Tech, Energy and Healthcare Power Through Disruption: Key Investment Signals from the FT's 2025 Growth Rankings

The Financial Times' 2025 ranking of the fastest-growing companies in the Americas reveals much more than just headline-grabbing compound annual growth rates (CAGRs). Beneath the numbers lies a rich tapestry of structural tailwinds, strategic agility, and sectoral transformation. Technology, healthcare, and energy have emerged as the dominant drivers of revenue expansion between 2020 and 2023 — a period shaped by the pandemic, disrupted supply chains, and the aggressive tightening cycle in global interest rates.

The list, compiled in partnership with Statista, assessed growth by revenue CAGR, drawing from a diverse pool of over 300 companies across the Americas. The median revenue of listed companies was $20.1 million in 2023 — a slight dip from the prior year’s $20.5 million but still robust given the macroeconomic backdrop.

Tech and Software: Infrastructure, Not Just Innovation

Accounting for 22% of all companies ranked, the tech and IT sector remains the primary engine of growth. These aren’t the headline-grabbing unicorns of the last decade, but rather companies providing digital infrastructure: AI tooling, backend payment processing, cloud services, and data centre operations. As businesses shift toward decentralised systems and AI integration, these technology providers form the digital scaffolding of the modern economy.

Notably, data centres have driven energy demand sharply higher — a trend deeply interlinked with the tech sector’s rise. The performance of tech firms in this year’s list is thus inseparable from developments in energy markets.

Energy: Strategic Bets in a Volatile Environment

Energy and utilities made up just over 5% of the ranked companies, but their impact was disproportionately large. Global Partners, an energy supply firm, posted over $16 billion in revenue — the highest on the list. But the standout performer was Calgary-based Saturn Oil & Gas, which ranked fifth overall with a CAGR of 353% between 2020 and 2023.

Saturn’s rise came on the back of tactical acquisitions and intelligent hedging strategies, capitalising on post-COVID oil price volatility. Their $525 million acquisition of Ridgeback Resources dramatically scaled up production capacity — from 7,500 to nearly 42,000 barrels per day. The company’s success also reflects Canada’s strategic position in fuelling US energy demand amid shifting domestic policies.

Renewables continue to gain traction, particularly in Latin America, where natural resource abundance and supportive policy frameworks are driving growth. Companies like Solar Landscape are also repositioning — moving from residential to commercial rooftop solar as demand for decentralised clean energy soars.

Healthcare: Regulation-Driven Expansion

ABA Centers, a provider of therapy for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), topped the FT list with a staggering CAGR of 595.3%. The company reached $196.9 million in revenue in 2023, up from just $580,000 in 2020.

This growth wasn’t simply the result of rising diagnoses — it was accelerated by legislation at both state and federal levels in the US, which expanded insurance coverage for ASD-related therapy. The lesson here: regulatory shifts can rapidly redefine addressable market size and catalyse industry transformation when policy and demand align.

Financial Services: Fintech in High Gear

Fintech continues to evolve, especially in emerging markets. Clara, a payments and spend-management platform based in Mexico, was the second fastest-growing company overall. With a footprint expanding across Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, Clara exemplifies the digitisation trend in financial services where infrastructure is still underdeveloped. Backed by recent funding and driven by a strong product-market fit, the company is scaling rapidly.

MY PERSPECTIVE: From Structural Themes to Investable Ideas

What stands out to me in this year’s FT rankings isn’t just the pace of growth, but how growth is being achieved. In a macro landscape dominated by volatility, tightening liquidity, and geopolitical uncertainty, the top performers are not chasing hype cycles — they are aligning with long-term structural themes.

The dominance of tech is not surprising, but it is evolving. Today’s winning tech firms are not consumer-facing platforms; they are the enablers — the back-end systems powering AI, fintech, logistics, and enterprise software. Data infrastructure and power consumption are now deeply interconnected. This is where tech meets energy, and investors who understand that intersection will be best positioned for the next decade.

Saturn Oil & Gas, for example, didn’t grow on the back of speculative bets. It executed high-conviction M&A while managing downside risk via hedging. That’s not just growth — that’s capital strategy in action. It’s the type of disciplined, thematic investing I find most compelling, and precisely the skillset I aspire to build in a career in private equity.

ABA Centers, on the other hand, shows how powerful policy shifts can be. By anticipating (or at least being ready to capitalise on) legislative changes, they unlocked a new layer of growth. It reminds me that regulatory fluency isn’t a soft skill — it’s a hard edge in investment analysis, especially in healthcare.

Lastly, the success of firms like Clara and Solar Landscape speaks to the opportunity in fragmented or underpenetrated markets. Latin America’s fintech and energy players aren’t merely copying US models — they’re building locally-optimised systems with regional advantages. For investors, this means that diligence must be localised and context-specific — a critical lesson as I look to build global perspectives in my career.

Conclusion

The FT 2025 growth rankings are not just a leaderboard—they're a lens into where capital, innovation, and policy are converging. For those of us breaking into investment banking or private equity, understanding these themes isn't just useful — it's essential.