SALT LAKE CITY — What do indoor trampoline parks, frozen beverages, kids’ hair salons and a customer interaction software platform all have in common?
At first blush not a lot, but it turns out they are all specialities of Utah businesses that earned spots in this year’s MountainWest Capital Network’s annual Utah 100 list of the state’s fastest growing companies.
Utah’s tech sector steals a lot of headlines, but for those who watch such things, it will come as no surprise that the state’s booming economy is being driven by a very diverse portfolio of success stories.
Customer interaction innovators Podium tops the 2019 list, adding another notch on the belt of a company started in a Provo apartment just five years ago that now boasts more than 40,000 clients. Just a few month ago, Podium was celebrating another high ranking on the annual Inc. 5000 list, thanks to a three-year revenue growth rate north of 5,300%.
Podium has attracted over $90 million in venture investment and continues to build out its product utility after starting out with a focus on turbo-charging customer reviews for its clients.
Podium co-founder and chief strategy officer Dennis Steele said maintaining the company’s incredible growth arc has been all about staying focused on a mission of constant innovation.
“Since the beginning, Eric (Rea, Podium co-founder and CEO) and I have been devoted to building a product that delivers value to the customer and continuing to find additional value,” Steele said. “We’ve gone through quite a transformation from being a small review tool to now being a full customer interaction management tool.
“The growth has been accredited to the go-to-market machine we built, but it wouldn’t have been sustainable if we didn’t follow up on the innovation side.”
That same dedication to pushing forward with new ideas helped put Freezing Point on MountainWest’s list for the first time in 2019.
The company behind the slushy drink Frazil got its start in Utah some 15 years ago, and according to CEO Kyle Freebairn, has become the fastest growing company in the frozen beverage realm by rethinking both the dispensing equipment and the quality of what comes out of the taps.
“The way we go to market is extremely different from almost any other frozen dispensed beverage,” Freebairn said. “Most models require retailers to buy the equipment from one company and a drink mix from another manufacturer. If you have trouble with the machine or the mix, you’re on your own in figuring out how to fix the issues.”
Frazil, Freebairn said, has a vertically integrated system that provides the option for the stores that carry their product to lease everything and share on the profit side. Frazil makes sure the machines stay full, in top condition, and thanks to new technology that connects the operation to the internet, can help clients optimize sales.
“With an internet connected machine we can monitor in real-time for any issues and also make sure they’re full and functioning properly,” Freebairn said.
Thanks to the new Internet of Things technology, Frazil can also monitor usage and beverage choices to help its clients zero in on the best choices to keep the frosty concoctions, and profits, flowing smoothly.
Freebairn said the Frazil customer demographic skews toward adult consumers, though he noted the drinks are still very popular among kids. That, he explained, tracks back to the company’s focus on a flavorful, quality product.
“For a very long time, frozen dispensed beverages have been viewed as a product just for kids and one where companies can just make something sweet and colorful and not worry about taste,” Freebairn said. “We absolutely obsess over having a good tasting slush product.”
Freebairn said Frazil, which is a scientific term for ice crystals that form naturally in turbulent waters, has committed to using sugar instead of corn sweeteners in its drinks and looks for nuanced flavor combinations that are appealing to a wide audience. Those flavors come in vibrant colors and include combinations like Bermuda Triangle, Georgia Peach, Smashberry and the top-selling Tiger’s Blood, which combines strawberry with “a hint of coconut”.
Frazil’s combination of integration and flavor-focus, as evidenced by this year’s No. 100 ranking on the Utah 100 list, appears to be working and Freebairn said the company is growing at 10 times the average rate within its product category.
Stellar growth is what puts companies on the MountainWest list every year and Ryan Dent, Mountainwest Capital Network trustee and the chairman for the 2019 Utah 100 event, said it’s been exciting to watch the evolution of the Utah business community over time.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Utah 100 list.
“The list has evolved over the last number of years as being not only a great accounting of the top Utah players, but now many of these companies also have a global presence,” Dent said.
Dent noted that the success of Utah companies with longer legacies has helped fuel the success of up-and-comers through both capital reinvestment and the mentorship and guidance startups can access. That is thanks, at least in part, to an unprecedented decade of economic expansion in the state.
“Even when this list began, we had quite a number of very successful Utah companies,” Dent said. “Those stalwarts have invested back in Utah and we have entrepreneurs putting a lot of time and effort into helping new, local companies, including by investing themselves.
“The last 10 years, in which we’ve seen one of the largest economic expansions on record, is also helping drive capital markets ... which is what’s behind allowing these businesses to scale and really continue growth.”
Rounding out the top five of this year’s Utah 100 list are Investview, Inc., American Business Brokers, Zulu Marketing and Qualtry, a company that specializes in personalized gifts. Mountainwest modified its metrics for assembling the list this year, using a combination of percent growth and revenue growth over the past five years to compute rankings.
The network also identified the top Utah companies by revenue, with Zions Bank, Extra Space Storage, Young Automotive Group, Vivint Smart Home and Acima Credit topping that list for 2019.
To view the complete list of 2019 rankings visit https://www.mwcn.org/.