Startups to Watch

New Mexico has a diverse selection of startups making exciting moves in industries like biotechnology, aerospace and hydrogen energy.

And there are a lot of resources available to help these burgeoning young companies throughout the Land of Enchantment grow, whether they come from the south desert near Las Cruces or are tucked under the Jemez Mountains in Los Alamos.

Last year, New Mexico Inno highlighted 10 such companies in its inaugural Startups to Watch List. Now, that List is back, packed with 10 more startups that we think are primed for a big 2023.

Startups to Watch honorees were selected by the Albuquerque Business First editorial team. New Mexico Inno Reporter Jacob Maranda led the search. When considering each honoree, he looked at how the startups performed in 2022, as well as what they have planned in 2023.

All of the startups are featured in a special print edition of Business First published on Feb. 3. In the coming days online, you'll also have a chance to read about each business and learn about the work they are doing to grow their startups in New Mexico and beyond.

This New Mexico startup is ready to roll out a national marketing campaign for a product that pairs allergy relief with a popular type of candy.

AllerPops, a Los Alamos-based startup, makes lollipops for allergy relief. It currently sells the lollipops in packs of 12 on its website and through Amazon, as well as at retail stores in New Mexico and Illinois. The startup began selling in Illinois when stores caught wind of the lollipops product through retail news sites, said Cliff Han, the startup's founder.

More recently, AllerPops started working with five companies from different parts of the country to lead a national marketing effort, including a PR firm, a graphic design company and a firm that specializes in social media influencing.

The startup recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder that opened to the public in January and had raised more than $84,000 as of Jan. 24. Han said that money would go toward its national marketing push.

National marketing is the first major effort by the startup since its lollipops were proven effective through clinical trials late last year. Han said Health Canada approved the trials, which were carried out in Toronto.

AllerPops raised just over $250,000 through an earlier crowdfunding campaign, and the startup received a $25,000 science and technology grant from the New Mexico Economic Development Department in March 2022.

Han told Business First in November 2022 he wants to be profitable by the end of this year or early next year.

A former scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Han patented the formula used to make the lollipops in 2017.

"Things really started after the verification from the clinical trials," Han said. "I know there's an opening in the future. Even though I don't know exactly which path we are going to land, but that's definitely confirmation we will have a path forward."