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ReloShare's 28,000% growth lands it near top of Inc. 5000
Story Highlights ReloShare ranks second on Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing startups.
The Chicago-based startup provides real-time hotel booking for social-services agencies.
It has grown nearly 28,000% in the past three years.
A Chicago startup with a mission to help vulnerable populations find safe shelter has been named one of the fastest-growing startups in the nation.
ReloShare was featured in the No. 2 spot on this year's Inc. 5000 list, the first time a Chicago startup has been featured in the top 10 of this list since CDL 1000 ranked No. 3 in 2022.
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Founded in 2020, with revenue in the $100 million to $250 million range, the live-booking and live-sourcing marketplace for social services has grown nearly 28,000% in the past three years, according to Inc. Magazine.
Co-founder and CEO Matt Singley told Chicago Inno the company was, in some ways, born out of necessity. He quickly learned how much the platform could help across the country.
ReloShare started as a program for domestic-violence shelter overflow and has become the first-ever booking system that allows social-service agencies to book hotels in real time for victims under an alias and without a credit card or ID, which unlocks access to emergency housing for people in crisis.
Singley said the company is now at just under 50 employees after having two in 2021. There are now over 700 social-service agencies across the country using the platform.
ReloShare finished No. 958 on last year's list. Arizona-based startup Lessen, No. 2 on last year's list, relocated its Chicago office to 203 N. LaSalle St. last year, adjacent to Google's future Chicago headquarters.
Chicago's other fast-growing startups
ReloShare was one of 257 Illinois-based companies to make this year's Inc. 5000. Of those, 27 were newly founded or have seen rapid growth within their first four years of founding.
The median three-year growth for all 257 Illinois companies was 154%.
Introl, a Chicago startup supporting the advancement of artificial-intelligence computing, was the only other Chicago startup to make the top 20, ranking No. 14.
Chicago device-intelligence platform Fingerprint was featured in the No. 466 spot this year, with 876% revenue growth over the past three years after raising $33 million in Series C funding in 2023. Local insurtech platform Obie came in at No. 350, with 1,126% revenue growth over the past three years after raising $25.5 million in 2023.
Others like Evergreen, a Glencoe-based startup launched by a former general counsel at Alinea, are making waves in industries like consumer packaged goods. The healthy frozen-waffle startup is projecting $26 million in retail sales this year, founder Emily Groden told Inc. 5000, after hitting $9.3 million in sales last year, with plans to raise a Series A in 2025.
This year's Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2021 to 2024. Among the top 500 companies on the list, the median three-year revenue growth rate was 1,552%. To make the list, the minimum revenue required for 2021 was $100,000; the minimum for 2024 was $2 million.
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