The 2013 Seven Small Jewels: Seven to Watch

With more than 125 nominations for our Seven Small Jewels award, it stands to reason that several stood out in the eyes of our editorial committee. For one reason or another, these seven firms didn't quite make the cut for 2013, but they certainly stood out enough to be recognized as our Seven to Watch this year and beyond.

Brand VelocityThis Atlanta-based IT, strategy and research firm, which was founded by the CIO of Coca-Cola in 2001, focuses heavily on the insurance, packaged goods and transportation sectors. Even though the firm is still on the small size, whopping 500 percent revenue growth in 2012 certainly piqued our interest. A more down-to-earth forecast of about 40 percent revenue growth is on tap for 2013.

Brightlight ConsultingSince its inception in 2005, Brightlight Consulting has grown from two entrepreneurs focused on the business intelligence and data warehousing services market to one of the leading big data players with a diversified client portfolio and average year-on-year growth of about 40 percent. Today, it's a 60-person IT firm focused mainly on the high tech, healthcare, financial services and retail sectors.