The 2024 Inc. 5000 List of US fastest-growing companies is out, and Slator identified 14 language services providers (LSPs) ranked in this latest issue.
This is a remarkable fact, considering the industry faced a slowdown in 2023. According to data collected and analyzed by Slator for the 2024 Language Industry Market Report, the global language services and technology industry contracted by 3.07% in 2023 to an addressable market size of USD 27.03bn.
The 2024 Inc. 5000 rankings are based on the percentage revenue growth of private US companies from 2020 to 2023. To be eligible, companies must have been founded and generating revenue as of March 31, 2020, with a minimum of USD 100,000 that year, and a minimum of USD 2m in 2023.
Nine of the LSPs listed in 2024 ranked previously, with Piedmont Global Language Solutions (PGLS) (#245) topping the list. In fact, four out of the 2024 top-five ranked LSPs are repeats from the previous edition.
Virginia-based PGLS, founded by Somali-American entrepreneur Mohamed Hussein, is reported to have grown 1667% over three years. PGLS is also among the Inc. 500 fastest-growing companies overall in 2024 and the only LSP to do so.
Slator 2024 Language Service Provider Index (Data as a Spreadsheet Download)
Spreadsheet with underlying data for the Slator 2024 LSPI: ca. 250 LSPs, 2023 revenues (USD), growth, ownership, headquarters, and more.
Regularly ranked Propio Language Services (#603) took second place with 751% growth over three years. The ranking is a significant climb for the translation and interpreting services provider, compared to its position last year (#1034 in 2023 with 574% growth).
Coming in third place this year is Boostlingo (#839). The interpreting-focused company made the list for the third time, and it is once again in the top five with 592% growth.
For the second consecutive year, Florida-based Bilingual Global (#1427) made the list, taking the fourth spot among the top five ranked LSPs. The startup described itself this year as a “Nearshore outsourcing company specializing in multilingual customer support services.”
Ranking for the first time and in fifth place among LSPs is veteran LSP acutrans (#2357). The translation and interpreting company has been in business since 1976 and has grown 220% over the past three years.
More New Kids on the LSP Inc. 5000 Block
Founded in 1998, Translation Station (#2676) is a generalist LSP based in Georgia. The company ranked on the 2024 Inc. 5000 for the first time, experiencing 190% growth.
Lilt (#2996), classified as an AI company and ranking on the list for the first time with 167% growth, is approaching a decade in business. In its description for the list, the language technology firm offers “multimodal content translation and generation, applying AI to traditional translation services.”
The two companies that complete the five newly ranked LSPs reported growth of 146% and 102% respectively: Argo Translation (#3328), a translation and interpreting provider founded in 1995, and Ad Astra (#4267), which describes its business as communication solutions and language service, and has been in business since 2010.
The four additional LSPs identified in the 2024 list are repeat honorees: Fed Writers (#2682), Alconost. (#3739), The Spanish Group (#3961), CQ Fluency (#4022), and Eriksen Translations (#4497).
Contact us if you think we missed a company that should be listed. For more financial insights from Slator, check out the Language Industry Investor Map and the latest installment of the Slator Language Industry Buyer Tracker.