Insurance technology company Ebix, which owns the Sunrise Exchange online transaction platform, has been ranked the world’s fourth-fastest growing technology company by US business magazine Fortune.

The company also came in as the 19th-fastest growing across all industries in Fortune’s annual “100 fastest-growing companies” feature.

Ebix ranked 21st based on sales growth, with three-year average sales growth of 42% a year and 44th based on earnings growth, with a three-year average earnings growth rate of 48% a year.

It came in at 46th in Fortune’s “100 Best Investments” list, with a three-year average investment return of 30% per year.

To qualify for the list, a company must be listed on a major US stock exchange, have a minimum market capitalisation of $US250 million ($244 million), a share price of at least $US5.00 ($4.88) as at June 30 2011, and have been trading continuously since June 30 2008.