277 Virginia companies make 2025 Inc. 5000 list

This year, 277 Virginia companies made the Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies, released Tuesday by Inc. magazine.

Ranking at No. 34 overall, Artemis ARC, a service-disabled, veteran-owned consulting firm for federal agencies, was the highest-ranking Virginia company on the list and the only one that came in among the top 100 companies on the Inc. 5000 this year. This marks the first year Alexandria-based Artemis ARC has appeared on the Inc. 5000. It made in the $10 million to $25 million revenue range in 2024, according to Inc.

Three other Virginia companies ranked among the top 200 companies on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list: Akiak Technology, an Alexandria-based, Alaskan tribal-owned IT consulting and services company, ranked No. 106, with $25 million to $50 million in revenue; Black Canyon Consulting, a Fairfax County, woman-owned IT federal contractor, came in at No. 162, with between $50 million and $100 million in revenue; and Terrestris, an Occoquan-based federal contractor founded by a Marine, was No. 185, with $5 million to $10 million in revenue.

TheBestReputation, a Williamsburg online reputation management firm, just missed the top 200, coming in at No. 201, with revenue between $2 million and $5 million.

Artemis ARC was the No. 1 fastest-growing company in the nation for the list’s Government Services Sector businesses. Akiak Technology ranked No. 4 among all government contractors.

“Making the list as the No. 4-fastest growing Government Services Sector company doesn’t happen by accident,” Akiak Technology CEO Kevin Hamer stated in a press release. “Securing our spot in the top 500 showcases our blend of technological advancement, customer-centric approaches and adaptive business models to propel us to the forefront of the GovCon industry.”

Last year, 265 Virginia companies made the list and Ashburn IT services firm Blu Omega, a woman-owned IT consulting firm was the commonwealth’s top-ranked company, coming in at No 53. This year it ranked as No. 965. Two other Virginia companies ranked within the top 100 in 2023.

Virginia companies on the 2025 list had a median three-year growth rate of 164% and brought in $33.4 billion in total revenue. They added a total of 51,770 jobs.

North Carolina had 128 companies on the list, and Maryland had 125.

To apply to make the Inc. 5000 list, companies had to be privately held, for-profit businesses based in the United States and not a subsidiary or division of another company. They also had to generate a minimum of $100,000 in revenue in 2021 and a minimum of $2 million in 2024.

Th companies who made this year’s list generated over $300 billion in 2024 revenue, added 536,086 jobs in the past three years and posted over $177 billion in growth since 2021. Companies as large as 70,000-plus employees and as small as a single-person operation were included on the list. Akool, a California-based AI Video Generation Suite business, ranked No. 1 and made in the $25 million to $50 million range last year, according to Inc.

“The Inc. 5000 is one of the most important things we publish each year – a real-time bellwether of American business,” Mike Hofman, editor-in-chief of Inc., said in a press release. “At a moment when entrepreneurs are navigating economic uncertainty, labor shifts, and inflation, this list is powerful proof of innovation and resilience.”