Vancouver-based mobile games company Exponentia Communications - Fresh off major deal with the National Hockey League - says it's ready to hit the next level with the announcement that it has been named one of B.C.'s 25 privately held tech firms that are "ready to rocket".

"The timing is very good for us right now," said Exponentia managing partner Andrew Gregory, whose company was one of eight named today to the Ready to Rocket 25 list for 2007, compiled by tech consultants Rocket Builders.

"There's been an explosion related to people using their mobile phones to connect and interact, so I think our platform PlayAction is here at the right time."

Also looking forward to a boom year is 90 degrees Software, whose reporting applications are designed - with their integration with the new Windows Vista and Microsoft 2007 - to make business reporting easier for the average user who doesn't have a lot of teach skills.

Michael Matrick, president of 90 degrees, the core of whose team comes from old Crystal Decisions, said his company's new product Radius has come along
at the right time to help Microsoft win over reporting in the general marketplace through everyday tools like Office.

"We're a bit of a change agent, and a catalyst for users to migrate to Microsoft."

The two companies were joined as newcomers to the list by The Level Consulting, Actenum Corportation, Elastic Path Software, Constructive Media, ActiveState Software and QuIC Financial technologies.

According to Rocket Builders of the firms named to the list in 2006 two, IronPoint Technologies and Convedia Corp, were acquired.

Of the others:

• More than 50 per cent exceed revenue growth of 50 per cent.
• More than 25 per cent achieved revenue growth above 100 per cent.
• More than 30 per cent received new investments.
• Top performers on the list had growth of more than 200 per cent.

Reg Nordman, Rocket Builder's managing partner, said that the revenue growth of the companies was impressive, compared with the average growth in the IT sector of just five per cent.

Another Rocket Builders managing partner, Geoffrey Hansen, said that just to stay on the list companies had to do at least 30-per-cent revenue growth.

"The new ones were chosen because they're companies we've been watching for a few years, and all of a sudden they've sort of figured it out," said Hansen. "Sometimes as a start-up they build something and they don't find the right market. But when they do find the market and they get the product just right, they take off.

"And others on the list are just seeing the trends have shifted to where they were." He cited Exponentia as one such firm, which had been developing solidly over the past few years and then found itself in the middle of an extremely hot space.