3 Houston companies land on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 list

trending up

Three Houston companies ranked on Deloitte's annual list, with two cracking the top 100. Photo via Getty Images

Three Houston companies have made this year’s Deloitte North America Technology Fast 500 list.

The report ranks the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech, and energy tech companies in North America. The Houston companies to make the list, along with their revenue growth rates from 2021-2024, include:

  • No. 16 Action1 Corp., a provider of cybersecurity software. Growth rate: 7,265 percent
  • No. 92 Cart.com, a commerce and logistics platform. Growth rate: 1,053 percent
  • No. 312 Tellihealth, a remote health care platform. Growth rate: 244 percent

“Houston’s unique blend of entrepreneurial energy and innovation continues to strengthen the local business community, and I’m thrilled to see Houston companies honored on the 2025 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list. Congratulations to all the winners,” said Melinda Yee, managing partner in Deloitte’s Houston office.

Action1 is no stranger to lists like the Deloitte Technology Fast 500. For instance, the company ranked first among software companies and 29th overall on this year’s Inc. 5000, a list of the country’s fastest-growing private companies. Its growth rate from 2021 to 2024 reached 7,188 percent.

Mike Walters, president and co-founder of Action1, said in August that the Inc. 5000 achievement “reflects the dedication of Action1’s global team, who continue to execute against an ambitious vision: a world where cyberattacks exploiting vulnerabilities are entirely prevented across all types of devices, operating systems, and applications.”

Atlanta-based Impericus, operator of an AI-powered platform that connects health care providers with pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, topped the Deloitte list with a 2021-24 growth rate of 29,738 percent.

“Our mission is to set the standard for ethical AI-powered physician connections to pharma resources, accelerating and expanding patient access to needed treatments,” said Dr. Osama Hashmi, a dermatologist who’s co-founder and CEO of Impiricus. “As we continue to innovate quickly, we remain committed to building ethical bridges across this vital ecosystem.”

From Your Site Articles
These are the four fastest-growing tech companies in Houston, according to Deloitte. Photo by Shobeir Ansar/Getty Images

4 fast-growing Houston tech companies secure spots on Deloitte list

big wins

Deloitte’s annual North America Technology Fast 500 list includes four Houston companies this year — all boasting of significant growth.

For Houston, Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. took the highest-ranking spot at No. 101 (up from 108 previous year) with 1,184 percent growth. NatGas Hub LLC (No. 286, 407 percent growth), Liongard (No. 437, 246 percent growth), and Stratus Medical LLC (No. 483, 212 percent growth) also made the list, which is an annual ranking of the fastest-growing North American companies in technology, energy tech sectors, telecommunications, life sciences, media, and fintech.

"Houston continues to demonstrate its prowess in fostering growth and technological advancement and I’m incredibly proud to see some of our local companies making significant strides and earning their well-deserved spots on the 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list,” Houston managing partner at Deloitte Melinda Yee says in a news release.

Award winners were selected based on fiscal year revenue growth from 2019 to 2022.

The companies achieved revenue growth ranging from 201 percent to 153,625 percent over the three-year time frame with an average growth rate of 1,981 percent and a median growth rate of 460 percent, according to a news release. Texas accounts for 6 percent of the winning companies with 73 percent of the companies from Texas are in the software sector.

“These companies exemplify the entrepreneurial spirit and innovative mindset that define Houston's dynamic business ecosystem,” Yee adds.

In 2023, the Houston representation looked similar. Direct Digital Holdings again topped the Houston rankings at No. 108, with Liongard, NatGasHub.com, and P97 Networks also showing substantial growth. As a state, Texas had 30 companies that made the list of the 541 ranked. In 2022, just one Houston company was recognized, as at No. 372 Onit reported revenue increase of 369 percent.

Biopharmaceutical company TG Therapeutics, Inc. was the No.1 spot in 2024 with a growth rate of 153,625 percent from 2020 to 2023. See the full list here.
Three Houston tech companies are seeing big business growth, according to Deloitte's report. Graphic via Deloitte

3 Houston companies make Deloitte's fastest-growing tech list

biz is booming

Three Houston companies have earned spots on this year's edition of the North American Technology Fast 500.

The three Houston honorees are:

  • Enercross, a provider of logistics software for the energy sector. It appears at No. 31 on the Fast 500 list, with revenue growth of 6,230 percent from 2017 to 2020.
  • Onit, which offers workflow and AI technology for legal, compliance, sales, IT, HR, and finance departments. It lands at No. 304, with a 408 percent rise in revenue from 2017 to 2020. According to Crunchbase, Onit has reeled in $216.6 million in venture capital.
  • Graylog, a provider of log management software. It sits at No. 309, with revenue growth of 402 percent from 2017 to 2020. Graylog has collected $27.4 million in venture capital, according to Crunchbase. That includes an $18 million round announced this summer.

The North America Technology Fast 500, sponsored by professional services firm Deloitte, is an annual ranking of the fastest-growing tech, media, telecom, life sciences, and energy tech companies in North America.

"The Houston companies on this year's Fast 500 list are transforming the way our city does business by combining technological innovation with entrepreneurial spirit," Amy Chronis, Houston managing partner at Deloitte, says in a news release. "I'm inspired by the ways these organizations have succeeded amid unprecedented times, and I look forward to seeing their progress in 2022."

The top-ranked company is Irvine, California-based medical device company Axonics, whose revenue soared 87,037 percent from 2017 to 2020. The top-ranked Texas company is Austin-based Shipwell, where revenue climbed 32,670 percent from 2017 to 2020. Shipwell provides a shipment-tracking platform. Overall, 5 percent of the Fast 500 companies are based in Texas.

Both Enercross and Onit showed up on last year's Fast 500. Enercross ranked 37th in 2020, with revenue growth of 5,881 percent, and Onit ranked 190th, with revenue growth of 641 percent. Meanwhile, Graylog is a new entrant this year.

Two Houston companies fell off the Fast 500 this year:

  • Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, which ranked 328th last year with revenue growth of 306 percent.
  • Vendor Credentialing Services (symplr), a tech platform that simplifies vendor services, compliance, and more for health professionals. It appeared at No. 426 last year, notching revenue growth of 221 percent.

Not surprisingly, Silicon Valley accounted for one-fifth of the companies in this year's Fast 500, followed by the New York City metro area (12 percent) and New England (8 percent). Nearly three-fourths of the Fast 500 companies specialize in software, and 81 percent of the companies have received venture capital at some point.

"Each year, the Technology Fast 500 shines a light on leading innovators in technology, and this year is no exception," says Paul Silverglate, leader of the U.S. technology sector at Deloitte. "In the face of innumerable challenges resulting from the pandemic, the best and brightest were able to pivot, reinvent and transform and grow."

Four Houston-based companies have been ranked among the country's fastest growing tech businesses. Photo via Getty Images

4 Houston companies make fastest-growing tech biz list

H-town representing

In a newly released annual ranking, four Houston-based technology companies scored spots.

Deloitte's 26th annual North America Technology Fast 500 is an annual ranking of the fastest-growing North American companies across tech sectors. The companies on the list were selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2016 to 2019. The Houston companies that made the top 500 were:

  • No. 37 (5,881 percent growth): Enercross — An oil and gas logistics software company.
  • No. 190 (641 percent growth): Onit — A B2B software company that designs streamlining solutions.
  • No. 328 (306 percent growth): Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc. — A biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for diseases.
  • No. 426 (221 percent growth): Vendor Credentialing Services (aka symplr)— A tech platform that simplifies vendor services, compliance, and more for health professionals.

"The varied industries represented in this year's local Fast 500 winners is evidence of Houston's positive momentum in diversifying its core competencies beyond the energy sector," says Amy Chronis, Houston managing partner at Deloitte, in the release. "Innovation continues to be the driving force behind our city's evolution, and the Fast 500 winners are helping spur its progress. They inspire and provide a glimpse into our future."

According to the release, the 2020 Technology Fast 500 companies achieved revenue growth ranging from 175 percent to 106,508 percent over the three-year time frame, with a median growth rate of 450 percent.

Silicon Valley-based companies dominated the list, accounting for the top three companies as well as 20 percent of the entire list. The second largest region represented was New York, with 13 percent of the list.

In terms of sector, software has the biggest hold on the ranking with 71 percent of the companies being categorized in that realm, which is the highest percentage Deloitte has ever seen in this study.

The report also looked ate venture backing and found that this year 81 percent of the 500 fastest-growing tech companies received venture funding, which includes, according to the release, 26 of the top 30 companies.

"Each year the Technology Fast 500 listing validates how important technology innovation is to our daily lives. It was interesting to see this year that while software companies continued to dominate, biotech companies rose to the top of the winners list for the first time, demonstrating that new categories of innovation are accelerating in the pursuit of making life easier, safer and more productive," says Mohana Dissanayake, partner at Deloitte, in the release. "We extend our congratulations to these well-deserved winners — who all embody a spirit of curiosity, and a never-ending commitment to making technology advancements possible."

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

MD Anderson president to retire after nine years, interim successor named

retirement plan

An era is ending at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

On Aug. 26, Dr. Peter WT Pisters announced his plans to retire from his role as president of the comprehensive cancer center. He will work on a smooth transition of leadership with interim president Dr. Jeffrey E. Lee throughout September.

“I first arrived at UT MD Anderson 32 years ago with a passion for doing everything I could to advance our mission to end cancer. Serving as the only faculty member to become president, and now marking nine years in the role, I can say with great pride and gratitude that there is no better place than UT MD Anderson to turn hope into healing for patients and families everywhere,” Pisters said in a news release. “With a timeless strategy, a strong leadership team, unprecedented levels of financial health, and a priceless culture anchored in our deeply held Core Values, now is the right time for me to transition to other opportunities. UT MD Anderson has never been stronger, and its future has never been brighter.”

Pisters assumed the presidency in 2017 and helped launch some of the most cutting-edge new clinics in MD Anderson history. One of those was the James P. Allison Institute, named for the Nobel Laureate scientist who discovered a way to suppress immune response on tumors so that immune cells would attack cancer cells instead. As head of his titular clinic, Allison pioneered several new immunotherapies against cancer.

Pisters also oversaw the creation of the Institute for Data Science in Oncology in 2024, an innovative consortium of scientists dedicated to enhancing single-cell imaging to improve precision in cancer treatments. The institute also brought together teams to use data-driven analytics regarding safety, quality and access.

The UT System Board of Regents praised the leadership and work of Pisters in a statement, wishing him well in the next phase of his career.

“The Board of Regents and I are profoundly grateful to Dr. Pisters for his exceptional presidency over the past nine years and for thoughtfully concluding his service when UT MD Anderson is thriving at its best position of peak performance, strength and impact. We wish him our very best with his retirement and in his next chapter,” Kevin P. Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, added in the release.

Houston e-commerce giant Cart.com launches government-focused subsidiary

government branch

Houston e-commerce and logistics unicorn Cart.com has launched a new subsidiary.

Cart Government Solutions (CGS), which was announced earlier this week, will provide supply chain and logistics services and software for the federal and state government sectors. The new subsidiary will be headquartered in Washington, D.C., and operate out of about 6 million square feet of secure warehouse space across 14 U.S. facilities, according to a news release from Cart.com. It will support both domestic and overseas logistics.

Industry veteran Gregg Zegras will lead the new entity as president. Zegras previously served as Cart.com's chief revenue officer, according to LinkedIn. Before that, he served as president of Connecticut-based Pitney Bowes Global eCommerce, a digital shipping solutions company.

Remington Tonar, Cart.com's co-founder, will serve as CGS's chief innovation officer.

“Government agencies face procurement and logistics challenges that many commercial platforms simply weren’t built to solve,” Zegras said in the news release. “Cart Government Solutions exists to change that. We’re combining the speed and innovation of a technology company with the compliance rigor, security, and operational depth that federal and state customers require, and we’re doing it with a team that has spent careers working alongside and inside these agencies.”

According to the company, CGS will focus on meeting compliance and security requirements in the public sector. Some of the services the new entity will offer include:

  • Inventory management
  • Cold-chain and specialty storage for pharmaceuticals, medical devices and regulated goods
  • Enterprise-grade supply chain software
  • Government-compliant webstores and online ordering portals
  • Cybersecurity operations

Cart.com has been serving the public sector since 2022, when the company began distributing COVID-19 health supplies nationwide, according to the news release. Through that pandemic-era contract, the company reports it moved more than 725 million units, with an average of under two days per shipment.

Cart.com was founded in Houston in 2020, though it briefly moved its headquarters to Austin. The company reached unicorn status with its $60 million Series C raise in 2023. It most recently raised $180 million in growth capital from private equity firm Springcoast Partners in March, which put the startup over the $1 billion in fundraising mark in just six years.

At the time, Cart.com said it planned to scale its logistics network, expand AI capabilities and develop workflow automation tools.

Houston-based KBR Inc. also recently launched a government services spinoff. Read more here.

2 Houston universities named best colleges of 2027 by Princeton Review

A-Plus Ratings

Back-to-school season has returned in full force, and that means it's time for college rankings. Two Houston universities in particular are being hailed as the top of the class for 2027.

The high caliber schools — Rice University and University of Houston — earned new acclaim in The Princeton Review's ranking of the "Best 392 Colleges" for 2027.

The Princeton Review's 35th annual "Best Colleges" rankings are determined by a survey of 172,000 current college students that gave "candid feedback" about their schools and their experiences. The flagship guide does not rank the schools overall, but it does rank them across 50 different categories, including best-run colleges, best quality of life, happiest students, best athletic facilities, among others.

In all, 14 Texas institutions were highlighted in the overall list of the 392 best colleges.

Schools don't pay to be included in the guide, but The Princeton Review clarified that schools could pay for a "featured" designation. No Houston university paid to be featured in this year's guide. Trinity University in San Antonio and Southwestern University, a private school in the Austin suburb Georgetown, were the only two Texas schools that paid to be "featured."

Rice and UH have been on a winning streak in separate reports of the best universities worldwide, best graduate schools, and best online degree programs.

In addition to being included in the overall list, Rice was highlighted as one of the Best Value Colleges, Colleges That Create Futures, and it earned high marks in Princeton Review's Mental Health Honor Roll 2026. The home of the Rice Owls also starred in the regional Best Southwest list that contained 41 universities across Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

"Rice University stands out as a leading research university where academic diversity and a wide array of interdisciplinary institutes and centers make it easy for students to explore multiple areas of interest," the school's profile says. "At Rice, 'knowledge isn’t siloed — students are constantly crossing disciplines and interests in ways that feel natural rather than exceptional.'"

Rice earned the following rankings on 14 other lists:

  • No. 1 – Lots of Race/Class Interaction
  • No. 3 – Best College Newspaper
  • No. 9 – Friendliest Students
  • No. 11 – Best Quality of Life
  • No. 13 – Great Financial Aid
  • No. 14 – Top 50 Best Value Private Colleges
  • No. 17 – Their Students Love These Colleges
  • No. 18 – Top 20 Best Value Private Colleges Without Aid
  • No. 18 – Best Student Support and Counseling Services
  • No. 19 – Best College Dorms
  • No. 21 – Students Study the Most
  • No. 24 – Best Campus Food
  • No. 24 – Best College Radio Station
  • No. 24 – Best-Run colleges
The University of Houston also appeared in the Best Southwest, Best Value Colleges, and Colleges That Create Futures lists, and it was named a top Green College, which examined schools that "share superb sustainability practices, a strong foundation in sustainability education, and a healthy quality of life for students on campus



UH earned five more accolades:

  • No. 1 – Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies
  • No. 1 – Top Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies in the Southwest
  • No. 8 – Most Politically Moderate Students
  • No. 15 – Financial Aid Not So Great
  • No. 42 – Top 50 Best Value Public Colleges
In the school's profile, students say they had an overall positive experience thanks to UH's excellent academic offerings and dedicated faculty members.

"Students confirm that 'the research and other academic opportunities... are very accessible to students who seek it out,'" the profile says. "This includes taking advantage of UH’s vast alumni network (more than 325,000 and counting), not to mention its location in the corporate center of Houston, where 'the opportunities that are provided are immense.'"

The 12 other public and private universities in Texas included in The Princeton Review's 2027 guide are:

  • The University of Texas at Austin
  • Southwestern University, Georgetown
  • Baylor University, Waco
  • Texas A&M University - College Station
  • Trinity University, San Antonio
  • Texas State University, San Marcos
  • Angelo State University, San Angelo
  • Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
  • University of Dallas, Irving
  • Southern Methodist University, Dallas
  • The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson
  • Austin College, Sherman
---

A version of this story originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

View All Listings