Fitbit

It hasn't been a great year for high-tech gadget makers, as Fitbit and GoPro can attest. Yet both are financially outperforming other tech companies that went public when they did, according to EY benchmarks, and pursuing a remarkable rate of innovation. Fitbit's success is due to its breaking into a smartwatch market that could amount to $10 billion globally. The San Francisco company, which CEO James Park co-founded with CTO Eric Friedman, has been scooping up rival smartwatch makers and pursuing patents related to more advanced biometrics tracking, such as whether a device wearer is properly hydrated. In December, Fitbit partnered with medical-device maker Medtronic on an app that tracks physical activity and glucose for diabetes patients. "People might perceive us as kind of a nice-to-have," Park told investors this year. "What I'm most excited about is really transforming Fitbit into a must-have." --Victoria Finkle