When ABA Centers of America was founded five years ago with the aim of helping people with autism, it was only founder as an employee.
Increased diagnosis of neurodevelopmental conditions has driven demand for ABA services.
“The prevalence and incidence of autism that contributes to our rise is increasing,” says CEO Jason Barker.
The group offers one-on-one sessions with behavioral therapists to people with autism spectrum disorders, but today it has more than 1,000 staff members, with the highest growth rate in the region recently.
ABA generated a combined annual growth rate of 595.3% between 2020 and 2023, surpassing the Financial Times rankings of Americas' 300 fastest-growing companies.
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The healthcare and life sciences industry is one of the most successful areas on the list, accounting for nearly 10% of the fastest growing companies. The sector benefits from US companies that provide staff with insurance plans to support ABA and fertility services companies.
Meanwhile, the ABA was a personal effort by founder Christopher Barnett, who spent years fighting to get access to proper treatment after receiving his daughter's diagnosis.
Like Barnett, other American families face long waiting lists to assess their children. In a 2023 survey by Cognoa, a child development and behavioral health company, almost two-thirds of specialized care centers reported waiting times of 4 months or more between initial assessment requests and assessments. This can grow for years in some cases.
ABA success occurs when more than 3% of school-age children in the US are diagnosed with ASD. This is a paper from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study collected data in 2022 and found that the prevalence of ASD among 8-year-old children had risen over the past few years. The figures underscore the need for a “enhanced planning of plans to provide equitable diagnosis, treatment and support services to all children with ASD,” the paper said.
The ABA center says that the child usually sees the therapist within 47 days. Therapist works with children at home or in the clinic for up to 40 hours a week.
US law and state-level mandate has increased access to ABA therapy coverage through insurance plans. By 2019, all American countries had implemented requirements for corporate schemes that included the treatment of autism.
“All of a sudden you have a child, otherwise your parents couldn't afford it, so you'd have gone without caution.
The emphasis on corporate benefits has prompted a surge in demand for surrogacy and egg donation agencies, including the concept of patriots focused on military families and progeny.
Latest data from workplace consultant Mercer shows that nearly half of employees with over 20,000 employees and 500 employees provide insurance for in vitro fertilization. That's twice as much as reported five years ago.
Meanwhile, technology has evolved in part as many women chose to give birth at a later age, as demand for birth therapy in the US has skyrocketed. The World Health Organization said in 2023 that one in six people around the world will struggle with fertility.
Ranked 41st and founded by US military veteran Haotian Bai, Patriot Conceptions uses artificial intelligence to tailor agents and intended parents. “The unique stresses of military life — deployment, separation, environmental exposure — can hit fertility,” says Bai.
“Our proprietary matching algorithms exceed surface level standards,” he adds. “It analyzes hundreds of data points, including medical history, psychological profile, location preferences, communication styles, and personal values, to promote faster, more compatible and ultimately more successful matches.”
This reduces waiting times and “emotional tensions” for both parents and agents, and says that hundreds of babies were born into military and veteran families. “From the beginning, we integrated AI as an alternative to human touch, not the most important thing on this journey, but as a powerful enabler,” he says.
The combined annual growth rate for this group was 121.3% from 2020 to 2023.
Founded in 2008 and ranked 190th in 2025, Progyny manages a network of US experts to provide fertility, postnatal and menopause care to millions of women.
Its CEO Peter Anevsky says that women suffer from fertility, but “the unnecessary coverage gap is too long and lasting.”
Employers and Health Plans are now aware of the need for a more comprehensive approach, and as a result, Anevski says the company has grown widely. “We're just starting out with over 530 large employer clients and 6.7 million (with people covered) under our belt,” he says.
