Deloitte recently released their latest list of Canada’s fastest growing companies, and five Montreal companies made the list.

This year’s list marks the 20th anniversary for the technology award program, which identifies leaders in everything from hardware, to digital media, and even emerging sectors like clean technology. This year’s Fast 50 winners achieved an average four-year growth rate of 4,625%, a 74% increase from 2016.

“In general, we are experiencing very high growth percentage in revenues growth with this year’s candidates versus past Fast 50 winners. I would say this is a result of Canadian scaling on a more global market than ever before,” Massimo Iamello, Senior Manager & Quebec TMT Leader at Deloitte told MTLinTECH.

READ ALSO: Deloitte unveils Fast 50 but just 7 from Quebec (2016)

This could be thanks in part to improvements in access to capital. Sixty-two percent of the Fast 50 companies surveyed felt that the ability to access capital has gotten better over the last five years, while 47% of respondents feel the ability to access capital from Canadian sources has gotten better since 2012. The sentiment is even stronger towards US sources of capital, with 64% of respondents indicating that the ability to access capital from US sources has gotten better over the same period.

“Our nomination to this 20th edition of the Technology Fast 50 awards confirms that we have made the right decisions,” Simon De Baene, president and co-founder of GSOFT, told MTLinTECH. GSOFT came in at #49 on this year’s list, with 387% revenue growth.

“For 11 years, GSOFT has been creating innovative solutions that modernize the world of work. Whether by our organizational practices or our technology products, we offer concrete solutions to a global challenge: employee engagement. In the digital revolution that’s going on right now, I’m proud to be part of a company that demonstrates that putting people at the center of organizations is beneficial for all, especially for businesses that want to be here to stay.”

Deloitte’s survey of the Fast 50 CEOs fount that 47% of respondents feel the most important talent challenge is finding talent that is needed. But, the new talent they are finding tended to be more diverse than in past years. Twenty-four percent of companies surveyed reported that 21-30% of new hires for all positions are women, a significant increase from only 13% in 2016.

“This recognition is the result of many years of work.It’s great for the company, but we dedicate it to our team! They are the ones that made it possible,” Simon St-Germain, Communication and Marketing Director for PixMob told MTLinTECH. PixMob came in at #20 on this year’s list, with 1,253% revenue growth.

The survey also found that there’s been a marked uptick in AI usage. All respondents reported using more or the same artificial intelligence and cognitive technologies today than they did a couple of years ago. Machine learning (49%) came in at the most common AI technology used, followed by natural language processing (40%) and computer vision (28%). A whopping 60% leverage AI and cognitive technologies in some manner or another to augment the company by working faster and with more flexibility.

“We are humbled and honoured that Plusgrade has been recognized on Deloitte’s 2017 Technology Fast50 and Technology Fast500 lists for another consecutive year. So proud of our team! Looking forward to another great year of providing our partners within the travel industry the premier solutions that they love,” Plusgrade CEO Ken Harris told MTLinTECH. Plusgrade came in at #29, with 786% revenue growth.

The other Montreal companies named to this year’s list are FixMeStick Technologies at #15 with 2,698% revenue growth, and Budge Studios at #44, with 482% revenue growth.

The full list can be found below:

• • 1. Diply (London): 92881.1%
  • 2. Prodigy Game (Burlington): 18933.0%
  • 3. Prodigy Ventures (Toronto): 16790.9%
  • 4. Bench Accounting (Vancouver): 3809.2%
  • 5. SkipTheDishes (Winnipeg): 10969.6%
  • 6. StackAdapt (Toronto): 10301.0%
  • 7. SendtoNews (Toronto):9277.7%
  • 8. Maropost (Toronto): 7038.2%
  • 9. Refresh Financial (Kelowna): 5482.7%
  • 10. Benevity (Calgary): 5410.7%
    • 11. Unata (Toronto): 4,270%
    • 12.Bold Commerce (Winnipeg): 3,692%
    • 13. Influitive (Toronto): 3,683%
    • 14. Awesense (Vancouver): 3,058%
    • 15. FixMeStick Technologies (Montréal): 2,698%
    • 16. Vidyard (Kitchener): 2,140%
    • 17. Wave (Toronto): 1,950%
    • 18. Canada Drives (Vancouver): 1,760%
    • 19. IntraGrain Technologies (Regina): 1,497%
    • 20. PixMob (Montréal): 1,253%
    • 21. Foodee (Vancouver): 1,036%
    • 22. Visier (Vancouver): 989%
    • 23. Axonify (Waterloo): 958%
    • 24. Shopify (Ottawa): 897%
    • 25. BroadbandTV (Vancouver): 889%
    • 26. Allocadia (Vancouver): 852%
    • 27. TouchBistro (Toronto): 838%
    • 28. Sortable (Kitchener): 802%
    • 29. Plusgrade (Montréal): 786%
    • 30. Big Blue Bubble (London): 785%
    • 31. Neurio (Vancouver): 781%
    • 32. RateHub (Toronto): 769%
    • 33. Unbounce (Vancouver): 681%
    • 34. Buyatab Online (Vancouver): 627%
    • 35. Motoinsight (Toronto): 626%
    • 36. Top Hat (Toronto): 617%
    • 37. mobileLIVE (Richmond Hill): 601%
    • 38. Arcane Digital (London): 553%
    • 39. eSentire (Cambridge): 532%
    • 40. Voices (London): 506%
    • 41. Dealer-FX (Markham): 506%
    • 42. Klipfolio (Ottawa): 505%
    • 43. You.i TV (Ottawa): 499%
    • 44. Budge Studios (Montréal): 482%
    • 45. Media Resources (Oakville): 477%
    • 46. Eastside Games (Vancouver): 472%
    • 47. Big Viking Games (London): 425%
    • 48. Magnet Forensics (Waterloo): 400%
    • 49. GSOFT (Montréal): 387%
    • 50. 500px (Toronto): (383%)
    • 50. TextNow (Waterloo): 383%

Photo by Robin Pierre on Unsplash