Houston e-commerce startup cracks Inc. 5000 — here's who makes the 2022 list

by the numbers

GoExpedi, an e-commerce software company, represents Houston's tech and startup ecosystem on this year's Inc. 5000. Image courtesy of GoExpedi

In the latest edition of its roundup of fastest growing privately held companies, Inc. magazine has recognized dozens of Houston organizations.

Houston startup GoExpedi, an industrial supply chain and analytics company, is the highest ranking local tech company on the list. GoExpedi ranked No. 675 in the 2022 edition of Inc. 5000, with a 924 percent growth rate between 2018 and 2021.

"The team at GoExpedi is honored to rank number 675 among America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies on the Inc. 5000 Annual List," says Tim Neal, CEO of GoExpedi, in a news release. "GoExpedi has grown exponentially since launching in 2017 due to our forward-thinking and innovative supply chain solutions."

Real estate firm Disrupt Equity is the overall top Houston performer, and the sole Houston company to break the top 200 in the report. The company charted an impressive 2,975 percent growth rate between 2018 and 2021. The firm pushes complete multifamily real estate investment offerings that are earmarked as able to achieve and even exceed projections, clearly a safe haven in one of the biggest — and hottest — real estate markets in the entire nation.

Disrupt claims an impressive ROI for clients: The company boasts a "proven track record with over a dozen full cycle exits averaging over 36 percent annualized return to investors," director of investor relations, Tarek Moussa, tells CultureMap.

"We could not be more ecstatic to hear that Disrupt Equity has been announced as the fastest growing company in Houston by Inc 5000," says Feras Moussa, Disrupt's managing partner, in a statement. "We believe success in real estate, especially in today's economic environment, comes from being a great operator and having a strong team behind you. We believe this has been a large contributor to our success and helps us to continue to provide incredible passive real estate investment opportunities to our investors."

Speaking of real estate, another Houston firm performed well. Construction Concepts, which specializes in commercial design and build in Houston and Austin, ranked No. 497 overall, with 1,251 percent growth over three years. 5111 VENTURES, listed as a full-service real estate brokerage firm specializing in technology-driven residential and commercial sales and consulting services, was No. 558 with 1125 percent growth over three years.

In all, 468 Texas-based companies made this year’s Inc. 5000. Dallas-Fort Worth firms performed especially well:

No. 13 StaffDNA, Plano, 19,699 percent growth rate
No. 17 Blue Hammer Roofing, Dallas, 15,911 percent growth rate
No. 116 TimelyMD, Fort Worth, 3,852 percent growth rate
No. 142 Curis Functional Health, Farmers Branch, 3,380 percent growth rate
No. 148 SmartLight Analytics, Plano, 3,317 percent growth rate
No. 168 Digital Thrive, Dallas, 3,056 percent growth rate
No. 172 Forester Haynie, Dallas, 2,984 percent growth rate

Here are the other Texas companies appearing in the state’s top 20 and in the top 500 overall.

No. 60 AdOutreach, Austin, 6,052 percent growth rate
No. 62 Webforce, Austin, 6,009 percent growth rate
No. 117 Homestead Brands, Austin, 3,839 percent growth rate
No. 174 Disrupt Equity, Houston, 2,975 percent growth rate
No. 188 24HourNurse Staffing, Pittsburg, 2,801 percent growth rate
No. 201, Everly Health, Austin, 2,643 percent growth rate
No. 209, Texas Solar Integrated, San Antonio, 2,559 percent growth rate
No. 212, Apple Blvd Boutique, Frisco, 2,555 percent growth rate
No. 285 Element 26, Austin, 1,948 percent growth rate
No. 312 Boostlingo, Austin, 1,820 percent growth rate
No. 317 Cover Desk, Austin, 1,800 percent growth rate
No. 325 Canopy Management, Austin, 1,758 percent growth rate
No. 497 Construction Concepts, Houston, 1,251 percent growth rate

Companies on the 2022 Inc. 5000 are ranked by percentage growth in revenue from 2018 to 2021. To qualify for the list, a company must have been founded and been generating revenue by March 31, 2018. The company also must have been U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent as of December 31, 2021. The minimum revenue required for 2018 was $100,000; the minimum for 2021 was $2 million.

"The accomplishment of building one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., in light of recent economic roadblocks, cannot be overstated," says Scott Omelianuk, editor in chief of Inc. "Inc. is thrilled to honor the companies that have established themselves through innovation, hard work, and rising to the challenges of today."

A total of 90 Houston-area companies made the list last year, including Homestead Brands, Onit, GoCo.io, Velentium, Softeq, Poetic, Techwave, and more.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap. Steven Devadanam and Natalie Harms also contributed to this story.

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Italian aerospace company sets up first U.S. office at Houston Spaceport

welcome to houston

Como, Italy-based aerospace company Involve Space recently made the Houston Spaceport the site of its first U.S. office.

Involve Space develops high-altitude balloon platforms for Earth observation, scientific research and hardware testing. The balloons carry instruments into the stratosphere (a layer of the upper atmosphere) to collect images and data, conduct experiments and test technology.

The company plans to launch its first commercial missions from Houston by the end of this year, according to a news release.

“Houston is the global center of aerospace, and our presence at Houston Spaceport strengthens our international growth trajectory,” Jonathan Polotto, founder and CEO of Involve Space, said in the release.

Founded in 2021, Involve Space incorporates aerospace hardware, AI and geospatial tools into its offerings. Its proprietary CLEAR platform uses conversational AI to help customers interpret data and support decision-making.

Located at Ellington Airport, the Houston Spaceport provides a base for Involve Space’s North American operations, including business development and partnerships with aerospace companies and researchers.

Other tenants at the Houston Spaceport include NASA, Axiom Space, Venus Aerospace and Intuitive Machines.

Involve Space’s relationship with the Houston Spaceport began in January 2025, when it conducted its first U.S. pilot launch. During the five-hour mission, the balloon reached an altitude of about 85,000 feet and traveled about 250 miles across Texas.

One of Involve Space’s first U.S. customers is Houston-based Rhodium Scientific, a space biotech company. Polotto and Rhodium Scientific founder and CEO Olivia Gamez Holzhaus signed a deal to conduct biotech experiments aboard Involve Space’s stratospheric balloon platforms before planned missions to orbit.

“The presence of innovative platforms like those developed by Involve strengthens the Spaceport’s role as a site for testing, validating, and deploying advanced technologies between aeronautics and space,” Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for Houston Airports, added in the release.

UH lands $3M grant to expand opioid overdose training

Overdose Response

The University of Houston has received a $3 million federal grant to expand its potentially life-saving overdose response training program.

The grant will support the Houston Health Department’s FRONTLINES program that trains first responders in Harris and Fort Bend counties to recognize opioid overdoses and administer the drug naloxone, which can counter the effects of an opioid overdose. The four-year grant comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services, and it builds on eight years of work at UH, according to a release from the university.

As part of the expansion, UH medical, social work and psychology students will now also be able to take part in FRONTLINES’ overdose-response training. Some of the students will also be selected to help train community members, ultimately passing along the life-saving skills throughout Houston.

FRONTLINES is a collaboration with the City of Houston, the Fertitta College of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine and the Houston Recovery Center. It was co-founded by Dr. James Bray, chair of the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Houston’s Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, in 2018.

“When someone experiencing an opioid overdose is reached in time, naloxone can save their life,” Bray said in a news release. “We’ve seen the impact this training can have in Houston, and now we have an opportunity to extend that reach across Harris and Fort Bend counties, putting lifesaving knowledge and tools into the hands of more first responders.”

In 2024, around 450 residents of Harris County died from opioid overdoses, according to a Texas Department of State Health Services report. The report found that fentanyl was involved in about three-quarters of the deaths.

In 2025, UH also received a $2.6 million gift from the estate of Dr. William A. Gibson to expand its opioid research and develop a vaccine to help block fentanyl's effectiveness in entering the brain. The vaccine research is part of the Michael C. Gibson Addiction Research Program led by UH professor of psychology Therese Kosten and founding member of the UH Drug Discovery Institute Colin Haile. Read more about the grant and the vaccine’s development here.

Texas public libraries drive billions in economic impact, report finds

Beyond the Stacks

A new statewide study examining the economic impacts of public libraries has revealed they have generated over $3.8 billion in value to local communities — a return of $4.74 for every $1 invested.

The report, "Beyond the Stacks: Measuring the Economic and Community Value of Texas Public Libraries" was conducted by third-party consultancy JBK Economics Group in partnership with the Texas Library Association. About 300 of the total 513 public libraries in Texas participated in a survey for the report.

A major finding from the survey revealed that public libraries create billions in economic value for the communities they serve at a fraction of what it costs to pay employee wages and benefits, operating expenditures, and capital expenditures. About 11,200 jobs were directly and indirectly supported by public libraries, the report found.

The report found its $4.74 to $1 ratio by adding up the total value of the services provided by these institutions (an estimated $2.48 billion), and comparing it to total expenditures ($808.6 million).

"Public libraries had about the same economic footprint as the Texas motion picture and sound recording industry ($2.9 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024) or the Texas paper manufacturing industry ($4.0 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024)," the report said.

Many Houstonians are already familiar with Houston Public Library's expansive catalog and programming, but there are many more services the library provides that might fly under the radar. A few examples include access to subscription-based research databases and news outlets, and the Library of Things, a collection of cookware and bake ware, musical instruments, craft kits, and other tools or activity materials that are available for cardholders to borrow. Individual branches also provide free Wi-Fi, computer access, and meeting spaces.

Houston-area residents also have access to services at several other local libraries depending on their address, such as the Harris County Public Library, Montgomery County Memorial Library System, or Fort Bend County Libraries, just to name a few.

These are additional services and partnerships that Texas public libraries commonly provide, per the survey results:

93 percent provide voter registration and/or serve as voting locations
84 percent provide partnerships with local social services agencies
82 percent provide job application assistance
68 percent facilitate applications for government benefits
38 percent provide on-site social services
30 percent provide telehealth rooms and/or resources

"Public libraries are practical, welcoming and rooted in the communities they serve — they are unmistakably Texan," said Texas Library Association executive director Shirley Robinson in a press release. "This study puts a dollar value on the opportunities libraries create every day. Whether someone visits a library to apply for a job, access the internet, learn a new skill or simply find a new favorite book, those services create real value for Texans and their communities."