Despite 40-year-high inflation, political turmoil, an energy crisis and economic effects from the war in Ukraine and Covid-19, there were still many companies achieving incredible things last year in Wales - and who are planning for even more success in 2023.
Here we list 23 firms who we think could have a hugely successful year.
Our list appears in alphabetical order.
Agam
Fintech start-up Agam relocated from London to Cardiff in November on the back of its third equity investment round as it looks to expand in 2023 and beyond.
The firm provides an AI-based credit scoring service to people with a credit history or those looking to secure small loans, including SMEs.
Set up to 2019 by its chief executive Shabnam Wazed, it has undertaken a pilot of its platform in Bangladesh with Prime Bank, one of the country’s leading private and commercial banks.
It is now looking to further scale its operations, including applying the approach in other markets, with India identified as the next market.
Agxio
Aberystwyth-based Agxio has developed an innovative platform that automates the role of the data scientist and machine learning engineer to deploy AI solutions in the agricultural, life sciences and biotech industries.
The firm was boosted earlier this year with a £2.1m equity round as it looks to scale the business and expand internationally.
The funding will be used to further grow the team, enter new AI, agritech and life sciences markets, and continue developing the platform. The firm has been backed by the Development Bank of Wales.
Air Covers
Wrexham-headquartered Air Covers designs bespoke protective covers for the aerospace sector. The firm launched in 2006 and now exports to over 50 countries across Europe, America, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Exports currently account for 65% of trade but Air Covers aims to reach 75% by 2024 through growing its international portfolio and expanding in key growth markets like North America and Australia.
Now the firm looks to have another strong year following a deal to become an exclusive supplier of protection covers for Airbus' newly launched H145D3 helicopter. The company expects to deliver 30 sets per annum from 2023.
Au Vodka
Swansea-based Au Vodka's skyrocketing growth has seen the business move from a promising start-up to thriving mid-sized business.
The brand, underpinned by excellent marketing, use of social media, and product endorsement, has also enjoyed international expansion – and is now sold in 40 countries from Spain to Australia and most recently 32 states across the US.
AU Vodka has experienced exceptional revenue and profit growth. Its latest audited figures to April 2021, showed revenues soaring from just over £705,000 a year earlier to £38.3m, with a pre-tax profit of £12.8m. It is looking for continued trading success in 2023.
Atherton Bikes
Atherton Bikes is a new venture from world leading mountain bike siblings Gee, Dan and Rachel Atherton.
They have partnered with a team of engineers from F1, aerospace and NASA to produce a new mountain bike using 3D printing in titanium (additive manufacturing).
The business, which plans to hit 2,500 sales globally in year three, has brought its previous two sites in Wales under one roof at an eco-park on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park at Machynlleth. The business is chaired by entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den investor Piers Linney.
CellPath
CellPath manufactures equipment and services used in cancer diagnostics. Its exports account for a third of group turnover but now the company wants to grow its exports by 20%, focusing on doubling export turnover in the Middle East and South Asia over the next two years.
It invested over £2m in a new international distribution warehouse and machine at its headquarters in Powys to meet increased demand overseas.
CellPath was bought by Texas-based manufacturer StatLab Medical Products in July last year, but is committed to maintaining and expanding the firm's presence in Powys.
Creo Medical
Chepstow-based and Alternative Investment Market listed Creo Medical is a global leader of minimally invasive devices in the emerging field of therapeutic endoscopy.
Through a strategy of organic and acquisition-fuelled growth it topped the Wales Fast Growth 50 initiative in 2022 having seen its revenues rise from £268,806 in its 2018-19 financial year to £25.1m in 2020-21 - a huge rise of 9,260%. Creo is looking at further expansion in 2023 and beyond.
Dewin Tech
Looking to lead the agri-tech revolution in Wales is Dewin Tech. The Ynys Mon-based company was founded by Meinir Lloyd Jones and Geraint Hughes in 2021 to offer tech solutions to common rural problems.
This includes their open/close technology which alerts landowners when a gate or door is left open, ensuring livestock are safe and also providing peace of mind to landowners as well reducing hassle.
The company is now developing two other products including an AI platform that monitors the behaviour of cows - with a focus on calving, using tech to assist a farmer to know when a cow is due to calf. Another invention is a water monitoring device.
Explorage
Approximately 27,000 new storage bookings are made each in the UK yet finding, comparing and reserving the right self-storage is difficult. Anglesey-based Explorage was launched to offer a solution to that.
Founded by Anna Roberts in 2019, the company is an online marketplace for self-storage offering customer reviews of storage sites and an e-commerce facility where customers can buy packaging.
The firm is definitely one to keep an eye on as Ms Roberts has now secured six-figure investment to recruit more staff and begin regional rollouts throughout the UK before scaling up internationally to take advantage of opportunities with overseas partners.
Flotek
One Welsh business with ambitious acquisition-fuelled growth on its radar is Cardiff-based IT and communications service provider Flotek.
The start-up tech firm has bought three companies this year. In August, it purchased long-running Swansea IT firm Gower Business Systems for an undisclosed amount which added £1.2m in revenue to Flotek's turnover.
Plymouth IT firm MazingTree was its second acquisition of 2022, while in December Flotek announced that Swansea's Cloud9ine Communications was its third.
Jellagen
Jellagen is an innovative marine biotech firm which extracts collagen from jellyfish.
The Cardiff-based firm recently closed an £8.7m Series A equity investment round in December with investors including the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR), the Development Bank of Wales, and the Thai Union Group PCL.
The Series A funding round will enable Jellagen to reach a major milestone in its leading soft-tissue healing program, bringing it closer to human trials of using collagen derived from jellyfish to help heal human organs.
LanzaTech
Port Talbot-based LanzaTech is pioneering sustainable aviation fuel from off- gases produced in the making of steel - in its case from Tata's steelworks in town
In a boost to its scale-up plans it recently secured £25m in funding from the UK Government under its Advanced Fuel Fund. This year we should have more details on the firm's plans for a commercial sustainable aviation fuel factory in the town, with the potential to create hundreds of new jobs when at full capacity.
The factory is scheduled to open in 2026.
Ledwood Engineering
Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2023, Ledwood Engineering looks set to have another strong year after winning a major £50m contract with GE Steam Power at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, safeguarding 150 jobs.
The 42-month contract will see the Pembroke Dock-based firm install 12,750Te of equipment as part of GE’s work supplying two conventional power islands for Hinkley Point C.
Managing director Nick Revell said: “The contract is testament to the quality of work that our team has delivered for GE and it puts us in a strong position to deliver further growth as we expand our customer portfolio across the global energy industry.”
The Magic Bean Co
Swansea coffee franchise The Magic Bean Co has big expansion plans on its menu.
The business, which also owns franchised sites for Denny's, plans to increase its 25 Starbucks drive-thru sites to 200 across the UK over the next five years.
The expansion, funded with a £10m package from HSBC, will see more than 4,000 jobs be created throughout the UK.
My Salah Mat
Newport-based My Salah Mat has become a Muslim household name selling in over 25 countries across four continents with exports accounting for 40% of its business.
It was invented four years ago by entrepreneur Kamal Ali, who designed the world's first interactive prayer mat to help children and adults learn how to perform Salah - the daily prayer practised by Muslims.
Since My Salah Mat went viral in the Middle East, the business is now looking to increase global exports by 15% over the next three years, expanding its distributor networks in other parts of the world. It is particularly focused on driving sales in two target markets for the company - Australia and India.
Net World Sports
A Fast Growth 50 company Net World Sports should be in for another big year with the opening of its £25m headquarters in Wrexham.
The company is a global e-commerce business focused on becoming the largest online sports equipment retailer in the world. The development will allow the business to operate from one facility - housing a range of more than 10,000 products including sports, fitness, leisure, home, and garden equipment.
Founder and chief executive Alex Lovén was recently awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours list for his services to the economy and to the community of Wrexham.
PwC
Professional service firm PwC is ramping up its Cardiff office with the creation of 300 new jobs over the next 18 months.
The firm, which currently employs 450 in the city, is recruiting for a wide range of roles to support the delivery of large scale operational and managed service solutions - including supply chain and operations specialists, technologists, project managers, data scientists and graduate roles.
To support its new recruits the firm has taken a further 10,000 sq ft of office space in the centre of the city at the 1 Kingsway building.
Sisters & Seekers
Two sisters who turned a fashion brand, started in a North Wales garden shed, into a multi-million pound business are set to have another good year in 2023.
Alice and Maisie Jones started Sisters & Seekers in Hope, Flintshire in 2017. The company has since been backed by powerful social media campaigns and celebrities including Love Island's Tasha Ghouri.
The brand collaborated with the reality star this year to create a collection inspired by 90s icon Pamela Anderson. This is the first partnership the rapidly expanding company has ever done.
SmallSpark Space Systems
Aerospace start-up venture SmallSpark Space Systems could be pitched for big things in 2023 as its innovative engineering methods attract national interest.
The Cardiff-based firm secured a £290,000 development contract with the Ministry of Defence to optimise rocket engine performance through artificial intelligence.
It also received a further £76,000 in financial support from the UK Space Agency to develop next generation rocket propulsion systems that will form part of the first cislunar mission launched from Britain in 2024.
Space Forge
The company behind the first satellite designed and built in Wales is definitely worth keeping an eye on in 2023.
Cardiff-based Space Forge is pioneering returnable and reusable satellites designed for manufacturing next generation super materials in space. It created ForgeStar-0, Wales' first satellite which will make its first orbital launch from UK soil with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit company from Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay in the new year.
The satellite will test the process of using the unique microgravity environment of space to manufacture special materials that are much more difficult to make on Earth.
Tandem Bank
Tandem Digital is creating 100 new jobs in Cardiff as part of major expansion plans.
Tandem said the expansion will provide a base for its motor finance business and a centre of excellence for its wider lending operations.
It is currently located in serviced offices on Cathedral Road. However, it is committed to moving to large offices, around 13,000 sq ft, in the city centre at a yet to be disclosed location.
Tubex
Aberdare manufacturer of protective shelters for young trees globally, Tubex, is focused on a new phase of expansion.
The business, which exports just under half of its shelters, is seeing a significant rise in domestic demand to support ambitious tree planting targets of both the UK and Welsh governments, as well as demand from the private forestry sector which are supporting firms to offset emissions with tree planting.
Internationally, Tubex’s largest markets include Germany, Spain, and France respectively.
Voltric
Electric vehicle subscription service Voltric was established by chief executive Julian Mensah and co-founder Brent Oldfield and is now based at Tramshed Tech in Newport.
The firm has been working with manufacturers that include MG UK, Kia UK, Fiat, Tesla and Mercedes. There are more manufacturers and dealer partners expected shortly as the company scales up its mobility offering.
It has already secured significant pre-seed investment from a syndicate of eight business angels which was matched with investment from the Wales Angel Co-Investment Fund.
Now the firm is set to partner with PAUA, the UK’s largest EV roaming network for business drivers.
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