Nine local biomedical companies were named to this year’s Inc. 5000 list, a tally of the fastest growing companies in the country in terms of jobs and revenue. Inc. measured revenue growth from 2009 to 2012.

The list represents companies across every industry, but the number of area biomed companies named to the list is encouraging to the growing biomed industry in Cleveland.

“It’s a very exciting time right now in Northeast Ohio for the biomedical industry," says Aram Nerpouni, president and CEO of BioEnterprise. “It’s a little bit of validation here that you can really grow and thrive in the region.”

Nerpouni says the list reflects a combination of young startups and more established companies. Cleveland-based Bravo Wellness, founded in 2008, ranked 888 overall on the Inc. 5000 list. The company, which provides health insurance consulting, ranked 68 on the top 100 health companies. Bravo added 94 jobs in the past three years.

Twinsburg-based CoverMyMeds ranked at the top of the Ohio healthcare companies at 96 on the Inc. 5000 list. The company added 32 employees in the past three years.

“You’re beginning to see a lot of young companies looking at the area,” says Nerpouni of the Health Tech Corridor, located between University Circle and the Campus District. “We should start seeing more and more activity.” Already, 500,000 square feet have opened up in the area in the last six months, with 80 percent occupancy.

In 2012, 43 Cleveland biomedical companies raised $227 million in equity funding.

Source: Aram Nerpouni
Writer: Karin Connelly