Growth is pretty much Austin's middle name.
You can apply it to the city's population. It's cost of living. And, of course, it's businesses. So each year when Inc.com ranks privately-held businesses based on percentage revenue growth over three years, Austin comes up a lot.
This year's list, released Wednesday, has 113 Austin area companies.
Their percentage increases in revenue growth ranged from more than 5000% down to 56%, which is still very meaningful growth given that every company on the list reported having at least $100,000 in revenue in 2016 and $2 million as of 2019.
While we don't know actual revenue figures, the list gives the business world a unique look at brands nationwide and it gives the companies selected for the Inc. 5000 a press and marketing opportunity that's ready to roll. And that's especially true for those ranking high on the list.
While 113 Austin area companies made the 2020 list and their revenues totaled $3.4 billion and helped create more than 14,000 jobs, none of them cracked the top 10.
Quality Innovation, a local health care and IT government services business, was the highest ranking Austin company, coming in at No. 60 on the full list. Solar energy equipment supplier Kinect Solar was next among Austin companies at No. 130.
And there are dozens of Austin startups that have been previously featured in Inno and other local business publications, including Iris Telehealth, AlertMedia, Arrive Logistics, CBANC Network, Dropoff, HookBang, The Zebra, Tiger Pistol, ClearDATA Networks, Zilker Technology, ESO Solutions, Praxent, Aurigo Software Technologies, AffiniPay, Praetorian, milk + honey, Local Web Leads and Bloomfire.
Among them are 80 companies that have graced prior years' lists, such as ESO, a local data and software company that has been on the list eight years in a row.
ESO, which serves emergency responders and hospitals, attributed its growth to finding new customers, keeping the ones it has and demand created by the Covid-19 pandemic. It landed at No. 1,764 on this year's list with 242% growth over three years.
“We wouldn’t be in this position without a passionate and dedicated team driven to ensure our customers succeed,” Chris Dillie, president and CEO of ESO, said in a statement. “We look forward to many years of growth as we help organizations improve the health and safety of their communities.”
Another repeat visitor to Inc.'s list, AlertMedia, landed at No. 520 on this year's list and No. 285 last year.
The startup, which provides a platform for emergency communications and threat monitoring, attributed its 887% growth over three years to helping companies connect with employees during the Covid-19 pandemic, severe weather, workplace violence and other crises.
“Our growth is fueled by our product’s ease of use, vast target market, and passionate employees,” Brian Cruver, CEO of AlertMedia, said in a news release. “The pandemic highlighted the need for companies to have robust and easy-to-use critical communications technology, which is exactly what we provide.”
This year's highest ranking companies were Atlanta-based OneTrust, Los Angeles-based Create Music Group and Florida-based Lovell Government Services -- each reporting over 40,000% growth since 2016.
All together, Inc. shows that the 5,000 companies on the list produced $209.7 billion in revenue over the three years and added more than 582,000 jobs.
