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Every year, Utah Business recognizes the 50 fastest growing companies in the state. Ranked according to their total five-year revenue and compound annual growth rate, here are Utah’s fastest growing companies in 2020.

Salt Lake City, UT– Inc. magazine today revealed that Acima, a provider of lease-to-own no credit needed services, is now listed on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment—independent small businesses. Intuit, Under Armour, Microsoft, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000.

Meet the 100 companies in Utah that received the highest ratings from their employees in 2019.

Acima Credit, LLC today announced it ranked 64th on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500TM, a ranking of the 500 fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, and energy tech companies in North America now in its 25th year. Acima grew 2005% percent during this period. “This year marks the 25th anniversary of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500, so we are especially pleased to announce and congratulate the 2019 winners,” said Sandra Shirai, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP, and US technology, media, and telecommunications leader. “Once again, we saw innovation across the board, with software companies continuing their dominance of the top ten. It’s always…

Acima partners with TransUnion to identify transactions that are suspicious Did you know that synthetic identity theft is one of the fastest-growing forms of fraud and one of the hardest to combat? Read more as Acima’s very own Rob Christiansen talks AI, fraudulent applications, and how Acima is handling this rise in online fraud.

The Utah 100 Award Event The Utah 100 Award event is the first and best of its kind. We recognize Utah’s 15 largest revenue companies, 100 fastest-growing, and a select list of newer, Emerging Elite Companies. This is MountainWest Capital Network’s flagship event, with over 1,000 business leaders in attendance. New for 2019: The Top 15 Annual Revenue Companies are ranked according to the highest total dollar growth from last year. The Utah 100 Companies are ranked according to a weighted average calculation of percentage and dollar growth. Companies are only eligible to be included in 1 award category. First consideration…

Mike Henderson, Chief People Officer at Acima, named honoree for CXO of the year award by Utah Business Magazine. Acima is thrilled to have yet another executive as an honoree for the CXO of the Year award. Each year, Utah Business Magazine recognizes excellent leaders in executive leadership. This year, Mike Henderson, Acima’s Chief People Officer, was selected as an honoree for CXO of the year.  Mike leads Acima’s People operations including staffing, recruiting, benefits, employee appreciation and engagement, and so much more. Mike has been with Acima for five years and works with each department individually to create an…

Acima Credit ranks first on the 2019 Utah Business Magazine Fast 50 list of fastest-growing companies in the state. Each year, Utah Business presents awards to the Fast 50, or 50 fastest growing companies in Utah. Companies from all around the state are nominated. Acima has been on the list of emerging companies to watch in previous years, but took the state by surprise in 2019, when it was awarded the number one spot.  Each company is ranked on the same criteria: total five-year revenue and compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Acima’s leadership is thrilled about the positive impact of…

Strategic Partnership Empowers Home Furnishings Retailers Through Expanded Financing Options Home furnishing stores in communities across the U.S. now have expanded options for no-credit-needed financing through an integration of Acima technology with the STORIS Unified Commerce Solution. Salt Lake City, Utah. | September 10, 2018 | By Dan Felsing of Acima STORIS provides retailers in the home furnishings industry with the technology solutions they need to stay on the leading edge of point of sale, inventory control, and financial accounting, among many other operational functions. Now, through a partnership with Acima Credit, STORIS retailers will have additional options to provide…

Every year, Utah Business Magazine awards members of the C-suite for outstanding achievement. Recognized by their peers at the CXO of the Year event, these men and women exemplify what it means to be a leader—not just for their companies, but for their communities at large. Derek Adams Chief Technology Officer, BrainStorm, Inc. The greatest technology in the world is worthless without a market to support it, says Derek Adams, and it’s his job to help bridge the gap between those who make tech and those sell it. “Understanding that the external teams [such as sales and marketing] are just…

Utah provides fertile soil for financial innovation. As technology infiltrates finance, a new breed of institution, known as fintech, grows out of the union. But innovation in lending is more than a technological phenomenon. It also results from capitalism’s signature dynamic: that of supply and demand. As it turns out, conventional finance leaves a lot of demand unfulfilled. So a ready market awaits the availability of alternative lending models. People borrow money for a variety of reasons. Starting a business. Buying a new car. Replacing a refrigerator. Common to all borrowing arrangements: the borrower seeks liquidity. Maybe they can easily…

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Lease-to-own financing provider Acima has joined cloud-based consumer finance platform LendPro’s lineup of lender partners. Frequent requests to integrate Acima’s program into LendPro’s Consumer Financing System came from retailers from various industries, including furniture and mattress, appliances, and tires and wheels. The two companies have formed this partnership for retailers across the country looking to provide a clear and simple option for non-prime customers as a part of a fast, multi-lender application process. “Acima is an innovator garnering lots of positive attention across a variety retail industries,” said LendPro CEO Fred Knops. “By partnering with them, we…

Charlottesville, Virginia – October 11, 2017 – LendPro and Acima are proud to announce a new partnership to provide Acima’s widely popular lease purchase program as a part of the LendPro Consumer Financing System. The frequent request to integrate Acima’s program into LendPro’s lineup of partners came from retailers from various industries, including Furniture and Mattress, Appliances, and Tires/Wheels. The two companies have formed this partnership for retailers across the country looking to provide a clear and simple option for nonprime customers as a part of a fast, multi-lender application process.

Over the past twenty years, Aaron Allred has been a serial entrepreneur in the consumer services and consumer finance space. Aaron’s previous successes include multiple start-ups and eventual exits in spaces ranging from mortgage lending to pest control. During the summer of 2013, Aaron founded his most recent start-up, Acima Credit, LLC. Aaron presently serves as Acima’s Chief Executive Officer and the President of its board of directors. Aaron’s responsibilities include setting Acima’s strategic and technological direction, building and leading its executive team, and prioritizing its capital allocations. Aaron earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of…

2017 Emerging Elite – These companies have less than five but more than two years of operation and show significant promise for future growth and success. They are not ranked and are listed in alphabetical order.

Each year, Utah Business honors the Fast 50 – the fifty fastest growing companies in the state of Utah. In order to be ranked among the Fast 50, companies must be in business for more than five years and submit their revenue data to be analyzed for year-over-year growth. Some companies haven’t been in business for those required five years, but are already showing astounding growth. That’s where the Emerging Eight are honored – companies that are young in age, but already aggressive in their growth. Meet and help us congratulate the 2017 Emerging Eight honorees:

I’ve always been an avid hunter. During my years in Indiana’s auto mechanic industry, I’ve taken many trips out West to hunt deer, elk, and other big game. I can’t help but compare my love of hunting and cars. One trait that both of them share, I’ve noticed, is that things are always changing. Whether it’s the change of seasons, changes in the weather, changes in the car industry, or in the movement of the animals and/or of the cars, I suppose change comes with the territory. One big change I’ve noticed after 40 years in the auto shop is…

Over the past decade, as banks have effectively outsourced debt collection to third parties, this corner of the financial world has slid into an abyss of harassing phone calls, shoddy recordkeeping and wrongful collections. This is reflected in the latest data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s complaint database. Since the database was opened to the public in June 2012, Americans have aired more grievances about collections than about any other aspect of their financial lives. As of June, the CFPB had received 316,810 complaints about debt collection. The most common objection? “Continued attempts to collect debt not owed,” cited…

By basing credit decisions on artificial intelligence, Klarna made financing big-ticket purchases a cinch for shoppers. Now that the firm has received a banking license from Swedish regulators, it’s time to seriously consider the broader industry implications of this kind of lending. Klarna and companies like Affirm, Bread and Acima give online shoppers an instant loan to pay for a big-ticket item like a television or mattress. The customer types in very little information — in some cases, nothing more than a name and email address. No effort is required. Behind the scenes, Klarna’s underwriting software takes in data from…

Congratulations to Nate Heward, Chief Financial Officer at Acima Credit, LLC – he has been selected as one of the 2017 CXO of the Year honorees! Each year, Utah Business magazine selects C-level executives who are at the top of their respective fields and honors them in both its June issue and at an awards luncheon held in their honor. Nate Heward first became involved with Acima Credit as its outside accountant. In that role, he successfully helped the company pass its first audit. Then he helped Acima develop a forecasting model and prospective financials in order to attract private…

In defining the term “fintech,” and its evolution, Investopedia tells us that financial technology has evolved from use mostly in bank back offices into “… a broad variety of technological interventions into personal and commercial finance.” Working with business customers, particularly those in retail businesses, the B2B service provider will add tremendous value to the relationship by helping their business customers sell more to consumers. For credit-worthy consumers and the businesses that sell to them, it’s a simple solution to pull out a credit or debit card and buy a given item. For the cash-strapped and credit-challenged consumer, the process…

Salt Lake City, UT – March 1, 2017 – Acima Credit, a fintech company that specializes in point of sale finance solutions, announced today that CEO Aaron Allred will be speaking at the LendIt USA conference March 7 at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center in New York.LendIt is the largest conference series connecting the global online lending community. Allred will be speaking on the Point of Sale Market: A Trillion Dollar Opportunity panel, and will share his experience leading Acima to be one of the fastest-growing point of sale finance providers in the nation.

SALT LAKE CITY – Aaron Allred, CEO of point-of-sale finance specialist Acima Credit, will be speaking at the LendIt USA conference on March 7 at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center in New York. LendIt is a conference series connecting the global online lending community. Allred will participate in a panel discussion “The Point of Sale Market: A Trillion Dollar Opportunity.” Allred founded Acima Credit (formerly Simple Finance) during the summer of 2013. He presently serves as CEO and chairman of the board. Allred’s responsibilities include setting Acima’s strategic and cultural direction, building and leading its executive team, and prioritizing its…

Utah Business is thrilled to announce the 2016 Fast 50 honorees, starting with the Emerging 8. These companies haven’t been in business the required five years, but are already making an impact. This year we are proud to honor Foxtail Marketing, inWhatLanguage, JCO Financial, Legend Solar, Simple Finance, Wallaroo Media, York Howell & Guymon, and Zurixx. Congratulations to these fantastic organizations. We’re excited to see what becomes of them in the future.

Here’s the dirty little secret about creating a startup: no one really knows how things will turn out. Sure, it’s easy for CEOs of successful businesses to sit and tell you they never doubted company trajectory, it was only a matter of when (not if) they ascended to loftier heights. But the truth is, startups breed uncertainty — no matter how good the idea, or team, or execution, there is always a question of whether or not a company will flourish. Three-and-a-half years ago, Aaron Allred co-founded Simple Finance alongside Shaun Stevenett. It was his first venture in the financial technology (Fintech)…

Salt Lake City—Simple Finance is changing its name to Acima Credit. Acima will continue to provide lease-purchase financing and world-class service and support to retail merchants and their customers who come from a variety of credit positions. This name change is driven by a trademark issue between the Utah company, and Simple Bank (located in Oregon). “Simple Bank was awarded the trademark for ‘Simple’ in July 2016,” said Aaron Allred, founder and CEO of Acima Credit. “When our company was founded we didn’t realize we would grow as quickly as we have grown. So we didn’t trademark the name. As…