Growing Scalable Companies in Wisconsin: Inc. 5000 Analysis
At Valency Fund, we’re here to fuel growth of Wisconsin companies. The financial resources generally associated with growth include equity (angel investment, venture capital) and traditional debt (banks including SBA loans), but companies can grow by bootstrapping (personal capital) or reinvesting profit. For a breakdown of how companies can evaluate capital options based on their business model and stage, check out this post.
I took a look at the 49 Wisconsin companies that made the 2025 Inc. 5000 list to see what funding options are being utilized. While public companies provide data in their SEC filings, information for the growth of private companies is harder to come by.
What is the Inc. 5000?
If you aren’t familiar with the list (or the process), companies were eligible for the 2025 list if they had:
Generated revenue by March 31, 2021
Generated at least $100,000 in revenue in 2021 (Inc. verifies the revenue numbers.)
Generated at least $2 million in revenue in 2024
Been privately held, for profit; based in the U.S., and independent (not a subsidiary or division of another company).
Learning About the 2025 Inc. 5000 in Wisconsin
I sorted the companies by what they sell, breaking them down to Products, Services (Local), Services (National), and Both. Inspired by a description of what is a “startup” by Tom Chapman, my intention was to look at companies exporting their product or service outside of their local area as well as scaling in ways that aren’t predominately reliant on adding people.
Here is the information from Inc. about the fourteen companies I took a closer look at as well as my category descriptor in the final column.
Table of 14 Wisconsin companies from the 2025 Inc. 5000 list showing company name, rank, city, 3-year growth percentage, industry, and category classification
Takeaways From the Research
I included a brief overview of all the companies below, but a few things jumped out at me.
Tech of Various Sorts – These five companies are focused on different industries/sectors, and only one is “hardware”. The companies have been at it for a while with the most recent founded in 2017. Most have raised <$4M in equity financing, which suggests an opportunity for additional growth capital.
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) – Seven CPG companies were in my group, covering a range of products. There was also a mix of companies that manufacture (at least partially) themselves vs. outsourcing production. Perhaps the most unexpected was that the brewery runs an incubator as part of their business model.
Manufacturing – There was one manufacturing company on my list. I don’t have the data on all 5,000 companies on the Inc. list, but the low number could be a reflection of the types of companies on the Inc. list.
Logistics – The fastest growing company in Wisconsin was Atomix Logistics, a logistics company. Are they scalable/exporting? There is certainly potential with automation and software.
In Wisconsin, the majority of reports of venture capital and angel investments come from software and biohealth (biotech, health tech) companies. That’s in contrast to the broader range of Wisconsin companies on the Inc 5000 lists. This variety of companies supports our thesis at Valency Fund to expand growth capital options available to grow sustainable, long lasting companies.
What’s Next?
As we find data on early and later growth stage private companies in Wisconsin, we’ll be sharing here. Let us know what’s missing! If there are other companies you want to hear about, reach out to me - or to Valency Fund - on LinkedIn and let us know.
More Detailed Information from Our Research
Here are some of the details about the companies I took a closer look at, separated out by general category. The financing numbers are generally from Pitchbook as well as company websites, news stories, etc.
Tech of Various Sorts
Fork Farms (Green Bay) developed a hydroponic vertical farming technology and sells their Flex Farm, Flex Acre, and the Flex Micro to organizations from schools to commercial producers of herbs and vegetables. Started in 2010, the company had raised a total of ~$2.75M in equity (2018 and 2021) prior to getting on the list. In October 2025, the company raised a new round that included Serra Ventures, which has an ag-specific fund.
URLgenius (Madison) from Pure Oxygen Labs is an app linking platform that was founded in 2011 and has raised $1M (2019) in equity financing.
Naviant (Verona/Madison) develops automation software solutions for a variety of industries including insurance and healthcare. The company was founded in 1986 and has recently acquired a few companies, including Amitech Solutions and CPT Intelligent Technologies.
MERIT (formerly EyeKor; Madison) is a contract research organization that provides clinical trial endpoint services, particularly for ophthalmology and respiratory indications. The company started in 2012 and brought in ~$3.7M in equity financing (2016-2023). MERIT has also acquired a couple of companies recently, including CompleWare (2021) and OSOD (2025).
Recovery.com (Madison) started in 2017 as Rehab Path and has grown in large part via equity financings, which have amounted to ~$15M from 2019-2024. The company has also used debt to grow including loans from Lighter Capital and the US SBA. Recovery.com recently acquired seven additional addiction content and marketing directories from American Addiction Centers (AAC). The publication Behavioral Health Business reported that “While executives would not confirm the exact terms of the deal, a source close to the deal described the transaction as “north of $10 million.”
Manufacturing
Mitotec Precision (Necedah) is a supplier of precision machined components and was founded in 1963. Based on their website, the company invested heavily over the last few years in equipment and facility upgrades, which is complementary to their revenue growth.
CPG
Carbliss (Plymouth) makes canned cocktails, specializing in no carb, no sugar beverages. The company was founded in 2019 and got $1M in angel investment in 2021. There are multiple manufacturing facilities that can produce the product, including in Wisconsin. Carbliss was on another Inc. list recently as the fastest-growing food and beverage company in the country.
Batch (Milwaukee) started out in 2018 a testing facility known as Wisconsin Hemp Scientific. The company has grown to become a manufacturer for national CBD brands as well as selling their own BATCH line of products. In a recent interview, co-founder Andy Gould reported that annual revenue had grown from $5M to $50M over the last two years.
Nuture& (Grantsburg) sells eco-friendly nursery furniture. Aside from being founded in 2020, there wasn’t a lot of information about the company other than vignettes on the website from the founders Emily Motayed Lancaster and Aaron Sakaria. Tracking down the Wisconsin connection, Sakaria is the founder and CEO of Fresh Industries, which sources home products and invests in related startups. In 2021, Fresh Industries bought a family owned furniture manufacturing company called Northern Manufacturing Co. in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. It isn’t clear how much, if any, of the Nurture& furniture is made in WI.
Pilot Project Brewing (Milwaukee) is a “beverage incubator, tasting room & restaurant located in Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI” that started up in 2019. On the incubator front, they offer “assistance with recipe R&D, production scaling, marketing, distribution and more.” While the business has used debt to grow, there is also equity investment of ~$11M over the years that includes PE firm InvestBev as well as Wisconsin-based Tundra Angels.
Alpha Dog Nutrition (Neenah) sells pet vitamins and supplements, got their start in 2016 and raised $0.1M in angel funding in 2020. The company focuses on natural products made in the US.
Bare Botanics (Middleton) is an all natural line of premium skincare products. Founded in 2019, the founder bootstrapped the old fashioned way, manufacturing in an apartment, financing with personal credit cards, and building the business while working a regular job.
Carnivore Meat Company (Green Bay) manufactures and sells pet food with a focus on natural products, including the Vital Essentials brand. The company was founded in 2012 and has grown significantly over the last few years. In addition to taking on significant debt, the company got development capital from the food-focused firm Arbor Investments. According to their website, Carnivore distributes to more than 7,000 retailers nationwide and in 14 international markets.
Logistics
Atomix Logistics (Milwaukee) was 9th overall and topped the Wisconsin list. The company was founded in 2020 and provides fulfillment services (micro warehouses) for online companies. Their Atomix App suggests they’re leveraging software and also looking to automation.