Organic growth, acquisitions and expansion: Those were some of the factors behind the tremendous growth of the companies on Crain's 2024 Fast 50.
This year's winners saw five-year median revenue growth of an impressive 505% and an average revenue increase of 2,375%, driven by the enormous growers topping our list. Logistics, construction and consumer service sectors lead the way, with six companies apiece.
For the past two years, the Fast 50 ranking has been dominated by startup logistics companies, and this year is no different, proving Chicago remains a significant industry hub. The logistics firms on the list generated $3.3 billion in revenue last year and averaged a 645% increase in revenue over the past five years.
While Chicago's construction firms experienced disruptions during COVID-19, this year's winners prove they're busy putting the pandemic behind them. The construction companies on our list made $3.5 billion in combined 2023 revenue and averaged a 618% increase in revenue since 2018.
Half of the consumer service businesses that made the Fast 50 are leading cannabis companies: Verano, Cresco Labs and Green Thumb Industries — the trio's third consecutive year on the list.
This year's Fast 50 includes 18 companies not featured in last year's ranking, with five newcomers making the top 10: 1440 Media, Kin Insurance, Ashling Partners, Rush Street Interactive and E78 Partners.
Together, these 50 winners generated nearly $20 billion in 2023 revenue and employed more than 11,000 local workers, showcasing their impact on Chicago's economy.
Read on for our full ranking of Chicago's fastest-growing companies, learn more about the five firms that rose to the top and check out Crain's exclusive data on each company on the list.
Missed your chance to apply for Crain's 2024 Fast 50? To ensure your company submits on time next year, contact Crain's data and research analyst Sophie Rodgers.
By Sophie Rodgers
June 12, 2024
Chicago's fastest-growing companies for 2024
Tech company in the SaaS space; Chicago; Founded in 2015
Company description
5-year growth
26,336.6%
Photo credit
Any investor or investment house seeking information about a company has ready sources at hand. You go to the Securities & Exchange Commission to find recent 10-K and -Q filings on profits and losses and you find what every analyst on Wall Street is writing about your subject by going to standard clearinghouses like Bloomberg. But Michael and Thomas Elnick, the twin brothers who co-founded Tegus in 2015, dismiss all that as mere qualitative information too easy to find.
2. tegus
(Hover over each box to view information)
2023 revenue
$27.1M
Local employees
252
Total employees
352
Profitable?
No
Yes
Profitable?
90
Total employees
75
Local employees
$230.9 million
2023 revenue
Drug manufacturing; Chicago; Founded in 2016
Company description
5-year growth
13,294.6%
Meitheal Pharmaceuticals
2. Meitheal pharmaceuticals
Yes
Profitable?
604
Total employees
138
Local employees
$104.4 million
2023 revenue
Homeowners insurance startup; Chicago; Founded in 2016
Company description
5-year growth
9,518.5%
Kin Insurance
3. Kin insurance
Yes
Profitable?
15
Total employees
5
Local employees
$16.0 million
2023 revenue
Digital media; Chicago; Founded in 2017
Company description
5-year growth
38,655.6%
1440 Media
1. 1440 media
No
Profitable?
580
Total employees
300
Local employees
$105.1 million
2023 revenue
Financial investment research; Chicago; Founded in 2015
Company description
5-year growth
7,570.9%
Tegus co-CEOs and co-founders Michael and Thomas Elnick. Photo: Tegus
5. Tegus
1440 Media is making the most of a trend — the popularity of easily digestible news — with a daily newsletter whose mission is "to share fact-focused information." Named for the year Gutenberg invented the printing press, 1440 Media targets C-level executives and those in decision-making positions with a "five-minute read" newsletter that currently counts more than 3.5 million subscribers.
"We had the concept, 'I wish I could get smarter every morning.' And then we said, 'OK, what's the best way to deliver that?' " says CEO Tim Huelskamp. The newsletter is put together daily, much like a traditional newspaper, says Huelskamp, adding that the company's five-person editorial team scouts various sites, platforms and publications to create the content.
1440 Media got its start being circulated among friends and family members and slowly grew to a nationwide audience. That pace has been intentional: Growth continues as the company, which gets its revenue from advertising, keeps its focus on not making the mistake of growing too quickly.
"We're going to slow down a little bit and think more long term and build a profitable business model," says Huelskamp. "It allows us to control our own destiny."
—Corli Jay
Meitheal Pharmaceuticals takes its name from an Irish word that means a team of people working together for a common cause, explains John Spilman, vice president of corporate strategy at the Chicago firm. "Kind of in that meitheal spirit, we're working together on our cause to bring sustainability into the U.S. market with these drugs."
Bringing more products to market is how Meitheal Pharmaceuticals finds success. The company is on the Fast 50 list for the second year in a row, this time by expanding into biosimilars — drugs highly similar to biologic FDA-approved medicines — which have been slow to take off in the U.S.
Spilman says the company expects to add 13 more products this year, growing to nearly 70 by the end of 2024. In addition to biosimilars, the company is also expanding into biologics, drugs that are the first to go to market to target a specific disease. As Meitheal grows, it expects to become more visible within the health care sector.
—Corli Jay
Serving areas deeply impacted by climate change is the model for home insurance provider Kin Insurance. Initially insuring homes in Florida, Kin now services homes in nine states including Louisiana, South Carolina and Virginia.
Launching a new home insurance company is difficult, says co-founder and CEO Sean Harper, as the space is full of legacy businesses with brand recognition. However, the success of Kin's direct-to-consumer model makes it an outlier within the industry. "(Natural disasters) are happening more and more because of global warming. That's just a fact. Our ability to tell the differences between how these homes are built makes a huge difference," he says.
Kin uses its technology to provide pricing based on the characteristics of each home. The company also boasts a member-owned model. With more than 160,000 policies to date, Kin's accomplishments are linked to serving overlooked markets. The company added Georgia and Texas this year and expects revenue growth of more than 50% next year.
—Corli Jay
No
Profitable?
183
Total employees
23
Local employees
$28.5 million
2023 revenue
Intelligent automation consulting; Chicago; Founded in 2017
Company description
5-year growth
8,107.1%
Ashling Partners
4. Ashling partners
Artificial intelligence and automation have become buzzwords that fill some with fear as they imagine the worst. Ashling Partners aims to put those fears to rest by showing that integrating AI and automation within any industry can reduce costs while increasing productivity.
Ashling co-founders and CEOs Don Sweeney and Marshall Sied say the rate at which technology is growing has reached a point that companies can't ignore. The Chicago firm provides streamlined operations to help keep data in-sourced and erase tedious tasks that have prevented maximum performance for employees.
Working with Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies, Ashling aims to make more room for businesses to focus on what makes them unique instead of wasting time on backroom operations.
"This is very directly relatable to tangible business outcomes," says Sweeney.
Ashling expects a growth rate between 15% and 25% for 2024 and predicts profitability during the second half of the year.
—Corli Jay
Tegus landed in our Fast 50 top five again this year as it continued to grow by creating tools for its clients. After acquiring Canada-based leading financial models provider Canalyst in August 2022, the company's renamed Tegus Financials tool became fully integrated into the company's operations, said Chief Financial Officer Bob Casey.
And on June 11, Tegus announced it is the one being acquired — by its largest competitor, New York-based AlphaSense, for nearly $1 billion.
Prior to the deal, Tegus introduced an all-in-one platform that condensed its product lines into one destination. The new platform, implemented in February, created a lower price point for its clients, which helped fuel the company's growth. Tegus also integrated a new AI search function called AskTegus allowing customers to get quick insights into public and private companies within the set of proprietary qualitative and financial data.
The company expanded its European operations and worked with 19 of the 20 largest private-equity firms in the world, said Casey.
"We've always been a business that has invested in growth and focused on how we build the winning product," he said.
—Corli Jay
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2023 revenue
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