Technology is one of the fastest growing business sectors in Los Angeles today, so it’s little surprise that companies with a digital component were prevalent on the Business Journal’s list of Fastest Growing Private Companies, published in the Nov. 18 issue.
In fact, tablet manufacturer Fuhu Inc. topped the list with $118 million in revenue last year. The company’s 96,000 percent growth over a two year period is due to the launch and growing popularity of its Nabi devices, which are aimed at children. (Read the Business Journal’s profile of Fuhu here.)
Rounding out the top three was I.T. Source Corp., a Koreatown technology services company, with $84.5 million in annual revenue, and Babyhaven.com Inc., an online retailer of baby products based in Santa Fe Springs, with $11.4 million in annual revenue.
Tech companies that made it into the top 10 include AdColony, a Brentwood mobile video ad network, which came in at No. 4 and OpenX, an advertising technology firm, which came in at No. 6.
OpenX Chief Executive Tim Cadogan said the company’s rapid growth has led the company to expand from his living room to more than 45,000 square feet on Pasadena’s Lake Avenue in just five years. (Read the Business Journal’s interview with Cadogan here.)
Other tech companies on the list include social rewards community Swagbucks.com at No. 24 and cloud sales software company Velocify at No. 48. Both firms are based in El Segundo.
Santa Monica auto information website TrueCar.com made the list for its fourth consecutive year, this time coming in at No. 43.
Chief Executive Scott Painter attributes the company’s continued growth – despite facing a year of industry boycotts and legal warnings – to the referral fees that it receives from car dealers when it helps consumers find and buy a vehicle. (Read the Business Journal’s interview with Painter here.)
Many of the high-growth tech startups in the Silicon Beach region are noticeably absent from the list because the Business Journal requires that a company have at least $5 million in annual revenue. Few tech startups, despite their rapid growth, meet that threshold.
The full list and interviews with the top 10 companies can be found in the Nov. 18 issue of the Business Journal.
