Fort Worth valet trash startup Optimized Waste Removal makes the Inc. 5000 at No. 186

Four years ago, Optimized Waste Removal was a young Fort Worth startup with eight employees, picking up trash at apartment doors around North Texas. Today the company has more than 120 employees, works across Texas, and has been named one of the fastest-growing companies in the country.

In August, Optimized Waste Removal came in at No. 186 on the 2026 Inc. 5000, a ranking of America's fastest-growing independent and entrepreneurial companies. Founder and CEO Micah Stateson, a former Lockheed Martin employee who graduated from Texas A&M University in 2017, also saw the company ranked No. 7 in the 2026 Aggie 100, which celebrates entrepreneurs from the university.

Stateson started the company in June 2020. It offers valet trash and junk removal for apartments and other multifamily properties. When the Fort Worth Report first profiled the business in September 2022, in the very first installment of its Made in Tarrant series, Stateson said he hoped to reach about 30,000 units in DFW and then possibly move into other Texas markets. The company has since grown beyond North Texas to serve the whole state, and it will soon expand to Arizona.

Valet trash is still at the center of the business. "The vast majority of our revenue is still the valet trash," Stateson told the Report. He said the company added junk removal and other waste services because customers asked for them, and it still serves the same kind of clients. He also said the brand recognition the company has built has really helped.

This story is based on original reporting by business editor Bob Francis of the Fort Worth Report, including his 2022 and 2026 Made in Tarrant profiles of the company.