Connecticut Innovations Inc. has pre-qualified four Fairfield County companies to generate tax credits for “angel” investors that take equity stakes, the first under a new law intended to increase high-tech employment in the state.
The early tax-credit-eligible companies include Axxun Inc. and Xlerant Inc. of Stamford, InLineAdz Inc. of Westport and New Energy Lighting Technologies L.L.C. of Trumbull.
Connecticut Innovations, the Connecticut Technology Council and other groups have long sought the tax credits as a way to encourage investors to pump more money into Connecticut startups during the formation phase, in hopes those companies can attract additional venture capital at later stages to fuel rapid growth.
Sixteen companies in Fairfield County were included on the 2010 Marcum Tech Top 40, an annual list of the fastest-growing technology companies in Connecticut as ranked by the Connecticut Technology Council and the business advisory company Marcum L.L.P.
Fairfield County led the state, followed by Hartford County and New Haven County, which each had nine entries. The fastest-growing company on the list will be revealed at an Oct. 28 reception in Wallingford.
Fairfield County companies on the list were:
”¢Â   Adeptra Inc., Norwalk;
”¢Â   Bolt Technology Corp., Norwalk;
”¢Â   Cervalis L.L.C., Shelton;
”¢Â   Edgar Online Inc., Norwalk;
”¢Â   Emcor Group Inc., Norwalk;
”¢Â   FactSet Research Systems Inc., Norwalk;
”¢Â   FuelCell Energy Inc., Danbury;
”¢Â   Health Plan One L.L.C., Shelton;
”¢Â   Indeed.com, Stamford;
”¢Â   M2 Media Group, Stamford;
”¢Â   Passur Aerospace Inc., Stamford;
”¢Â   Priceline.com Inc., Norwalk;
”¢Â   Terra Technology L.L.C., Norwalk;
”¢Â   TranSwitch Corp., Shelton;
”¢Â   Triple Point Technology Inc., Westport; and
”¢Â   Webloyalty.com Inc., Norwalk.
Companies self-nominate themselves and furnish revenue data to CTC and Marcum, which ranks businesses by percentage growth over the past four years. To be considered, companies must have at least $3 million in annual revenue.
Unlike similar lists published by Inc. magazine and Deloitte Inc., CTC and Marcum do not reveal participating companies”™ revenue figures, though 13 publicly traded companies are included on this year”™s list for which revenue figures are readily available.
As is the case with those other lists, companies can report growth that was achieved via acquisitions, whether or not the combined company in fact achieved growth in consolidated results from previous years. For instance, TranSwitch Corp. was included on this year”™s list, with the Shelton-based company attributing its 34 percent growth last year entirely to its 2008 acquisition of Centillium Communications, a Fremont, Calif.-based maker of networking systems.
Still, coming out of a brutal recession year companies will take growth in any form.
“Connecticut is proud of its innovation heritage,” said Matthew Nemerson, CEO of CTC, in a prepared statement. “This list reinforces each year that the state”™s tech sector continues to grow and (prosper).”
