Thirty-seven businesses in the Kansas City metro area made the 2018 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., a slight decrease from the 2017 list of 40 companies.
Two area retail companies — Nickel & Suede and Mer-Sea & Co. — made it into the Inc. 500, each growing more than 1000 percent since 2014. Many companies made repeat appearances, include DEG of Overland Park, which was on the list for the eighth consecutive year.
According to Inc., the companies on the list amassed $206.2 billion in revenue in 2017, up 158 percent from 2014. The No. 1 company SwanLeap, a shipping logistics company based out of Madison, Wisc., grew an astonishing 75,661 percent.
Kansas City businesses on the Inc. 5000 include nine past winners of Thinking Bigger Business Media’s 25 under 25 awards.
RELATED: Nominations open for 2019 25 Under 25 Awards
The list calculates the three-year revenue growth of a company. To qualify, the companies must have been founded and generated revenue by March 31, 2014. The minimum revenue required for 2014 is $100,000; the minimum for 2017 is $2 million.
Inc. Editor-in-Chief James Ledbetter noted that approximately 12 percent of companies in the United States achieve one-year revenue growth of 25 percent or more, yet those businesses are responsible for half of all jobs created.
“If your company is on the Inc. 5000, it’s unparalleled recognition of your years of hard work and sacrifice,” Ledbetter said in a news release. “The lines of business may come and go, or come and stay. What doesn’t change is the way entrepreneurs create and accelerate the forces that shape our lives.”
The complete list can be found here.
KC-area companies
List ranking, company name // City // Growth rate // Revenue
25 Under 25 alumni noted in bold (year honored)
127. Nickel & Suede // Liberty // 3,101% // $4.1 million
279. Mer-Sea-Co. // Lenexa // 1,750% // $6.6 million
638. Spring Venture Group // Kansas City // 791% // $67 million
745. Kansas City Investment Real Estate // Independence // 675% // $4.8 million
881. ProcureIT Network // Grain Valley // 569% // $2.2 million
988. Charlie Hustle // Kansas City // 497% // $4.5 million
1122. Tickets for Less // Overland Park // 439% // $47.5 million (Class of 2009)
1451. Prism Real Estate Services // Overland Park // 322% // $12 million
1564. DataLocker // Overland Park // 299% // $11.4 million (Class of 2013)
1630. Rx Savings Solutions // Overland Park // 284% // $5.5. million
1907. Lever1 // Kansas City // 235% // $47 million (Class of 2017)
1922. Tallgrass Freight Co. // Shawnee // 233% // $10.7 million
2435. LIfestyle Publications // Kansas City // 178% // $14.3 million
2542. United States Appraisals // Overland Park // 168% // $47 million
2726. Pendo Management // Lee’s Summit // 153% // $23.8 million
2811. Worcester Cos. // Kansas City // 147% // $20.5 million
2876. Brown Button Estate Sales Services // Kansas City // 143% // $2.2 million (Class of 2017)
2940. Stewardship Investments // Kansas City // 139% // $4.4 million
3051. DEG // Overland Park // 132% // $51.1 million
3133. D&L Transport // Overland Park // 126% // $91.7 million
3226. Avenue Link // Overland Park // 122% // $15.3 million
3254. Accord Group // Lee’s Summit // 121% // $45.1 million
3300. Credit Law Center // Lee’s Summit // 118% // $4.4 million
3365. Go Local Interactive // Overland Park // 115% // $12.1 million
3370. Affinity Group Management // Kansas City // 115% // $49.2 million (Class of 2011)
3419. Platinum Realty // Overland Park // 112% // $25.2 million (Class of 2016)
3465. Side by Side Stuff // Drexel // 109% // $14.2 million
3466. City Wide Maintenance of Kansas // Lenexa // 109% // $9.6 million
3477. Chelsoft Solutions Co. // Olathe // 109% // $5.7 million
3516. Dimensional Innovations // Overland Park // 107% // $41.9 million
3733. ProPharma Group // Overland Park // 98% // $91.8 million
4020. Titan Protection and Consulting // Overland Park // 88% // $8.3 million
4109. TrippNT // Kansas City // 85% // $4.5 million
4186. Helen Jon // Lenexa // 82% // $3.2 million
4241. Alight Analytics // Kansas City // 80% // $4 million (Class of 2014)
4356. The Purple Guys // Kansas City // 76% // $5 million (Class of 2005)
4901. Rosnet // Parkville // 60% // $8 million (Class of 2008)
