Skip to content

Duluth company makes prestigious list of fastest growing businesses in US

Ad Advance was co-founded by CEO Joe Shelerud and COO Matt Wiklund in 2017.

For the second year in a row, Ad Advance, a digital ad agency in downtown Duluth, is listed as one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. The agency, which specializes in Amazon Advertising, is the only business in northeastern Minnesota or northern Wisconsin to make the 2023 Inc 5000 list.

Ad Advance is ranked #1,552 on this year’s lineup. In 2022, the company ranked in the top 10%, landing at #500 of 5,000.

According to Inc. Magazine, Companies on the 2023 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2019 to 2022. To qualify, companies must have generated a minimum revenue of $100,000 in 2019 and a minimum
revenue of $2 million in 2022. Over this time, Ad Advance saw a growth of 370-percent.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

Ad Advance has flown under the radar in Duluth for several years. The clients of Ad Advance are ecommerce brands located all over the globe that sell on and off Amazon. As an Amazon Advanced Partner, Ad Advance is a leading agency in the space, recently adding Google and Walmart advertising to their suite of services.

Ad Advance was co-founded by CEO Joe Shelerud and COO Matt Wiklund in 2017. Both locals to the area, they are committed to growing their team in the Twin Ports. The team has grown 37-percent since last August and they are continuing to hire.

Comments

Latest

Howie: This is what drift looks like
Downtown Duluth. Howie / HowieHanson.com

Howie: This is what drift looks like

We are attempting to run a full-service, high-touch, progressive city on a tax base that isn’t keeping up — and hasn’t been for a long time. We talk about growth like it’s just around the corner. We budget like it already arrived. And we tax like it never left.

Members Public
Dougherty Funeral Home Duluth Obit: John McAllister

Dougherty Funeral Home Duluth Obit: John McAllister

John Reynolds McAllister passed away on December 22, 2025. John was born September 10, 1928 to Walter Leo McAllister and Mabel Louise (Nelson) McAllister in Duluth, MN. He is best remembered for his faith in God, co-founding St. John’s Free Lutheran Church in 1984. Prior to that, his career

Members Public