A lot can change in a few years of business.
A promising idea can become a household name, a small team can grow into a global operation and a business that once ran out of a spare bedroom can find itself on supermarket shelves across the country.
For 19 years, SmartCompany’s Smart50 Awards have celebrated Australia’s fastest-growing small and medium businesses, recognising the founders turning big ambitions into even bigger achievements.
While making the list is a milestone in itself, for many businesses it’s a stepping stone to something bigger.
To celebrate Optus’ longstanding partnership with the Smart50 Awards and its commitment to supporting Australian businesses as they grow, let’s look at five former Smart50 standouts to see just how far they’ve come.
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The Little Potion Co – Smart50 2023
A pinch of glitter, a handful of dried rose petals and a few magic words might not sound like the ingredients for a thriving business.
But for Melbourne sisters Alicia Gordon and Jacinta Evans, they’ve proved to be a winning recipe.
Founded in 2019 after Evans struggled to find a potion-making kit for her Harry Potter-obsessed son, The Little Potion Co creates magical, fizzing potion kits that combine imaginative play with positive affirmations.
The homemade gift proved to have potential well beyond Christmas morning.
By the time The Little Potion Co ranked 44th on the 2023 Smart50 list, the sisters had expanded from Evans’ backyard into a warehouse, employed a team and secured more than 200 Australian stockists, including THE ICONIC.
And the magic didn’t stop there.
In 2024, the sisters took their business to national television, securing a $400,000 investment offer from Maxine Horne in exchange for 20% equity on Shark Tank Australia. The appearance helped propel the business into the spotlight, with a surge in orders around Black Friday that left the team scrambling to keep up with demand.
More recently, the business has expanded its range through a licensed collaboration inspired by Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree. The Little Potion Co is also stocked in stores across the US and Canada.
Délidoor – Smart50 2023
Born during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, Délidoor was founded by Jacques Lépron and Mathieu Thomas to solve a familiar family dilemma: getting nutritious, delicious meals on the table without the hassle.
By 2023, the Sydney-based meal delivery business was selling around 25,000 meals a month, earning it 37th place on the Smart50 list.
Three years later, business is cooking. Délidoor has grown its annual revenue fivefold to around $14 million, reached profitability and expanded delivery across almost all of Australia.
Now selling around 70,000 meals monthly, the business has opened a larger production facility, all while raising less than $1 million in external capital.
Hero Packaging – Smart50 2022
When Anaita Sarkar and Vik Davé founded Hero Packaging in 2018, they set out to tackle e-commerce’s plastic problem with sustainable packaging alternatives.
By 2022, the business had helped more than 40,000 businesses ditch plastic packaging, earning it 13th place on the Smart50 list and the Retail Champion Award.
But behind the scenes, Hero Packaging was facing a make-or-break moment.
Faced with the choice of shutting down or changing direction, the founders took a gamble, investing their savings in machinery to pivot from retailing packaging to manufacturing it themselves.
The risk paid off.
Today, Hero Packaging operates six machines, serves more than 77,000 businesses and has secured orders from global brands including Uniqlo.
The business has also launched HeroMaker, a custom packaging design tool that allows businesses of all sizes to create sustainable, branded packaging in minutes, putting even more control in the hands of its customers.
Muscle Nation – Smart50 2021
From packing orders at a grandmother’s house in Brisbane to stocking supermarket shelves nationwide, Muscle Nation has come a long way.
Founded in 2016 by Nathaniel Anthony and Chris Anastasi, the fitness brand began selling gym apparel before expanding into supplements and high-protein foods.
By 2021, Muscle Nation had climbed to 9th place on the Smart50 list, recording $51.3 million in annual revenue and impressive 321.7% growth.
Five years on, the business has continued to flex its muscles.
Its products are now stocked in Woolworths, Coles and Chemist Warehouse stores nationwide, with activewear also available at Rebel Sport.
In March 2026, Muscle Nation made another major move, launching its protein yoghurt range in Woolworths and entering the chilled food aisle for the first time, bringing the brand even further into Australians’ everyday routines
b.box for kids – Smart50 2016, 2017
What started with a cardboard prototype and two mums determined to make parenting easier has grown into an internationally recognised children’s essentials brand.
Founded in 2007 by friends Dannielle Michaels and Monique Filer, b.box set out to solve everyday parenting frustrations with clever, practical products like water bottles, bento boxes and cutlery.
In 2016, the business ranked 10th on the Smart50 list with $5.7 million in annual revenue and took home the Top Exporter Award. A year later, it jumped to fifth place, with revenue more than doubling to $13.9 million.
And its global ambitions have only grown.
Today, b.box boasts a range of around 300 products, collaborations with Disney favourites including Frozen, Winnie the Pooh and The Little Mermaid, and a team of more than 90 people across Australia, Europe and the US.
The business has also maintained its focus on practical, long-lasting design, offering replacement parts to extend the life of its products and help reduce waste.
Don’t miss the Smart 50 Awards 2026
If there’s one thing these Smart50 alumni have shown, it’s that making the list is often just the beginning.
With the Smart50 Awards 2026 coming up, attention now turns to the next wave of ambitious Australian businesses. Tickets are on sale for the November 12 ceremony in Melbourne, where this year’s fastest-growing businesses will take centre stage.
Get in quick, you don’t want to miss out!
As a longstanding partner of the Smart50 Awards, Optus is helping Australian businesses navigate growing pains with solutions like its Business Teams Plan Plus, designed to make managing business connectivity simpler and more flexible as teams grow.
Instead of managing separate plans for every team member, you start with a select primary SIM plan* and add additional SIMs for $40/month for each member of your team, sharing one pooled data allowance across the team’s business mobile plans.
Find out more about Optus’ Business Teams Plan Plus and find a mobile setup that can grow with your business.
*Business Teams Plan Plus cannot be used as a primary SIM plan. ABN/ACN required. Terms apply.