DALLAS — Aerwave landed at No. 1,535 on the 2026 Inc. 5000. First time on the list. The number behind it: 228% revenue growth over three years, about 3.3x where the company started.

The Inc. 5000 only measures one thing, revenue growth from 2022 to 2025, so there's no way to talk your way onto it. You either grew or you didn't.

Aerwave launched in 2019 and builds managed WiFi for apartment buildings and student housing. One network for the whole property instead of a router in every unit, plus analytics for whoever manages the building. It's not a flashy pitch, but it's found an audience. The company says it now works with a good chunk of the NMHC Top 50, the largest multifamily owners and operators in the country, and it's been reporting triple digit year over year revenue growth along with 100% customer retention.

Part of this comes down to timing. Internet quality has become one of the things renters actually notice, right alongside location and whether the gym is any good. Nobody complains about WiFi that works. They complain loudly about WiFi that doesn't. Aerwave has built its business on that gap, pitching connectivity to owners as something that affects NOI, not just something you have to pay for.

The product side has been moving too. Aerwave rolled out Wi-Fi 7 this year and got certified as an integration partner with RealPage, which should make it easier to plug resident onboarding and network data into the systems property teams already use.

There's been other recognition outside the Inc. 5000 news. Broadband Communities put Aerwave at No. 1 on its Connect 25 list. The company also won a 2025 Multifamily Partner of the Year award, and CEO Ed Wolff made Parks Associates' list of 40 Tech Leaders of Connected Living. Aerwave brought on a technology advisory board earlier this year too, and closed a capital program to put tens of millions of dollars toward network infrastructure at client properties.

Inc.'s editor in chief, Mike Hofman, has said this year's list is less about the growth numbers themselves and more about what it takes to actually sustain that kind of growth: the decisions, the staying power, staying close to customers instead of chasing whatever's trendy. For a first year honoree, that framing fits. This isn't one big contract skewing a small company's numbers. It's three years of growth that held up.

The list as a whole posted a median three year growth rate of 130%, and its 5,000 honorees added more than 627,000 U.S. jobs combined. Companies on the list get recognized at the Inc. 5000 Conference & Gala in Dallas, October 14 to 16, and the top 500 get written up in Inc. Magazine's Fall issue.

About Aerwave

Aerwave builds managed WiFi for multifamily and student housing communities. The platform delivers property wide, fiber based connectivity along with network analytics and tools for residents, aimed at helping owners treat internet access as something that adds value rather than just another expense. The company is based in Dallas, Texas.

About Inc.

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