43 Growing Sydney Tech Companies to Watch

The Sydney Tech scene is really evolving.

How do we know? Growth, in the form of people.  More specifically, hiring people and expanding team size. As with most major cities, we have a beautiful mix of new and old, mega and micro. The startups keep coming, not all succeed, but the ones who do are scaling quickly.  Add to that the established tech companies look to show no signs of slowing down.

To profile these companies, we’ve been getting out and speaking to them, and also exploring LinkedIn and online data to bring you the ultimate magic number of 43 that are on our radar:

Canva

Canva makes design simple for everyone. Create designs for Web or print including blog graphics, presentations, Facebook covers, flyers, posters, and invitations.

From animations to launching a print house and continuing global expansion, it’s been another big year for Surrey Hills based Canva. The team has grown to nearly 300 in size, looking set to increase headcount by 50 percent this year.

hipages

hipages connects Australian homeowners with local, trusted tradies. The team helps consumers find verified and licensed tradies in their local area while helping tradies grow their business.

The team is on the move to new offices, which is always a good indicator of gearing up for growth. In more hard stats though, the team committed to adding more than 50 staff to their Sydney based offices.

HotelsCombined

HotelsCombined compares the top travel sites in just one search to find the best hotel deals.

HotelsCombined’s key metric is accommodation bookings, and they’ve grown from FY16-FY17 by a healthy 36 percent.

The team has also seen an impressive 11 percent growth in headcount so far this year.

When we asked about 2018 plans, the team shared; “We believe there are still lots of challenges to solve when it comes to helping people find the perfect place to stay. With the growing trend in people booking accommodation on their phones, we will continue to invest into our mobile experience. We have recently started to re-build our app product in React Native and will continue to focus on mobile throughout 2018. In addition, we will invest significant effort into ensuring our users continue to have access to the widest range of accommodation options possible (both hotel and non-hotel properties). We also plan to localize our product experience to meet the needs of our growing Asian and MENA markets.”

Nuix

Nuix aims to be the leading technology for solving complex real-world data challenges including investigation, cybersecurity, insider threats, intelligence, litigation, regulation, privacy and risk management.

Within the last two years the team has grown 15 percent, with another 5 percent already this year. The team, as you’d expect the team have grown largely in the IT and engineering space.

Content Security

Content Security can fully manage your Information Security investment to ensure your security solutions work correctly.

Over the past 12 months, Content has grown by 30 percent. This growth has predominantly come from their Governance, Risk and Compliance services and their Managed Security Service offerings. This continues their year on year growth which they plan to maintain through their significant expansion and investment into the Queensland and Victoria markets.

In 2018, they will continue to focus on growing their Managed Services for Information Security. The significant shortage of IT Security expertise has meant that more Australian organisations are relying on Content Security to complement their lack of skill and ability to react quickly to reduce the impact of security breaches.

Jayride.com

Jayride allows you to search and compare thousands of shared shuttle and private transfer companies.

Over the last 12 months, Jayride.com has nearly doubled their headcount. They are now at 60+ staff who are focused on delivering a greater product experience to their consumers through Jayride.com, and their travel business partnerships. They also just secured a cool $8 million funding.

In 2018 they plan to continue their investment in core competencies; marketing, and technology. In addition to their continued headcount growth, they are embarking on an ambitious project to establish a world-class talent function which will focus on the delivery of the best training, development, and recruitment a company can offer. They expect headcount to double again by the end of 2018, however, their focus is just as much on developing existing staff as it is on their future hires.

finder.com.au

finder.com.au takes the stress out of choosing life-changing products. Compare credit cards, savings accounts, home loans, mobile phones and more.

Finder has grown their Australian talent base from 83 to 114 crew members over the past 12 months. In Australia, they have a balanced gender profile, with 51 percent of employees male and 49 percent female. Over the past year, they’ve had 34 million visits to the site, which is up 70 percent. On average, they get 3 million monthly visits to finder.com.au.

In 2018 they are looking to grow their core money product comparisons, build a loyalty system and personalise the user experience. They’re also investing their energy and efforts into hiring and retaining talented staff both here in Australia and worldwide.

4mation Technologies

4mation is a full-service custom web and software agency.

4mation have experienced close to 30 percent growth this year due to an increased demand for high-quality, local software development services. They believe it is a truism that great people make other people great – and their focus is on attracting, developing and retaining good people – and helping them to become great. They’ve found that the combination of the work, culture and focus on personal and professional growth are the key factors behind the growth and success of their team.

For 2018, they’re constantly learning and improving as an organisation – so continued growth and refinement in both existing and new service offerings are very much top of mind for the coming year.

Kounta

Kounta is a Cloud-based Point of Sale Software System with Powerful add-ons.

Kounta has grown significantly in 2017. Over 15,000 new cafes, restaurants, bars and other hospitality venues have started using the product and they’ve added around 30 people to the team.

On focus for 2018, the team shared “We’ll continue to invest in all areas of our business, including product, engineering, operations, etc. One of the biggest areas of focus will be our Go To Market teams, including marketing, sales, partnerships & customer success. We’ve got a great product that our customers love, and it’s time to start scaling our go to market initiatives so that more people can experience it.”

Practice Ignition

Practice Ignition powers online accounting practices.

In the past year, Practice Ignition has raised 5 million AUD to invest into their international markets both in product development and marketing. In the past 8 weeks, they’ve made 8 new key hires, including Head of Operations, Head of Partnerships, Head of Digital Growth, Product Managers, Sales Managers and Customer Success Agents. As well as being named industry app partner of the year by Xero at their recent Xerocon in Melbourne, the team have seen year on year growth every month this financial year.

In 2018, they will be focused on expanding further into the UK and North America, as well as further enhancing the product across all of their key markets. They now have 3 full time-product managers working on improving the product, every week.

Deputy

Deputy is the ultimate cloud-based workforce management solution that makes it easy to schedule employees, manage time and attendance, track performance, and improve workplace communication.

The Surrey Hills based company has been through impressive growth this year with a whopping 63 per cent increase in headcount. The team have largely been expanding their sales and tech functions.

Lendi

Lendi is Australia’s number 1 online home loan platform that matches borrowers and lenders. We combine smart technology with real people support to make it easy to search, choose and settle your home loan online.

The team at Lendi have certainly been busy, increasing the team to over 250 staff covering roles as diverse as Engineering, User Experience, Marketing, Data Science, Inside Sales, Recruitment, Learning and Development.

When discussing 2018 plans, the team shared: “Our focus is to continue building on our best-in-class user experience to further grow market share and provide consumers with an even easier way to get a home loan. This means we will be growing our engineering, user experience and inside sales teams (and more).”

Thinxtra

Thinxtra is building nationwide Internet of Things networks with Sigfox connectivity

Over the last 12 months the team has grown 100 percent with nearly 40 employees, from 19 this time last year. 2018 looks very bright for the Alexandria based team with the government buying into a cool $10million (15 percent) just last month.

Tigerspike

Tigerspike is a global digital products company that delivers business value, fast.

In the past 12 months, Tigerspike has experienced staff growth of 19 percent. The largest increase in headcount is within Sales with an increase of 50 percent. Other main areas experiencing growth this year are Engineering, Program and Project Management and IT.

Atlassian

Atlassian is a leading provider of collaboration, development, and issue tracking software for teams.

This year the business has experienced 20 percent growth in headcount to reach 2,360 employees. The main areas of growth for Atlassian this year have been in Marketing, HR, Engineering and Information Technology.

InfoTrack

InfoTrack is an award-winning Australian technology company that is helping a range of professionals move into the digital age.

Between 2016 and 2017, InfoTrack has grown their headcount by 33 percent. Development has experienced significant growth, expanding from a 38 to 50 person headcount in 4 months. Other areas expanding the team were Business Development, Sales and the newly created Innovation team.

With 2018 in sight, the team explain “we plan to expand their offering to B2C, as well as continuing to cater to their current B2B audience.”

Elmo

Founded in 2002, ELMO is the leading talent management software company in Australia and New Zealand. The software offers a suite of integrated Talent Management Solutions and a comprehensive, editable Course Library.

With over 115 employees, the Bondi Junction-based team has grown 30 percent in headcount this year. The primary focus for this year has been Research and Development and Sales divisions.

biNu

biNu has solved the issue of unaffordable mobile data costs, enabling publishers & advertisers in emerging markets to engage consumers at scale.

In the past year, biNu has seen 3 percent headcount growth, predominantly within the Engineering team. The company now has 79 staff across the business.

SoftLabs Pty Ltd

SoftLabs Pty Ltd is a leading global ICT services company with core competency in providing Business and Technology Consulting services worldwide.

Softlabs have, in the past year, achieved growth of 2 percent. The majority of their new headcount added to the Quality Assurance team with Sales and Business Development also growing. They have a staff of 51.

Mad Paws

Mad Paws is a go-to pet sitting community online, where pet owners can find trusted pet sitters near their homes.

Mad Paws, one of the startups listed in our Sydney Startup feature, have had a huge growth year with 50 percent increase in headcount to reach 33 employees. The business was founded in 2014 and have experienced much of their headcount growth in Support, Marketing, IT and Community and Social Services areas.

zipMoney

zipMoney is the smarter way to pay for life’s larger purchases over time, on your terms.

zipMoney have had a whopping year with growth of 94 percent.  The company, which was launched in 2013 seem to have had an explosion in headcount this year, reaching a staff of 120 employees. Main areas of growth have been in Business Development, Engineering, Finance and Sales.

Airtasker

Airtasker is a trusted community platform that connects people who need to outsource tasks and find local services, with people who are looking to earn money and ready to work.

This year has been another big year of growth for the Sydney based platform, with over 120 employees. Already this year the team has grown by 60 percent, taking two-year growth to 150 percent.

Employment Hero

Employment Hero is a SaaS based recruitment, HR, payroll and compliance platform.

Employment Hero have had 18 percent growth in this past year. The primary areas of growth for Employment Hero this year were in Engineering and IT. The business now has a team of 58 employees.

JobAdder

JobAdder is a global recruitment platform built for staffing agencies and in-house corporate recruiters.

JobAdder have had a great year with 37 percent headcount growth. They are up to 71 employees and the teams seeing the most growth are Information Technology, Engineering and Consulting.

Data Republic

Data Republic provides a multi-lateral data exchange platform.

In the past year, Data Republic have had 15 percent growth, bringing their staff to 37 employees. Program and Project Management, as well as Business Development seems to be the areas with the greatest increase.

Menulog

Menulog is your personal food delivery or pickup app with thousands of local restaurants to choose from.

The guys are Menulog have increased headcount by 21 percent this year. They now have 82 employees. Their Business Development area has had a huge increase of 89 percent and 50 percent in Information Technology. Other areas that appear to have grown are Engineering and Sales.

Flare HR

Flare HR provides software that manages the onboarding of new employees, payroll, and other HR functions.

Another one of our Sydney Startup top picks, Flare HR have grown their headcount by 36 percent this year. The group launched in 2015 and now have a staff of 38. The main areas of growth have been in Sales, Business Development, HR and Engineering.

Vero

Vero is one of Australia’s largest and most successful intermediated general insurance companies offering insurance solutions.

This year they Vero has seen 6 percent growth. The areas increasing the most headcount have been Business Development, Sales and Finance. Vero now employs 480 staff!

Leadbolt

Leadbolt is a High Performance Mobile advertising platform for User Acquisition and In-app monetisation.

The company, which was established in 2010, has grown 20 percent in the last year. They now employ 53 staff. The areas to receive the greatest injections of headcount are Media and Communication, Business Development and Marketing.

Inabox Group

Inabox Group is the leading provider of IT, cloud, and IP services, from resale and wholesale solutions to managed IT, NBN, and IAAS services.

Inabox Group have seen headcount growth of 27 percent this year, now with 85 employees in total. Sales was the area to see the most significant increase of 133 percent. Other areas with decent growth were Business Development, Information Technology and Engineering.

ITSM Corporation

ITSM delivers comprehensive Infrastructure Management Services and Cloud Solutions for companies and institutions, increasing user productivity to access applications and computing resources.

ITSM, who have been around since 2011, have had a nice year of growth. Headcount has increased by 18 percent. They have 52 employees. Both their Sales and Operations team saw increases of over 50 percent and their Support team also increased in number.

Splend

Need a car for Uber? Splend is more than a car hire company, they offer the complete service.

Splend also made our list of 50 Sydney Startups to watch in 2017. No wonder. The business, which was launched in 2015, has grown by 41 per cent this year. Marketing, Sales, Business Development and Operations the major areas adding headcount, taking them to 41 staff.

Bravura Solutions

Bravura Solutions is a leading global supplier of superannuation/pension, life insurance, investment, private wealth and portfolio.

Bravura employs 897 staff and have been around since 2004. The team have increased headcount by 5 per cent in the last 12 months. The main areas to increase numbers have been Program and Project Management, Engineering, Consulting and Information Technology.

ansarada

ansarada is a global provider of data rooms for merger and acquisition due diligence.

In the last 12 months, Ansarada have increased their headcount by 7 per cent. They employ 170 staff and seen most of this years growth in their Engineering, Sales and Marketing areas.

Soprano Design

Soprano Design is the leading provider of mobile enterprise messaging technology for mobile network operators and global enterprise customers, with more than one billion group enterprise messages delivered annually worldwide.

Soprano Design have been around for quite some time, setting up shop in 1994. Still going strong, they have increased headcount by 14 per cent in the last 12 months. Information Technology received the largest injection of 56 per cent most staff. Other areas to grow were Sales, Engineering and Admin. They employ 91 staff.

HUB24

HUB24‘s award-winning investment and superannuation platform offers broad product choice and an innovative experience for advisers and investors.

In the game for the past 10 years, HUB24 are going from strength to strength. This year they have grown headcount by 33 per cent to now employ 72 staff. Engineering increased by 100 per cent. Other areas to benefit from additional headcount were Business Development, Administration and Finance.

Arxxus Technology Partners

Arxxus is a cloud-focused enterprise services provider specializing in salesforce.com consulting and development.

The team at Arxxus have grown headcount by 24 per cent in the past 12 months. Engineering increased the most by 43 per cent. Business Development and Research were also beneficiaries of the headcount growth. The business now employ 110 staff.

Barhead Solutions

Barhead is a customer solutions company, born in the cloud and focused on Microsoft.  

At 1 July 2016 the team were at 4 people and are now over 25, taking company growth this year up to 28 percent. Hires have mostly come in the IT and Sales divisions.

EB Pearls

EB Pearls is a professional web development company.

The guys at EB Pearls have increased headcount by 6 percent in the past 12 months. They now have a team of 139 staff. Support was the areas which has increased the most in the past year, followed by Quality Assurance and Information Technology.

Brennan IT

Brennan IT is a technology company focused on managed IT services.

Well known player, Brennan IT have been in the IT market since 1997. They employ 353 staff since their increase in headcount of 4 per cent this past 12 months. The main area of headcount growth for the organisation was in Information Technology staff, followed by Sales.

Saviom Software

Saviom is a leading global provider of enterprise resource planning and workforce planning tools.

Another established business in Aussie tech is Saviom Software. They have been in business since 1999. They have grown in headcount by 16 per cent this year. Their Sales team saw the majority of this, increasing by 50 per cent. Today they employ 37 staff.

hammerjack

hammerjack boosts your business by embedding more efficient and adaptable processes, to enable peak performance.

What a killer year for hammerjack. The team have grown headcount by 61 per cent. They now employ 61 staff. Their Information Technology team saw a 50 per cent increase. Finance, HR and Accounting also receiving some additional people.

SuperConcepts

SuperConcepts is the leading innovator in SMSF services spanning administration, education and software.

SuperConcepts are another established business seeing some good headcount growth. In the past 12 months, they have increased by 16 per cent. The majority of this headcount went into Business Development, followed by Information Technology and Sales. They now employ 201 staff.

Expert 360

Expert360 allows businesses to engage and manage top talent for short-mid term project-work.

Since founding in 2013, the Sydney based company has grown to nearly 100 employees, with a 40 per cent headcount growth this year alone. Business Development and Engineering were the biggest growth areas.

Uno Home Loans

Uno Home Loans provide access to technology that helps consumers find the right home loan to match specific needs.

Since launching in 2015, the uno team have had a pretty flying start, now hitting over 40 employees and 45 per cent growth this year. Key growth areas have come from Business Development and Finance.

Spotted someone who should have made the list? Drop the editor a note: alex@themartec.com‍