Wilmington-based Untappd has topped this year's list of companies in the state ranked among the fastest-growing privately held companies in the country.

The Inc. 5000 list, released Wednesday, ranked Untappd at No. 150 out of the top 5,000 companies. That ranking is up from Untappd’s position of No. 259 on last year’s list.

The local technology firm, founded in 2010, reported 85 employees, $8 million in revenue in 2017 and a three-year growth of 2,809 percent, according to the list.

Untappd develops social- and data-driven consumer and business software products related to beer.

This is the second year Untappd has made it on the Inc. 5000 list. It’s the highest ranking the company has received, as well as being the top-ranked company for North Carolina, said Kurt Taylor, founder and CEO of Untappd.

“We’ve been able to grow. We have about 93 employees now, most of which are here in Wilmington,” Taylor said, adding that other employees are also in its satellite offices in Durham, Charlotte, New York City and Los Angeles.  

And the company continues to grow as it looks to release additional products software products for the alcohol industry sometime in the first quarter of 2019, he said.

“It’s definitely an exciting thing for Untappd … there are a lot of pretty amazing companies on the list,” Taylor said. “One of the things that’s really great about the list … is that it further highlights the ability to have a fast-growing business in Wilmington, especially in one of the sectors that Wilmington hasn’t been historically known for.”

Five other locally based companies also ranked on the Inc. 5000 list this year. Those companies are Off the Hook Yacht Sales (No. 1274), High-Speed Welding (No. 2690), N2 Publishing (No. 3490), MegaCorp Logistics (No. 4230) and Proficient Learning (No. 4829).

Along with Untappd, N2 Publishing, Off the Hook Yacht Sales and GigSalad also made it on last year’s list.

"It’s still great to be recognized by Inc. We have an incredibly high number of team members that take the success of N2 personally. I’ve never been more excited for or proud of a group of people than our current teammates," said Duane Hixon, CEO of N2 Publishing, in an email. 

This is the eighth year in a row that N2 Publishing has made the Inc. 5000 list.

N2 Publishing, a publisher of customized neighborhood magazines founded in 2004, had $136.9 million in revenue in 2017 and a 108 percent three-year growth.

The company has 980 neighborhood publications and 253 home office employees, with about 230 in the local Wilmington area, company officials said.

GigSalad, an online gig booking firm, made it on the list for the fourth year in a row, according to a news release from the company.

"I still marvel even after all these years at what just a small dedicated group of people are able to accomplish when focused on a goal. We've always wanted to grow, and grow we have from day one," said Mark Steiner, Co-Founder/CEO, about the last 11 years.

The company reported $10.6 million in its 2017 revenue and had a three-year growth of 315 percent. GigSalad has 30 employees, which work out of two locations, Wilmington and Springfield, Missouri.

New to the list this year is High Speed Welding, a custom aluminum fabrication and manufacturer that, among its products, produces boat T-tops and ladder racks for pickup trucks.

High Speed Welding reported $2 million in revenue and a 155-percent three-year growth, according to its ranking on the list. The company was founded in 2005.

High Speed Welding has been growing at a “steady rate” since it was founded, said Stuart Foreman, owner and CEO of High Speed Welding.

“After I graduated UNCW in 2010, I've been able to focus more on the business and we've had a combined annual growth of 1,235 percent since then. When looking at our sales on a graph, I call it, ‘sales you can surf,’” he said.

Once the company qualified for the list, Foreman said he’s decided to focus on internal operations.

For the first five months of this year, sales were up by 3 percent, but since June 2018, sales were up by 53 percent, compared to the same time frame last year, he added.

“We've been wanting to qualify for the list for about while, but we knew it would take time to work up to that point. It's great to have made it, but I think we can do better,” Foreman said. “Setting the bar higher for next year.”

This story has been updated to include GigSalad.