\u201cThe decline in the NZ dollar against the US dollar is helping offset some of the disruption in the US market,\u201d Shanahan said.<\/p>\n
Another key advantage for the tech sector is that software and services have avoided Trump\u2019s tariffs. <\/p>\n
Wellington-based, ASX-listed Xero topped the TIN200 for the first time and Rocket Lab made its debut in the top 10, replacing abattoir robotics firm Scott Technology.
\nLast year’s top 10: 1. F&P Healthcare ($1.74b) 2. Xero ($1.71b) 3. F&P Appliances ($1.50b), 4. Datacom ($1.49b) 5. W\u0113t\u0101 FX ($430m) 6. Tait ($420m) 7. Gallagher ($402m) 8. Pushpay $366m 9. Windcave ($305m). 10 Scott Technology $276m. Source \/ Tin200 2025<\/p>\n
And, outside of an occasional tilt at Hollywood, there has been no sign the US President plans to extend his taxes on imports beyond the current focus on physical goods \u2013 but even there, Trump (with one eye on cost-of-living issues) has exempted generic pharmaceuticals from tariffs, which is good news for New Zealand\u2019s Douglas Pharmaceuticals and AFT.<\/p>\n
Shanahan says Tin200 companies are now heftier, too, which positions them better to negotiate global chaos.<\/p>\n
This is the first year that two Tin200 firms \u2013 Xero and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare \u2013 have topped $2 billion in revenue, while 40 had turnover above $100 million, compared to 19 last year.<\/p>\n
Shanahan also points to pushes into markets outside the suddenly tariff-heavy US \u2013 particularly China, India, the rest of Asia and Europe.<\/p>\n
Some of these predate Trump\u2019s second term. He points to the manufacturing facility that Fisher & Paykel Healthcare opened in China in July last year (the firm also has a $250m expansion<\/a> under way in East T\u0101maki), plus the factory that Rakon opened in India<\/a>.<\/p>\n Shanahan says \u201cgrowing commercial sophistication\u201d was another factor, citing payments company Windcave\u2019s rapid expansion in the US last year that underpinned a $100m jump in revenue (by Tin200\u2019s estimate of the privately-held firm).<\/p>\n Rich-lister, founder and owner Andy Cullen partially shielded Windcave from tariff headwinds and got close to his largest market by reincorporating his company in the US (it\u2019s now registered in Arizona) and opening offices in Phoenix and New York.<\/p>\n Windcave also expanded locally, opening a new plant in Auckland, with about 400 staff, for producing its payment terminals.<\/p>\n Although cloud software stars like Xero continued to enjoy strong growth in FY2025, high-tech manufacturing grew fastest, increasing its exports by 11% as firms from the giant Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (which saw 16% revenue growth to $2.02 billion and its share price rise slightly this year despite tariff challenges) to fast-growing start-up Syos Aerospace (which landed a $66m drone deal with the UK Government) surged.<\/p>\n But the highest-profile hardware contender was the Kiwi-American Rocket Lab as it increased its number of launches from Mahia and Virginia and dramatically expanded its satellite business.<\/p>\n Its growth is accelerating. Sir Peter Beck\u2019s firm reported US$242m ($428m) revenue for its June quarter, a 36% jump. Rocket Lab is now hiring many more people in North America than New Zealand, but it continues to expand at pace in New Zealand; it was recently advertising for 54 new staff in Auckland<\/a>.<\/p>\n Where does tech stand?<\/p>\n The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade\u2019s ranking of the top export earners for the year to March 2025 was:<\/p>\n Dairy: $26.2b (+7.1% of the prior year)Tourism: $16.0b (11.0%)Meat: $11.7b (+5.4%)Horticulture: $6.1b (+33.2%) Forestry: $6.0b (+2.8%)Seafood: $2.2b (+2.1%)<\/p>\n Unlike the Tin200, the ministry and Stats NZ have no catch-all \u201ctechnology\u201d category for exports. <\/p>\n There\u2019s also no apples-to-apples with Tin200\u2019s methodology because Stats NZ includes telecommunications in its tech services exports (unlike Tin) while many Tin firms would fall into general Stats NZ categories that include some tech (you can see the agency\u2019s latest stats, and how it breaks down its categories, on its trade dashboard here<\/a>)<\/p>\n For the year to June, 2025, Stats NZ say New Zealand exported $1.93b worth of \u201cTelecommunications, computer and information services\u201d, including $1.21b of computer software (a figure that\u2019s well less than Xero\u2019s total revenue alone).<\/p>\n The agency\u2019s \u201cgoods\u201d export figures include $649m worth of pharmaceuticals (a Tin200 category), $1.63b of electrical machinery and equipment (a category that includes radio equipment – that is, Tait – the electromagnets made by Buckley Systems and other Tin200 contenders) and $1.43b in \u201coptical, medical and measuring equipment\u201d – a category that would capture Fisher & Paykel Healthcare even if, again, it\u2019s less than that single firm\u2019s annual revenue.<\/p>\n You get the idea. It\u2019s bitsy. An NZTech analysis of the multiple tech-related Stats NZ export categories last year found a total of $11.4b in exports involving tech firms.<\/p>\n The tech that missed out<\/p>\n Another Tin200 quirk is that with its focus on offshore earnings and New Zealand-founded firms (even after they\u2019re sold), its rankings include some firms that are now only partly Kiwi or high-tech and miss out large swathes of the local tech scene.<\/p>\n For example, Fisher & Paykel Appliances has been owned by China\u2019s Haier since 2012 and has moved all of its manufacturing offshore to China, Mexico and other locations. It remains in the index by dint of maintaining an R&D crew in Auckland.<\/p>\n The focus on export revenue means a clutch of our largest tech players, all with multibillion-dollar market caps \u2013 Spark<\/a>, Chorus<\/a> and Infratil<\/a> (owner of One New Zealand, half-owner of CDC Data Centres and stakeholder in multiple offshore tech firms) \u2013 are not part of the Tin200.<\/p>\n 2degrees<\/a> is out for the same reason, notwithstanding the healthy export receipts it pulls in through supplying ground station services to Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink and other offshore firms.<\/p>\n Self-styled \u201cedu-techs\u201d Kami<\/a>, Education Perfect<\/a> and the $1b+ private equity-valued Crimson<\/a> \u2013 all New Zealand-based, global players \u2013 are also absent.<\/p>\nThe Absolute IT Supreme Scale-Ups 2025: the Tin200 companies ranked between 101-200 with the highest dollar value increase in revenue in the past year. Source \/ Tin200 2025<\/p>\n