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A Cape Town company that turned the humble cooler box into a must-have status symbol tops a new list of South Africa’s fastest-growing companies.

For the third year running, the international data company Statista and News24 have released South Africa’s Growth Champions, some of the country’s fastest-growing companies, based on revenue growth between 2021 and 2024.

Companies that generated at least $100 000* (around R1.5 million, at the prevailing exchange rate in 2021) in revenue in 2021 and at least $1.5 million (R27.5 million) by 2024 were considered for the project. Revenue growth had to be primarily organic (in other words, “internally” stimulated).

Entrants had to be independent businesses, and not a subsidiary or branch office of any kind. Their operational headquarters had to be in South Africa. Both JSE-listed and privately held companies were considered, and entrants were also submitted to the Financial Times survey of the top-growing companies from the whole continent.

Last year, the Financial Times featured more than 50 South African companies among the top 130 of its Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies list.

Topping the rankings this year, with average annual revenue growth (the compound annual growth rate) of almost 162%, was Fieldbar.

The company was founded by chartered accountant Lee Hartman and industrial designer Corban Warrington, who saw a gap in the cooler box market for a more luxurious product.

After selling his software business to Telkom, Hartman set up Fieldbar in 2020 with Warrington, who designed the company’s first product, The Drinks Box.

With a minimalist design in bold colours, the locally manufactured cooler box took off quickly in South Africa. Made from scratch-resistant and durable plastic, the cooler boxes have a five-year warranty, with the 10-litre product on sale for around R2 700 each.

Fieldbar products are also now sold in over 200 stores across Australia, Europe, the UK, and the US, including in high-end shops like Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, Williams-Sonoma and Anthropologie.

Some 30% of the group’s revenue is now earned overseas, with plans to increase this – particularly in the US, Warrington told News24.

“It is a very interesting market for us, and it’s growing really fast.”

The group has also been developing a new “soft” cooler, made from more flexible materials, over the past two years.

Remgro’s venture capital firm Invenfin holds a stake in Fieldbar.

READ | SA start-up Fieldbar has doubled its cooler box production, but still can’t keep up

Other fast-growing companies in the top ten include the international money transfer platform Future Forex, JSE-listed Nedbank, construction group Altacon Projects and GoTyme, which was rebranded from TymeBank earlier this year. Since launching in 2019, the bank now serves 12 million customers.

Also in the top ten is last year’s winner: Paymenow, a platform that gives employees early access to already earned wages. The Stellenbosch-headquartered company was co-founded by former Springbok rugby player Bryan Habana in 2019.

* Revenues are expressed in US dollars using the exchange rate at the end of the relevant fiscal year.