30% stake.

James Freedman is co-founder and chairman of digital marketing agency Zone

Claire Hopkins, co-founder and managing director of IT consultancy Ideal Networks



#61

#30

I N T E R N AT I O N A L E X PA N S I O N

Over three quarters of this years Tech Track 100 have generated some of their revenue overseas.

Companies expanding organically into an inherently international market include E-Leather (No 69), which sells to airlines and transport groups. Others have grown partly through acquisition, such as EDM Group (No 43) around half of its sales are international after the acquisition of Americas Diversified Information Technologies.

H I G H - T E C H M A N U FA C T U R I N G

Technology may be moving more towards digital, online and mobile companies, but the Tech Track 100 is home to 9 high-tech manufacturers this year.

Examples include Norwichs EV (No 83), which makes diagnostic equipment including cameras for oil and gas wells, and Seven Technologies Group (No 85) of Northern Ireland, which has developed surveillance technology to help prevent poaching in Kenyas national parks.

I T S E R V I C E S A N D C O N S U LT I N G

As company budgets begin to recover, IT spending is rising, with many business taking the opportunity to update their systems. At the same time, the growth in cloud computing is helping companies to save money on physical infrastructure.

One example is Cloudreach (No 20), which says it is a one-stop-shop for businesses wishing to transfer their systems and data to the cloud.

#12Mobile phone designer Bullitt Group makes 95% of its sales overseas and is backed by BGF

Seiche from Devon develops acoustic systems to aid the detection and monitoring of marine mammals such as dolphins and whales

Infinity SDCs new data centre, part of the redeveloped Olympic media centre, will open in 2016



#28

#54

#51

F I N T E C H

Technology has increased the number of financial transactions consumers are conducting online and on the move.

11 Tech Track 100 companies operate in the financial technology space, ranging from peer-to-peer lenders such as Funding Circle (No 4) to software developers providing the platforms for financial transactions such as Calastone (No 80).

A D T E C H

Eight Tech Track 100 companies are helping customers to target their marketing by delivering personalised adverts to users web-browsers and mobile devices. This includes companies which track peoples movements around the web to optimise the adverts they see such as DigitalBox (No 68); help with the buying and selling of advertising; and in the case of number 1 company Ve Interactive, encourage online shoppers to complete their transactions.

E M E R G I N G B R A N D S

Many of the companies on the league table are investing heavily in their marketing strategies to make themselves (or their product) a household name. The aim is to increase their customer base and make themselves stand out from the competition.

Zuto says its technology facilitates more than 22m of loans each month

Harry Dewhirst and Greg Isbister run BlisMedia, which automates the buying and selling of digital advertising space

Co-founder and CEO, Gareth Williams, has grown travel search engine Skyscanner to 42m users per month


1 5 L E A G U E TA B L E

2 0 1 5 T E C H T R A C K 1 0 0 L E A G U E TA B L ERank 2015



Latest sales000 In profit? Staff Founded

1Ve Interactive Ecommerce technology developer


2Neuven Staff administration software

Manchester Jul 14 270.98 36,870 Yes 37 2010

3FanDuel Fantasy sports game developer

Edinburgh Dec 14 261.71 *34,399 No 400 2009

4Funding Circle Peer-to-peer lending


5RateSetter Peer-to-peer lending


6 1LMAX Exchange e-FX trading technology

West London Dec 14 181.30 26,155 No 120 2008

7Palringo Messaging & gaming platform

Central London Aug 14 172.80 8,398 Yes 34 2006

8The Media Image Digital marketing agency

West London Feb 15 171.10 *8,090 Yes 17 2009

9Immunocore Bio-technology developer

Oxfordshire Sep 14 168.25 6,381 No 94 2008

10Impulsepay Mobile payment technology


11Affectv Advertising technology developer

Central London Dec 14 168.09 *5,146 No 66 2011

12Bullitt Group Mobile phone designer

Reading Dec 14 164.85 60,924 Yes 72 2009

13Epos Now Payment systems developer

Norwich May 15 156.07 *5,199 Yes 95 2011

14Tantalum Corporation Vehicle tracking software developer

Uxbridge Dec 14 152.68 *12,239 No 150 2006

15Victor Online private jet hire


16Chelsea Apps Factory App developer

Central London Nov 14 138.75 5,339 Yes 60 2010

17Farfetch.com Online portal for fashion boutiques


18RTX Routetrader Exchange Telcoms trading platform

Central London Mar 14 127.36 55,024 Yes 35 2007

19Redtail Telematics GPS tracking technology developer

Cambridge Mar 15 116.03 *5,177 No 12 2010

20Cloudreach Cloud services enabler

Central London Jul 15 115.28 *26,655 Yes 148 2009

21Ontrac IT consultancy

Gateshead Jan 15 114.90 7,119 Yes 28 2008

22 16Prepaid Financial Services Payment services provider


23Green Man Gaming Online games retailer


24 29The App Business Mobile app developer

Central London Apr 15 103.40 *11,524 Yes 105 2009

25Captify Digital marketing agency

Central London Mar 15 100.80 *6,306 No 54 2011

Compound annual growth rate between 2011/12 and 2014/15 * supplied by company annualised



Rank 2015




26 5Tech21 Device impact protection maker

Southwest London May 15 97.45 *67,100 Yes 70 2005

27 44BCSG IT consultancy

Central London Jul 14 93.70 15,896 Yes 88 2006

28 30Zuto Car finance specialist

Cheshire Feb 15 92.86 *20,588 Yes 296 2006

29TORI IT services provider


30 22Infinity SDC Datacentre services provider


31 53GBM Digital IT consultancy

Manchester Dec 14 84.51 *23,166 Yes 38 1992

32ESP Group Mass transit smartcards

Hull Jul 14 83.78 53,393 Yes 199 1994

33Huddle Online workspace provider


34Fonix Mobile Mobile software developer

Central London Jun 15 80.02 *28,105 Yes 20 2006

35 33Brandwatch Social media monitoring technology

Brighton Dec 14 79.64 *15,246 No 360 2006

36IDscan Identity document authentication

East London Jul 15 77.80 *8,287 Yes 74 2006

37InfoMedia Mobile payment provider

Northampton Oct 14 75.91 12,846 No 38 1991

38AnalogFolk Digital marketing agency


39Agenor Technology IT services provider

Edinburgh Dec 14 74.55 *9,416 Yes 25 2006

40IP Solutions Cloud communications technology

Central London Nov 14 73.70 *6,352 Yes 27 2001

41 79Zopa Peer-to-peer lending


42LoveLive Music technology media company


43 57EDM Group Information management services


44Maindec IT services provider

Buckinghamshire Mar 15 66.75 61,020 Yes 136 1979

45Reflex Gaming Gaming machines manufacturer

Newark Dec 14 66.50 14,233 Yes 40 2004

46Timeline TV Broadcast technology provider

West London Dec 14 65.99 *18,161 Yes 82 2006

47 6MobileWebAdz Mobile advertising provider


48 49Olive Business Solutions Telecoms services provider

High Wycombe Jan 15 65.55 *33,389 Yes 148 2003

49 15ECS IT consultancy

Glasgow Dec 14 64.71 *42,144 Yes 167 2009

50Ideal Networks IT consultancy

Brighton Dec 14 63.79 *5,498 Yes 35 2009


2 0 1 5 T E C H T R A C K 1 0 0 L E A G U E TA B L E



Rank 2015




51 23Skyscanner Travel search engine

Edinburgh Dec 14 62.37 92,897 Yes 583 2003

52 63essensys Cloud services provider

Central London Jul 14 62.33 10,311 Yes 27 2006

53New Call Telecom Telecoms services provider


54BlisMedia Advertising technology provider


55 32Chargemaster Electric car charging equipment supplier

Luton Dec 14 61.82 12,800 Yes 70 2008

56TestPlant Software testing tools developer


57 43Simplify Digital Product comparison software developer

West London Jan 15 61.46 *21,860 Yes 103 2007

58 36eTech Solutions Surveying software developer

Solihull Mar 15 59.10 *7,229 Yes 125 2005

59 64Empowered IT services provider

Bedfordshire May 15 59.00 *12,066 Yes 78 2006

60 85Core Group Telecoms services provider

Central London Jun 14 58.19 33,263 Yes 165 2005

61Seiche Marine detection systems developer

Devon May 14 57.83 5,581 Yes 37 1998

62 58money.co.uk Price comparison website

Gloucestershire Oct 14 57.29 23,290 Yes 38 2008

63Crunch Online accountancy firm

Hove Mar 15 56.87 *5,111 Yes 150 2007

64 47Edenhouse IT consultancy

Warwickshire Mar 15 56.16 22,855 Yes 194 2008

65Channel Telecom Telecoms services provider

London Dec 14 56.10 *5,576 Yes 19 2008

66NewVoiceMedia Cloud customer contact technlology

Basingstoke Jan 15 56.07 *14,922 No 222 2000

67ServiceTick Market research technology developer

Norwich Mar 15 55.71 *5,040 Yes 69 2007

68Digitalbox Advertising technology consultancy

Bath Apr 15 55.59 *7,186 No 47 2011

69 46E-Leather Eco-friendly materials developer

Peterborough Apr 14 54.50 12,613 No 113 1995

70PaymentSense Payment processing services

Central London Mar 14 54.06 13,247 No 140 2009

71 31Mansion House Consulting IT consultancy

Central London Jan 15 54.05 *33,310 Yes 69 2009

72 41Apical Imaging technology developer


73Exco InTouch Medical technology provider

Nottingham Apr 15 53.77 *9,122 No 90 2004

74 8Fidelity Group Telecoms services provider

Oxfordshire Dec 14 53.49 *7,180 No 18 2008

75 67Nostrum Group Financial software developer

Harrogate Dec 14 53.24 9,047 Yes 64 2001





Rank 2015




76eBECS Business software developer

Chesterfield Mar 14 53.21 20,922 Yes 154 2000

77 100Avecto IT security software developer

Cheshire Jun 15 52.63 *14,675 Yes 119 2008

78 37Virtual1 Network services provider


79 59OneCom Telecoms services provider

Hampshire Dec 14 51.83 *60,849 Yes 270 2002

80 42Calastone Fund transaction network


81Dovetail Games Simulation games maker

Kent Mar 14 49.30 6,078 Yes 63 2008

82Visualsoft Website developer

Stockton-on-Tees Jun 14 48.27 *6,699 Yes 150 1998

83 18EV Wellbore diagnosis technology

Norwich Mar 15 47.94 *21,587 Yes 116 2000

84 84Condeco Software Workplace management software

Central London May 15 47.66 *15,514 Yes 212 2000

85 87Seven Technologies Group Security technology developer

County Antrim Sep 14 47.03 *13,783 No 135 2003

86POD Point Electric vehicle charging developer

Central London Jun 15 46.96 *6,482 No 50 2009

87MPB Group Photography equipment trading platform

Brighton Mar 15 46.89 *7,423 Yes 25 2006

88InSkin Media Advertising technology provider


89CommAgility Telecoms electronics manufacturer

Loughborough Sep 14 45.85 7,381 Yes 17 2006

90 69Click Travel Travel management system developer

Birmingham Mar 15 45.54 *92,516 Yes 110 1999

91Zone Digital marketing agency


92 27Equal Experts Software developer


93EFC Group Oil & gas technology developer

Aberdeen Mar 15 43.41 *34,129 Yes 157 1988

94 65Emoderation Social media management agency

Central London Mar 14 43.11 8,892 Yes 360 2002

95Infectious Media Digital advertising software developer

Central London Apr 15 42.69 *18,400 Yes 65 2008

96 72Aspire Technology Solutions Data services provider

Gateshead Feb 15 42.40 *7,337 Yes 75 2006

97Cordium Regulatory compliance consultancy

Central London Jun 14 42.28 18,853 No 180 1997

98SITS Group Cloud services provider

Northumberland Mar 15 42.15 *5,104 Yes 25 2008

99 71CR360 Software developer

Cambridge Jun 15 41.83 *9,500 Yes 145 1999

100Essence Digital marketing agency

Central London Mar 14 41.78 211,408 No 456 2005




1 9 O N E S T O WAT C H

O N E S T O WAT C H

The Tech Track Ones to Watch showcases ten companies that did not meet the criteria of the league table but have innovative technologies, and have either raised significant venture capital investment or are forecasting strong sales growth.

This years Ones to Watch has been judged by representatives of the sponsors of Tech Track 100 and Fast Track.

This years ten finalists are shown in the table below.Martina King, CEO of software firm Featurespace, which has customers such as Betfair and William Hill

Company Activity Location of HQ FYESales 000 Staff Founded

Appear Here Pop-up shop booking platform Central London Dec 14 1,435* 20 2012

Used by more than 1,000 brands, including Microsoft and Diageo, to find and book space for pop-up shops. Its gross sales are forecast to almost triple this year

Blue Prism Automation software developer Merseyside Oct 14 4,488 50 2001

Its 2,500 labour-saving 'software robots' are used by customers such as Shop Direct and Fidelity to automate back-office administration tasks

Deliveroo Online takeaway platform Central London Dec 14 n/a 175 2013

Delivers food from more than 2,000 restaurants and has raised over 60m to expand on the Continent and in the Middle East

Featurespace Behavioural analytics software developer Cambridge Dec 14 1,324 30 2005

Is the biggest payment analytics provider to the UK online gaming industry, and its customers include Betfair and William Hill

Kimble Applications Software developer Central London Dec 14 2,474 35 2012

Set up by serial entrepreneurs with backing from more than 30 angel investors. In February it opened a third American outpost, in Boston

Kymab Biopharmaceuticals developer Cambridge Sep 14 908 49 2009

Has raised 75m since it was founded and is collaborating with the Gates Foundation on the development of vaccines for malaria, HIV and typhoid

Lost My Name Personalised children's book publisher Central London Apr 15 8,993 50 2012

Using its proprietary technology, it expects to produce 1.5m childrens books in 152 countries this year. It forecasts sales to almost treble to 25m in 2016

Permasense Monitoring equipment developer Horsham Oct 14 4,503 26 2010

More than 10,000 of its corrosion monitoring sensors, developed by two PhD students, are used by companies such as Shell, BP and Total in 20 countries

Skyscape Cloud Services Cloud infrastructure services provider Farnborough Mar 15 16,208 75 2011

Its secure datacentres help public sector organisations improve their digital services and save money. A 4m investment from BGF last year valued the firm at 60m

Smarter Grid Solutions Smart energy grid provider Glasgow Mar 15 6,600 60 2008

Secured 2m from the Scottish Loan Fund in August which will help it to expand on the Continent and in America, and push sales over 10m in 2016

* Sales are gross


2 0 M E T H O D O L O G Y

M E T H O D O L O G Y

D E F I N I T I O N O F A T E C H N O L O G Y C O M PA N Y

The Tech Track 100 adopts the amended London Stock Exchanges (LSE) techMARK definition of a technology company as one that shows a commitment to innovation, research and product development, and operates in sectors including software, internet, telecoms and biotech.

Companies providing media and telecoms goods or services are also assessed.

Q U A L I F I C AT I O N C R I T E R I A

n Independent technology, telecoms or media company

n Registered in the UK, unquoted and not a subsidiary

n Annualised sales of at least 250,000 in the base year (2011 or 2012)

n Annualised sales of at least 5m in the final year (2014 or 2015)

n Year-on-year sales growth from 2013 to 2014 (for 2011 base year), or from 2014 to 2015 (for 2012 base year)

R E S E A R C H A P P R O A C H

The research was conducted by the Fast Track research team, predominantly between May and August 2015.

The final 100 companies are ranked by growth in sales over their latest three years of available accounts, i.e. between 2011 and 2014, or 2012 and 2015. Companies were selected from a database of around one million private companies in the UK followed by extensive research.

Most companies on the league table were interviewed over the telephone, and visited by the Fast Track research team.

Of the 100 companies, 57 had financial years ending in 2014 and 43 had financial years ending in 2015.


2 1 T H E V I E W F R O M B G F

Y O U C A N T G E T O F F A R O L L E R C O A S T E R , S O H O L D O N T I G H T A N D E N J O Y I TSerial entrepreneur Simon Calver of BGF says running fast-growing tech firms is tougher than ever

AS the former chief executive of online DVD rental business Lovefilm I can still recall the moment we first achieved a place on Tech Track 100. It was 2007 and we appeared at No 5 before going on to feature another three times.

The business was in its early days, still some four years away from our decision to sell to Amazon, in a deal that reportedly valued us at close to 200m. We also picked up the prize for best management team at the league tables awards dinner, which was the icing on the cake.

For us, the recognition really did make a difference. We were able to tell potential partners, investors and recruits that we were on this nationally recognised league table, which gave us instant credibility, as it still does for fast-growing British tech firms today.

For example, recruitment is a big challenge for any fast-growing business and after we appeared in the Tech Track 100, quality people started to approach us, rather than us them. As we scaled-up our operations, many of these people were key to our success.

So as a Tech Track alumnus, I want to congratulate the founders and management teams of all 100 companies for achieving a place in this years league table. It is a phenomenal achievement and you should all feel rightly proud.

There has been significant change to Britains tech scene since 2007 and for the most part it has been tremendously positive. As a nation, we have become more sophisticated in our support for firms exploiting promising new technology and bringing disruptive new products and services to market.

You only need to look at the increasing number of British tech firms with billion dollar valuations so-called unicorns to see the positive shift that has occurred.

Looking back, the founders of social network Bebo sold to AOL for $850m in 2008, but there were few other such successes on that scale. Yet look at the league table this year and the likes of Fanduel (No 3), Ve Interactive (No1) and Farfetch (No17) are supporting their heady valuations with rapidly growing revenues. >

As a Tech Track alumnus, I want to congratulate the founders and management teams of all 100 companies for achieving a place in this years league table. It is a phenomenal achievement and you should all feel rightly proud. Simon Calver


2 2 T H E V I E W F R O M B G F

> One thing, however, that hasnt changed is that life as an entrepreneur running a fast-growing tech firm remains tough. Whether it is tackling recruitment or funding, attracting crucial experience to the boardroom or making long-term strategic decisions, the pressure is intense. And in a globally competitive trading environment, its a pressure that is only increasing.

For those attracting customers online, the pace of revenue growth can be hair-raising. The challenge of managing such expansion can be as great as managing no growth at all. And as tech firms gain traction, disrupting incumbents, it will not be long before they, in turn, face disruption from new entrants.

The ability to adapt, and quickly, has to be at the core of everything you do.

The persistence of such pressures, as well as the promise displayed by many of Britains current generation of tech firms, is why I have jumped at the chance to team up with BGF to invest 200m in tech ventures over the next five years.

The team also includes two very experienced tech investors Rory Stirling from MMC Ventures and Harry Briggs from Balderton Capital. They will work with me to extend the reach of BGFs funding and support younger, ambitious tech firms across Britain. Our objective is to back the British unicorns of the future.

As a source of growth capital, BGF has already established its reputation for funding and supporting winners, whether thats Bullitt Group (No12) and Zone (No 91) in this years table or Skyscape, featured in the Ones to Watch section on page 19, or the likes of M Squared Lasers, GCI, Inoapps and Unruly, all of which have featured in the last 3 years. BGF has provided funding to these businesses, in return for a minority rather than a majority stake, at an important time in their development.

We see the investment as the first step in a longer-term partnership. When we were raising investment for Lovefilm there were few venture capital firms looking to invest large sums, but now entrepreneurs have a much greater choice of funding options. Angel investors in particular have become more active, encouraged by government initiatives such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme and its sibling, the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme.

What makes BGFs venture fund different is that we will be able to draw on the expertise of entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. We will work alongside founders, offering mentoring and coaching, rather than simply sitting across the boardroom table pursuing a competing agenda.

As we at BGF invest off our own balance sheet and do not have a typical fund with predetermined exit dates, we can offer entrepreneurs capital that is patient there when they need it.

So I look forward to meeting as many of the founders of this years Tech Track 100 as I can at the 2015 awards dinner in November. When I attended representing Lovefilm, I met some fantastic entrepreneurs at a similar stage in developing businesses, and ultimately they became good friends.

I am sure this years cohort will make valuable contacts to benefit their own ventures.

Founded in 2011, Skyscape provides cloud computing services and infrastructure to the UK public sector. The business offers virtual machines which replace historic hardware to reduce capital and maintenance costs. It has a catalogue of services across three Cloud Service Models in IaaS, PaaS and SaaS, with industry leading SLAs. Skyscape is a market leader in innovation, setting a new standard for a greener, smarter, cost effective cloud solutions with a proven and sustainable infrastructure platform.

Skyscape was co-founded by Jeff Thomas, Phil Dawson and Simon Hansford and has won a number of high-profile contracts with public sector organisations including the Cabinet Office, Home Office, HMRC and MOD. With offices in Farnborough, Corsham and Edinburgh, the business now employs close to 80 people. In May 2014, the business secured a 4m investment from BGF to accelerate its growth. Skyscapes President, Phil Dawson commented: BGFs investment is enhancing the capacity, scale and robustness of our platform and allowing us to develop our customer service propositions.

Skyscape

Annual sales growth 337.84% pa2014/15 sales 16.2m2010/11 sales 44,4002013/14 staff 79Founded 2011Location of HQ Farnborough,

Hampshire

ONE TO WATCHSkyscapeCloud infrastructure services provider

Aberdeen 0345 600 3699Birmingham 0345 266 8862Bristol 0345 266 8864Edinburgh 0345 266 8863Leeds 0345 600 0142London 0345 266 8860Manchester 0345 266 8861 Reading 0345 266 9677

Website www.bgf.co.ukEmail [email protected] @bgf_team

Get in touchBGF (Business Growth Fund plc) is the UKs most active provider of growth capital to small and mid-sized businesses having backed close to 100 entrepreneurs, with over 500 million of long-term capital, in four years. BGFs team of over 70 investors, operating from eight regional offices in the UK, make initial investments of between 2m and 10m and then actively look to provide additional funding to support further growth. The investment provided is typically in the form of equity in return for a minority equity stake and a seat on the board for a BGF director. BGFs philosophy is to provide long-term equity investment for companies with strong growth potential and in doing so expanding the funding options available across the UK.

BGF is an independent company with capital of up to 2.5 billion and is backed by five of the UKs main banking groups Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered. BGF is managed autonomously with an independent management team.

BGF is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

MINDTHEGAP.

Whether you have a gap in your funding, your knowledge, your contact book, your international reach, your talent, your capability or your boardroom, BGF has the capital, counsel and connections to fill it.

We are the UKs most active providerof growth capital for companies withturnover of 5m to 100m.0345 266 8860 | www.bgf.co.uk

TECH TRACK 100: Research Report 2015

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