CHAMP’s Inc. 500 Leap: Digitizing America's Antiquated DMV System

CLEVELAND, OH – August 11, 2026

When a company jumps 1,852 positions on the Inc. 5000 list to land at No. 412, it’s more than a story of impressive revenue growth; it’s a signal of profound market disruption. For Cleveland-based CHAMP, this second consecutive appearance on the prestigious list—and its first in the elite Inc. 500—validates a mission that many thought was Sisyphean: modernizing the American motor vehicle agency (MVA).

The achievement recognizes the firm as one of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, a testament to its strategic execution and the surging demand for its services. “We are honored to once again be included among this remarkable group of companies,” said CHAMP CEO Shane Bigelow, also noting his pride in “Ohio’s strong representation” on the list. This isn't just a local success story, however. It's a case study in how a systems-based approach can untangle one of the most notoriously complex and paper-laden corners of public administration.

As Mike Hofman, editor-in-chief of Inc., stated, the growth of honorees “reflects creativity, resilience, and the customer focus required to build companies that make a lasting impact.” CHAMP’s impact is measured not just in financial returns, but in mountains of eliminated paperwork and radically compressed timelines for millions of Americans.

Dismantling the Paper Empire

For decades, the MVA has been a symbol of bureaucratic inefficiency. Built on aging mainframe systems and paper-based workflows, these agencies have struggled to keep pace with a digital world. The process of titling a vehicle, securing a lien, or completing a registration often involves a dizzying sequence of manual data entry, physical document transfers, and long, unpredictable wait times. For the average citizen, this means frustrating lines and delays. For businesses like auto dealers, lenders, and fleet operators, these delays represent significant carrying costs and operational friction.

Research underscores the public's growing intolerance for this status quo. A recent survey from the Center for Digital Government found that nearly 70% of citizens prefer online access to government services, an expectation forged in the seamless world of e-commerce and digital banking. Yet, many MVAs remain anchored in the past, with title processing times stretching out for 30 to 45 days. These legacy systems are not only inefficient but are also rife with vulnerabilities, creating opportunities for fraud and document forgery.

This is the operational quagmire CHAMP was built to solve. The company identified the MVA’s procedural gridlock not as an intractable problem, but as a systems engineering challenge. By viewing the entire ecosystem of stakeholders—from state agencies and vehicle retailers to insurance carriers and consumers—as an interconnected network, the firm architected a solution that addresses the root cause of the inefficiency: the reliance on physical paper as the ultimate source of truth.

The Systems-Based Overhaul: Inside the CHAMPgov Platform

At the heart of CHAMP’s explosive growth is its CHAMPgov platform, a purpose-built Software as a Service (SaaS) solution designed specifically for government agencies. Unlike past attempts at modernization that often involved costly, custom-built IT projects, CHAMPgov offers a modular, cloud-native architecture. This allows states to either integrate specific tools into their existing infrastructure or adopt a complete, end-to-end system of record for driver, vehicle, and motor carrier services.

This platform is the engine for a paperless future. It leverages the company’s patented technologies to digitize title, registration, and lien workflows from start to finish. A key innovation is the creation of a National Digital Titling Clearinghouse (NDTC), a unified digital standard that facilitates secure and instantaneous interstate vehicle transfers. This clearinghouse solves a massive headache for the entire automotive industry, which has long struggled with the friction of moving vehicles and their associated legal documents across state lines. The NDTC represents a strategic partnership model that creates network effects, as buy-in from dealers, insurers, and lenders in one state enhances the value of the platform for all others.

Founded in 2018 by Bigelow, who testified before Congress on the potential of blockchain for vehicle titling, the company has translated high-tech concepts into practical, scalable infrastructure. This systems-based approach ensures that a digital title is not merely a PDF but a secure, verifiable asset that can move at the speed of commerce, fundamentally re-architecting how vehicle ownership is managed and transferred in the United States.

From Theory to Reality: The Tangible Impact of Digital Transformation

The most compelling evidence of CHAMP’s success lies in its real-world results. In West Virginia, the implementation of CHAMPgov has led to staggering efficiency gains. The state has eliminated 10 million sheets of paper annually, and title processing times that once took up to 45 days are now consistently completed in under 24 hours. The ripple effects are enormous: one report noted a reduction of 2.5 million days that vehicles sat idle in salvage yards awaiting titles, unlocking significant economic value.

Louisiana is another key success story. The state is leveraging CHAMPgov to replace its legacy systems for both Vehicle and Driver Services, rolling out a fully digital, cloud-native DMV experience for its millions of residents. With Louisiana’s adoption, CHAMP’s modern government infrastructure now serves over 35 million Americans.

Furthermore, the company's model can be remarkably capital-efficient for governments. In Illinois, CHAMP launched its electronic lien and title (ELT) gateway service, which reduces costs and fraud risk for the state. Critically, the program came at no upfront or ongoing cost to taxpayers; instead, the company is paid a transaction fee by lenders upon the successful filing of a lien. This innovative financial model removes a major barrier to adoption for cash-strapped public agencies. Across its deployments, the platform has been shown to increase clerk productivity by as much as five times, freeing up public employees to focus on more complex customer service issues.

Fueling the Revolution: Strategy, Funding, and the Road Ahead

CHAMP’s leap into the Inc. 500 was propelled by a clear strategy and the capital to execute it. The company recently closed a $55 million funding round, bringing its total fundraising to over $100 million. This infusion of capital is being deployed to accelerate expansion as more states recognize the urgent need to modernize their MVA operations.

Bigelow has noted that while the pace of commerce has accelerated dramatically, “the pace of titling has not.” This bottleneck is what CHAMP is laser-focused on eliminating. The company’s vision extends beyond simply digitizing existing processes; it aims to create a truly frictionless and secure mobility ecosystem. As the National Digital Titling Clearinghouse expands, it will enable deeper integrations across the entire automotive value chain, from manufacturing and sales to insurance and finance.

CHAMP’s rise is a powerful indicator of a larger trend in the GovTech sector: the pivot away from monolithic, bespoke systems toward agile, scalable SaaS platforms that deliver continuous improvement. The company’s success demonstrates that the principles of modern technology and systems thinking can be applied to solve some of the most persistent challenges in public administration, delivering a future that is more efficient, secure, and responsive to the needs of citizens and businesses alike.