Meet the region's top 50 tech pioneers

A government-endorsed report has identified the top 50 technology companies helping to lead Australia and New Zealand’s transition to innovation-driven digital economies.

The Tech Pioneers Report was prepared by venture capital firm H2 Ventures with the support of Investec Australia.

Sydney-based collaboration software-as-a-service (SaaS) developer Atlassian took the top spot, followed by accounting software provider Xero and digital web design asset marketplace developer Envato.

Email marketing SaaS provider Campaign Monitor and online graphic design platform operator Canva — both from Sydney — rounded out the top five.

In a forward to the report, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said each of the top 50 technology companies demonstrates the power of technology to disrupt the status quo.

To make it easier for start-ups to access early-stage investment, the government is introducing a 20% tax offset and capital gains tax exemption on investments in innovative start-ups and establishing new commercialisation funds.

“These changes are supporting our economy’s transition and will help foster a new generation of digital disruptors,” Turnbull said.

For the report, companies were ranked based on five factors — total capital raised, rate of capital raising, geographic and sector diversity, consumer and marketplace traction and an ‘X factor’ that takes into account a company’s degree of product, service and business model innovation.

Among the top 50 companies across Australia and New Zealand, 27 are located in NSW, nine are in Victoria, two are from Queensland, 10 are from New Zealand’s North Island and two are located in the nation’s South Island.

Broken down by operating model, 15 of the top 50 are SaaS companies, 21 are marketplace companies and five are hardware companies, while the remainder can’t be placed in these categories.

By industry, the top 50 includes 11 companies in the Fintech sector, eight in creative, five in services, four in transportation, three in marketing and two each in e-commerce, education and energy.

The 2016 Tech Pioneers:

#01 Atlassian
#02 Xero
#03 Envato
#04 Campaign Monitor
#05 Canva
#06 OFX
#07 Freelancer
#08 Vend
#09 Invoice2go
#10 WiseTech Global
#11 3P Learning
#12 99designs
#13 Redbubble
#14 Aconex
#15 Harmoney
#16 Shoes of Prey
#17 Siteminder
#18 Tyro
#19 Prospa
#20 Society One
#21 8i
#22 Autopilot
#23 BuildingIQ
#24 Moula
#25 Nitro
#26 Rocket Lab
#27 Ingogo
#28 Unleashed Software
#29 Vinomofo
#30 Image Brief
#31 Safety Culture
#32 Booktrack
#33 Smart Sparrow
#34 Snakk Media
#35 Catapult Sports
#36 Culture Amp
#37 OpenAgent
#38 Vigil Monitoring
#39 Expert360
#40 Airtasker
#41 Power by Proxi
#42 Design Crowd
#43 Stockspot
#44 90 Seconds
#45 Nano-Nouvelle
#46 Data Republic
#47 Hey You
#48 Martin Jetpack
#49 Equitise
#50 Jayride

Image courtesy of Seth Waite under CC