5 Fastest-Growing Companies in DC: 2016 Inc. 5000

WASHINGTON, DC — There's no question the District of Columbia is one of the hottest places to grow a business in the nation, so it's no surprise that Washington, D.C. was represented quite well on the new Inc. 5000 list, which rates the fastest growing companies in the nation. D.C. had 50 companies on the list, and considering the fact that the District has fewer than 700,000 residents -- 0.2 percent of the U.S. population -- that's pretty impressive.

“The 2016 Inc. 5000 are the superheroes of the U.S. economy. America’s fastest-growing private companies wield powers like strategy, service, and innovation,” writes the magazine. “On this list you’ll find businesses that exercise the body and the mind, push the boundaries of virtual reality and 3-D printing, and delight fans with rock concerts and (in the case of the No. 1 company, LootCrate)--superheroes. Thrill to these companies' amazing exploits--and learn a thing or two about the hard, real work.”

The top five D.C. companies on the list have annual revenue ranging from just $3 million to nearly $15 million.

Here are the top five D.C. companies ranked by Inc.

No. 78, SJ Technologies - Provides process- and technology-oriented services to federal agencies and commercial businesses. (2015 revenue: $14.5M)

No. 125, ACUMEN Capital - Offers a first-of-its-kind, open-ended, multi-platform fund offering investors through a secured real estate portfolio with no lock-ups. Acumen primarily provides acquisition, development, and construction loans to experienced real estate investors and developers for value-add and opportunistic projects in select submarkets within the Washington, DC area. (2015 revenue: $12.4M)

No. 249, ANALYTICA - Provides consulting services applied towards managing, analyzing, leveraging, and protecting information to national security, intelligence, financial services and health care clients. (2015 revenue: $9.6M)

No. 332, NGCI - Provides consulting, technology and value-added reseller services to federal, state and commercial clients. (2015 revenue: $8.1M)

No. 412, American Passport & Visa International - Offers expedited U.S. passport processing to individual and corporate travelers. (2015 revenue: $3M)

Methodology: Companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2012. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2015. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2012 is $100,000; the minimum for 2015 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.'s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at inc.com/inc5000.