Connecticut Businesses Make Inc.’s Fastest-Growing List

Thirty-four Connecticut companies feature on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the U.S.

The list ranks companies according to their percentage revenue growth over three years, from 2021 to 2024.

West Hartford-based Global Medical Virtual Assistants—a remote staffing services provider for the healthcare industry—was the top-ranking Connecticut company at number 368.

A pair of CBIA members made this year’s list, including Milford-based non-alcoholic craft brewer Athletic Brewing, which ranked 1,671 nationally with three-year growth of 262%.

It’s the fourth straight year that Athletic featured on the Inc. magazine list.

Connecticut Companies

The 10 highest ranked Connecticut companies are:

• No. 368: Global Medical Virtual Assistants, West Hartford
• No. 641: Leverage Shares, Greenwich
• No. 711: Axe Elite, Wethersfield
• No. 1,050: Budderfly, Shelton
• No. 1,112: Gunner, Stamford
• No. 1,125: Greython Construction, Groton
• No. 1,387: LesserEvil, Danbury
• No. 1,414: Triple B Media, North Haven
• No. 1,671: Athletic Brewing Co., Milford
• No. 1,827: Verdek, Monroe

Middletown-based IT services company Charles IT came in at 3,184 with a three-year growth of 126%.

Charles IT head of business development Sal Marino spoke about the company’s rapid growth with the CBIA BizCast in 2024.

“The magic behind the curtain is that we’re just what you see is what you get,” Marino said.

“We really care about the employees. When it’s not a facade, people come in, they see it, and they want to be a part of it.”

Growth, Revenue

The Connecticut-based companies on this year’s Inc. 5000 cumulatively have about 3,440 employees, and generated about $1.6 billion in revenue, according to Inc.

In total, the companies on this year’s list have about 1.16 million employees with more than $300 billion in revenue.

Palo Alto, California-based AKOOL took the top spot overall with 37,364% growth over the last three years.

The AI and data company has developed generative AI for video and visual content creation.