Startups

A Philly fintech company is #5 on this year’s Inc. 5000 list

Following Center City's Perpay, more than 100 privately owned Philly-area companies made the 2019 list.

Philadelphia. (Photo by Philly by Drone)

The Inc. 5000 list, a roundup of the country’s fastest-growing private companies, was released Wednesday, and Philly companies made a strong showing.

Out of the top 5,000 companies, 128 come from the Philly metro area (which includes the burbs, south Jersey and Wilmington).

Number five on the list is Center City’s own Perpay, a consumer lending fintech startup that allows users to pay for big purchases directly from their paychecks over time, interest-free. It was started in 2014 by Lamps.com founder Chris DiMarco with support from investor (and now URBN’s chief digital officer) David Hayne, who shortly thereafter opened up a 5,600-square-foot office near 12th and Sansom.

Inc. listed PerPay’s growth at 18,166% for the past three years, and its revenue at $22.5 million, with 25 employees. A rep for the company did not immediately respond to Technical.ly’s request for comment.

Philly joins a slew of Northeast Corridor cities that had a strong showing on the list, but companies from Texas, Arizona, Tennessee and New Mexico grabbed the top four ahead of PerPay.

2019’s Inc. 5000 companies per three-year revenue growth. (Screenshot via Inc.com; projection map by Flourish team)

Also notable was Camden’s first-ever mention via on-demand graphic design platform (and 2019 realLIST runner-up) Penji, which claimed number 1,006 on the list.

The company has grown from four employees to about 50 in the last two years. Indeed, “just a few years ago we were a small team of creative misfits searching for our niche in the world of business,” said Johnathan Grzybowski, cofounder and CMO of Penji, in a statement.

Cloud services provider Evolve IP, which is based in Wayne and has a Center City office, made the list for the seventh time at number 4,018.

“Being listed in the Inc. 5000 for the seventh time since 2012 is a truly remarkable achievement and an incredible testament to the dedication, skill and passion of our associates around the world,” CEO and founding partner Guy Fardone said in a statement.

Some other familiar names that made the list include Medical Guardian at number 1,406, La Colombe at number 2,256, Greenphire at number 3,298, SEER Interactive at number 3,748, Think Company at number 3,952, Power Home Remodeling at number 4,132, and iPipeline at number 4,805.

P.S. Penji is celebrating the list’s release on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at WeWork in Northern Liberties, and Technical.ly will be there. Learn more and RSVP here.

Update: Details about Perpay's founding have been updated. (8/14/19, 2:52 p.m.)
Companies: URBN / Power Home Remodeling / La Colombe / Perpay / Think Company / Evolve IP / Greenphire / Inc. / iPipeline / SEER Interactive / Technical.ly

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