Three Northern Colorado businesses have been named "Colorado Companies to Watch" by the Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

Couragent Inc., based in Fort Collins, and Madwire Media and Payment Solutions, both located in Loveland, made the list of 50 companies chosen by an independent panel of judges. Criteria include employee or sales growth, entrepreneurial leadership and sustainable competitive advantage.

Couragent is the maker of the Flip-Pal mobile scanner for preserving and sharing photos and documents.

Madwire Media is a web marketing and design company, while Payment Solutions provides secure payment and credit card processing tools.

The companies on the list will be honored at an awards ceremony Friday evening.