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Forward Financing on Inc. 5000 for 5th Year

August 18, 2021 | Company News

August 18, 2021 – Forward Financing, a leader in alternative small business financing, has been named No. 3527 on Inc. magazine’s annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.

Making the Inc. 5000 List

“This recognition on the Inc. 5000 list is a testament to our team’s incredible resilience and commitment to serving our small business customers,” says Justin Bakes, the company’s co-founder and CEO.

“In a year when small businesses needed our support more than ever, our team worked diligently to ensure our customers had the resources they needed to make it through the pandemic. Moving forward, we’re going to continue to invest in what we do best: providing a best-in-class customer experience and building advanced technology that transforms the small business financing industry,” says Bakes.

Forward Financing Inc. 5000

Team members in Forward Financing’s downtown Boston office located at 53 State Street.

Inc. magazine uses a three-year revenue growth rate to determine the rankings. Between 2017 and 2020, Forward Financing’s revenue grew by 96%, earning its spot as one of the top 100 fastest-growing companies in the Boston metro area. 

Growth at Forward Financing

To support this revenue growth, the company doubled its headcount over the same period. Prioritizing its outstanding work-life balance and excellent customer service, growing the company’s size was essential to meet the surging demand.

In addition to Inc.’s revenue growth recognition, Forward Financing has also been named a Boston Business Journal Best Places to Work, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year, and American Business Awards Best Customer Service Department of the Year. 

Inc. 5000 Winners

“The 2021 Inc. 5000 list feels like one of the most important rosters of companies ever compiled,” says Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc. “Building one of the fastest-growing companies in America in any year is a remarkable achievement. Building one in the crisis we’ve lived through is just plain amazing. This kind of accomplishment comes with hard work, smart pivots, great leadership, and the help of a whole lot of people.”

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

 

About Forward Financing

Forward Financing is a Boston-based financial technology company that provides fast, flexible working capital to small businesses nationwide. Their dedicated account representatives and advanced proprietary technology help customers spend less time finding capital and more time growing their businesses. With a simple online application, business owners can trust that Forward Financing works to get them approvals within minutes, funding within hours, and personalized support when they need it most.

Since 2012, Forward Financing has expanded Main Street’s access to capital by providing over $1 billion in funding to nearly 30,000 small businesses. The company is A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau and ‘Excellent / 4.9 stars’ on Trustpilot.com. Forward Financing was named a Best Place to Work by both the Boston Business Journal and Built In Boston, and has been named by both Inc. magazine and the Boston Business Journal as one of Massachusetts’ fastest-growing companies each year since 2017. Forward Financing is committed to helping more small business owners succeed and achieve their full potential. To learn more, visit www.forwardfinancing.com.

 

​​More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000

Methodology

Companies on the 2021 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2017 to 2020. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2017. They must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2020. (Since then, some on the list may have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2017 is $100,000; the minimum for 2020 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Growth rates used to determine company rankings were calculated to three decimal places. There was one tie on this year’s Inc. 5000.  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 http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

 

About Inc. Media

The world’s most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including web sites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Vision Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com.