Rocket Builders Announces 2006 "Ready to Rocket 25" List to Reveal Companies Positioned to Capitalize on Growth in the Information Technology Sector Rocket Builders highlights the hottest trends and names 25 private B.C. companies with high growth potential in 2006 VANCOUVER, BC - January 11, 2006 - Rocket Builders has released its fourth annual "Ready to Rocket 25" list along with its annual "I.T. Outlook" report. The "Ready to Rocket 25" list names twenty-five private B.C. companies who are best positioned to capitalize on the information technology (I.T.) trends that will contribute to faster growth than the I.T. sector as a whole. The "Ready to Rocket 25" list is the only predictive list of its kind in North America. In past years, the list has accurately chosen companies that have significant revenue growth, that are more likely to receive investment and that are more likely to get acquired. Key highlights of the 2005 list include: PureEdge Solutions Inc. (Victoria, BC) was acquired by IBM Over 45% of the 2005 Ready to Rocket companies received new investments 100% of the 2005 Ready to Rocket companies exceeded 30% revenue growth Over 60% of 2005 Ready to Rocket companies exceeded 100% revenue growth Over 35% of 2005 Ready to Rocket companies exceeded 200% revenue growth "Last year's picks definitely outperformed past lists" said Reg Nordman, Managing Partner at Rocket Builders. "In 2003, top performers simply beat 15% growth. In 2004, top performers simply beat 25% growth. This year, the top performers were well over 200% growth. I think the success these companies are having in growing their revenue shows how the technology industry in B.C. is maturing." Today, Rocket Builders has presented the 2006 list of Ready to Rocket companies and its "I.T. Outlook" predictions to B.C.'s top investment firms and professional advisors at a special event at U.B.C. Robson Square. "The growth rates of these private companies is impressive when you consider that the I.T. sector only grew at 5% to 6% in 2005." said Geoffrey Hansen, the Managing Partner at Rocket Builders responsible for the I.T. Outlook report. "B.C. companies have focused on high value niche or vertical markets and tend to out compete other companies in their chosen areas of technical and market specialization." This year's I.T. Outlook report has highlighted the importance of innovations from Microsoft, Apple, and Google in creating opportunities for innovative technology from B.C. companies. The report also highlights some important themes to help both entrepreneurs and investors to identify opportunities. These themes include the need to provide innovations in ease-of-use, portability, security, manageability and performance while also understanding the need to effectively collect, find and productively use information. The process of choosing the twenty-five companies for the "Ready to Rocket 25" list involved mapping over one hundred (100) technology companies against the key trends identified in the "I.T. Outlook 2006" report. "The competition to make this list was very intense this year," said Dave Thomas, a Senior Partner at Rocket Builders. "We were faced with 25 incumbents from last year's list with great revenue growth and over 20 new entrants well positioned for equally strong revenue growth - you could argue that any of those 45 companies on our short-list deserved to be on our final list. Our selection panel found it difficult to choose, particularly when many of the companies who were not selected could have easily been one of the top performers in past years of this list." For details on the "Ready to Rocket 25" list and an overview of key findings of the "I.T. Outlook" report, please visit http://www.readytorocket.com About Ready to Rocket Each year, based on analysis of trends that will drive growth in the information technology sector, Rocket Builders identifies twenty-five (25) private companies that are best positioned to capitalize on the trends for growth. This selection methodology has been an accurate predictor of growth with "Ready to Rocket" companies exceeding the industry growth rate. Also, many of these companies raise investment capital and each year many of the profiled "Ready to Rocket' companies are acquired. http://www.readytorocket.com   About Rocket Builders   Rocket Builders is a market strategy and consulting firm focused on helping technology companies to capitalize on market opportunities. Since 2000, we have been engaged in market research, market planning, business development initiatives, strategic selling, and product launches for over 100 organizations. As a service to the local community, each year Rocket Builders shares its insight on market trends to showcase the most promising information technology companies in British Columbia through its "Ready to Rocket" event. http://www.rocketbuilders.com Media Contact: Geoffrey Hansen, 866-824-8785 Rocket Builders