'We’re very proud to be recognised': Four Northern Ireland companies make The Sunday Times UK's fastest-growing tech list

Northern Ireland’s technology sector has been placed firmly in the spotlight after The Sunday Times revealed the region’s fastest-growing tech companies in its second annual Sunday Times 100 Tech – The UK’s fastest-growing tech businesses ranking.

Belfast payment services firm MiFinity has been named Northern Ireland’s fastest-growing private technology company, topping the local table and securing a place among the top 100 fastest-growing tech firms across the UK.

In total, four have so far been revealed of the 100 companies featured in the league table are headquartered in Northern Ireland. The others include Belfast’s Fibrus and Catagen as well as Lisburn infrastructure sensor firm Camlin Group.

Founded in 2012 and formerly known as NXSystems, MiFinity provides a payment platform used by more than one million people and businesses to send, receive and manage funds in 17 currencies. In 2020, chief executive Paul Kavanagh and chief financial officer Kieron Nolan led a management buyout of the business. The company recorded sales of £21.5 million in 2024, a quarter of them generated overseas and reported annual sales growth over three years of 124.14%

Delighted with the recognition, CEO of MiFinity, Paul Kavanagh, said: “We’re very proud to be recognised by The Sunday Times as Northern Ireland’s fastest-growing private tech company. This achievement reflects the strength of our Belfast base and the dedication of the global team who support MiFinity’s continued growth.”

The strong showing underlines the growing importance of Northern Ireland’s tech sector within the UK economy, with Belfast in particular continuing to establish itself as a hub for high-growth technology businesses.

In second place Belfast Fibre broadband Fibrus reported annual sales growth over three years of 116.05% with £29.5m as its latest sales.

Dominic Kearns, CEO and co-founder of Fibrus, explained: “At Fibrus, we don’t follow the market - we challenge it. Our rapid customer growth and strong take-up have made us the main broadband provider within our footprint here in Northern Ireland, and we’re proud to be recognised by The Sunday Times as the second fastest-growing private technology company in the region.”

2025 was a pivotal year for the business. We successfully delivered Project Stratum - the largest telecoms infrastructure project ever undertaken in Northern Ireland - helping the region achieve a 95% connectivity rate, 9% above the UK average. We also reached EBITDA breakeven, passed the milestone of 450,000 premises connected and 30% take up, and were awarded the Project Gigabit contract for Northern Ireland, representing another major step forward in closing the digital divide.”

In fourth place Lisburn infrastructure sensor technologies firm Camlin Group reported annual sales growth over three years of 32.30% with £88.2m as its latest sales.

Peter Cunningham, CEO of Camlin Group, continued: “Being named in the Sunday Times 100 Tech is a tremendous milestone for Camlin and a testament to the dedication of our people across the world. Our growth over recent years reflects not only the strength of our technology portfolio but also the trust placed in us by energy and rail operators who are navigating unprecedented change.

“As global demand for resilient, intelligent infrastructure accelerates, we’ve continued to invest heavily in our digital capabilities, core technologies, and international operations. This focus is enabling us to support customers across North America, the UK, Europe, Australia and the Middle East as they modernise their networks and prepare for a more electrified, decentralised future.

“We see significant opportunity ahead as we scale our next‑generation sensing technologies and expand the reach of our Sapient platform, which is rapidly becoming the data backbone for operators seeking real‑time insight and actionable intelligence. Recent major contract wins in the United States, alongside deepening partnerships with UK utilities and strong momentum in renewables, underline the global relevance of our solutions.

“A key driver of our success has been the performance of our LineSIGHT system, which combines advanced sensing with AI‑driven analytics to pinpoint faults on overhead lines with exceptional accuracy. By helping prevent outages and improving network safety, it’s proving indispensable for operators under pressure to deliver reliability at scale.

“What sets Camlin apart is our unified approach, bringing together hardware, software, and expert services to support the full energy grid. As the energy transition accelerates, we’re proud to be playing a central role in enabling decarbonisation, electrification, and long‑term grid resilience.”

The Sunday Times 100 Tech ranks the UK’s fastest-growing private technology companies and is a sister league table to The Sunday Times 100, which tracks Britain’s fastest-growing private businesses. To qualify, companies must be independently owned, privately held and headquartered in the UK. A technology business is defined as one that sells proprietary technology or relies on proprietary technology that is central to delivering its products or services.

The full ranking is published online at thetimes.com/100tech and will also appear as a supplement in the print edition of The Sunday Times this Sunday, January 18. The Sunday Times 100 Tech is sponsored by Singer Capital Markets, HSBC Innovation Banking and BDO.

Jon Yeomans, business editor of The Sunday Times, added: “Despite a challenging economic backdrop, Britain’s tech sector continues to produce businesses of extraordinary ambition and momentum.

"This year’s Sunday Times 100 Tech highlights founders who are scaling at remarkable speed, creating thousands of jobs and exporting British innovation to the world. From fintech and AI to energy and life sciences, these companies show that the UK remains one of the most dynamic technology ecosystems globally.”

Northern Ireland’s fastest-growing software and technology companies

1 MiFinity, a Payment services in Belfast reported Annual sales growth over 3 years of 124.14% with £21.5m as its latest sales

2 Fibrus, Fibre broadband in Belfast, reported Annual sales growth over 3 years of 116.05% with £29.5m as its latest sales

3 Catagen, Catalyst testing in Belfast reported Annual sales growth over 3 years of 65.82% with £8.5m as its latest sales

4 Camlin Group, Infrastructure sensor technologies in Lisburn reported Annual sales growth over 3 years of 32.30% with £88.2m as its latest sales.