From insurance and banking to supplements and cannabis, these businesses clocked in impressive results in the last three years
The No. 1 Inc. 5000 company in 2021 is Human Bees, a Lathrop, California-based staffing firm. Its co-founders, Ranil Piyaratna and Geetesh Goyal, were running a life-sciences staffing firm when they saw an opportunity to solve workforce problems across industries. In 2017, they pivoted, and their company has grown a whopping 48,345 percent since. Its winning formula: Cast a wide net for applicants, vet them extensively, and then move them quickly through the hiring process. Human Bees has kept growing during the pandemic, working nonstop to help companies like FedEx find essential workers. It places 66 staffers per day on average, in industries from agriculture to software--saving clients money, headaches, and an estimated 1,180 hours per week. --Sophie Downes.
During the pandemic, Americans have panic-bought toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and annuities. The financial instrument designed to provide steady income in retirement is a specialty of Upstream Life Insurance Company, which is owned by Derek Hebert and Colby Arceneaux. They rode the wave of interest in so-called safer investments all the way to No. 3 on the 2021 Inc. 5000. The two businessmen acquired the more than 100-year-old Oxford, Mississippi-based company in 2018. In 2020, it booked $194 million in revenue, up 36,955 percent from 2017. The key to their success? Charm. "We used everything we learned from being from the South." Next up is life insurance, says Arceneaux, once again betting that Americans will flock to safety. --Gabrielle Bienasz
Well before Massachusetts greenlit the sale of recreational cannabis in November 2018, the Somerville, Massachusetts-based retail dispensary and wholesale cannabis seller Revolutionary Clinics was on its way to becoming one of the largest growers in the state. Launching with medical cannabis products in 2016 helped position the company, co-founded by G. Ryan Ansin, for growth. Today, it boasts around 400 employees, three retail locations, hundreds of products under a dozen brands, and more than 80 wholesale retail clients. It landed at No. 4 on this year's Inc. 5000, with $40.7 million in 2020 revenue. "It's all about setting a clear strategy, understanding what your unique value propositions are, and bringing on the best people to execute on those plans," says Keith Cooper, Revolutionary's CEO. --Brit Morse
Serial entrepreneur Jason Wilk had a longstanding bone to pick. He'd spent thousands of dollars throughout his young-adult life on overdraft and other fees charged by banks. To remedy the problem for others, Wilk, along with Paras Chitrakar and John Walanin, created a financial-management tool with a super-friendly name: Dave. By 2020, the Los Angeles-based company had saved its 10 million members--1.5 million of whom use its banking service, which takes a percentage of credit transactions--$1 billion in overdraft fees. Dave just completed a merger that will lead to the five-year-old startup going public before the end of 2021. --Christine Lagorio-Chafkin
People with low incomes and little wealth are traditional banks' least profitable customers, so some of these banks tend to hit them with extra charges and don't prioritize their needs. Several digital-first "neobanks" including San Francisco's Varo Bank have cropped up as a result, promising better service without the hefty fees. Led by co-founder and CEO Colin Walsh, Varo also boasts a national bank charter, which lets it operate without a sponsor bank as the middleman. Founded in 2015, the company posted $41.3 million in 2020 revenue, with a three-year growth rate of 23,935 percent. It has raised $482 million, according to Crunchbase, and counts NBA star Russell Westbrook among its investors. --Sophie Downes
After a career of bodybuilding and winning world titles, Patricia and Law Payne noticed a weakness in the market: Physical training clients were developing gut and digestive issues after taking fitness supplements, which are notorious for vague ingredients lists. The problem had a solution: Produce an alternative--one that's transparent about its ingredients and formulated with what they knew from firsthand experience would help clients lose weight and build muscle. That formula led to Hardbody Supplements, which the couple co-founded in 2016. Today, their Overland Park, Kansas-based business offers an array of what it claims are better-for-you protein powders, pre-workout mixes, and fitness and weight loss plans, which helped the company book $25.6 million in 2020 revenue, up 22,948 percent from 2017. --Anna Meyer
Budderfly performs lighting, refrigeration, and HVAC upgrades for businesses, and then shares the energy savings with the clients. The Shelton, Connecticut-based company led by CEO Al Subbloie helps customers access real-time analytics about their energy usage, so an owner can remotely detect when a piece of heating equipment is malfunctioning or a freezer door has been left open. The result is a win both for Budderfly--it booked $25 million in 2020 revenue and it's on pace to hit $40 million in 2021--and for customers and the planet, says Subbloie. "The ability to solve this climate problem is right in front of us, but capitalism doesn't always align with that," he says. "This is a way to make sure it does." --Kevin J. Ryan
