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.

Alison Turner, the founder and CEO of Metrics Together, grew up in Albuquerque but left New Mexico to attend Boston University. Her studies in data science and statistics, would, however, bring her back home.

"Me and a professor from graduate school and a friend of his worked together on some data quality issues in Northern New Mexico," Turner told Albuquerque Business First. "[The work] started the ball rolling on getting Metrics Together off the ground."

Turner founded Metrics Together in Albuquerque in November 2021. The four-person startup works with organizations and state agencies to improve its use of data.

It was inspired, Turner said, by issues she saw in New Mexico.

"I saw a lot of the metrics that came out of Albuquerque paint a much more negative light than I lived growing up here," Turner said. "And I think one of the reasons for that was a lack of access, a lack of use and a lack of literacy around data."

Metrics Together's focus is on improving data quality, Turner said. To illustrate what data quality means, Turner used an example of census response rates.

"As you go outside urban areas, your census response rate drops a little bit," Turner said. "And the ease of access to information declines."

Rural data is the focus of a recent contract Metrics Together signed with the State of Colorado, which will run for two years, Turner said. The startup also landed another two-year contract with Las Vegas, Nevada, to focus on cultural data.

Aside from a $10,000 loan that Metrics Together received from WESST, a New Mexico entrepreneurship support organization for women, the rest of its money has either come from the team's own pockets or from other contracts.

"Looking at our financial forecast, I foresee us tripling our revenue in 2023," Turner said.