Auckland’s Pushpay, a developer of mobile commerce tools, has taken the number one ranking on this year’s Deloitte Fast 50, with growth of 4,574 percent.

Auckland-based digital customer relationship management platform Plexure (1,197 percent growth), Christchurch house lifter SmartLift Systems (1028 percent), Wellington brewery Panhead Custom Ales (925 percent) and Auckland travel company All Blacks Tours (822 percent) round out this year’s top five.

Deloitte Private partner Bill Hale says the high level of diversity among this year’s Fast 50 companies is similar to last year. “This is important as it creates job opportunities across more than just the tech industry, and demonstrates that SME businesses can be successful in their niche with good strategy and good execution,” he says. “The average 2016 Deloitte Fast 50 business has 33 employees, is just over six years old, has annual revenue of $10.3 million and a 482 percent three-year growth rate.”

Digital parking management company Parking Sense was named the 2016 Rising Star. The Rising Star awards are designed to recognise early-stage, innovative, high potential companies – the so-called “next generation” of Fast 50 businesses.

The Fast 50 index, in association with BNZ, was announced on Wednesday evening at the Deloitte Festival of Fast Growth. The index ranks businesses experiencing rapid revenue growth over three years across a range of sectors, including manufacturing, technology, services, retail and consumer products, exporters and mature business. The threshold for entry into the Fast 50 was growth of at least 225 percent, which is the highest entry threshold since the index was launched in 2001.

This year, 38 companies made the index for the first time, and 27 companies had revenues under $5 million. A total of 24 companies on the 2016 index are from Auckland and Upper North Island, followed by nine from Christchurch and the Upper South Island. Seven are from Wellington and the Lower North Island, six are from Dunedin and the Lower South Island, and four from the Central North Island.  

Thirteen companies classify themselves as technology companies, 12 are consumer businesses, nine are from the construction industry and four each are from the financial services and tourism industries. The remaining eight companies on the index are from the agribusiness, health, energy/utilities, education and manufacturing industries.  

Along with being the number one ranked business on the 2016 Deloitte Fast 50, Pushpay took out the national awards for fastest growing exporter and fastest growing technology business. The third ranked business on the index, SmartLift Systems, won the national award for fastest growing services business and fourth ranked Panhead Custom Ales won the national award for fastest growing manufacturer.

Other national category awards went to fifth-ranked All Blacks Tours for fastest growing retail or consumer products business, IFS Forestry for fastest growing agribusiness and BLIS Technologies for fastest growing mature business.

The Deloitte Festival of Fast Growth, held for the fourth time at Auckland’s Villa Maria winery, brings together the country’s fastest growing companies for a one-day event. The focus of the day is to provide an informal but challenging and thought-provoking environment for high growth business. It includes workshops, networking opportunities and concludes with the celebration to count down the fastest growing companies from 50 to one.