It's been a rough year for startups.
In 2022, Georgia companies raised about half of what they did the previous year, which was a record level for funding. Investors have switched a focus on growth for profitability. That shift in market dynamics has led to a series of layoffs from tech companies across the nation so they could cut costs.
The recent collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank could exacerbate those financial struggles. As many as 40% of local companies have had a relationship with SVB, said John Yates, an attorney with Morris, Manning and Martin.
The best, most innovative businesses are always the ones that persevere. Atlanta Inno and the Atlanta Business Chronicle are highlighting the local startups that are best suited to weather this storm. This year's Startups to Watch winners came through nominations from multiple stakeholders in Atlanta's startup community. That includes prominent tech startup CEOs and investors, as well as legacy players in the industry.
These companies, which are primarily early-stage, have shown the most promise to become stars of ATL’s startup ecosystem. They have proven this through venture capital raises, exciting innovation, completing well-known incubators/accelerators and more.
4Earth Inc.
Founder: Jahanzeb "Jahn" Khan
Jahanzeb Khan is an ex-MMA fighter, ex-PhD candidate at Georgia Tech and engineer. Now he’s building next-generation water treatment technology to solve problems in the circular water economy. His startup, 4Earth, has had pilot/bench projects at industrial plants, a fortune 500 company and large municipalities.
Any Distance
CEO: Luke Beard
Funding: $1.5 million+
Beard pushed through the pandemic by walking and sharing his experiences on Instagram. Now, he and the team at Any Distance are motivating people to be physically active. While users exercise, the app tracks their physical activity and allows them to share their statistics with visual templates on social media. In September, the startup raised $1.5 million, led by Bungalow Capital. The investment included angel investors, including executives from Uber Technologies Inc., Google LLC, LinkedIn Corp. and Apple Inc. The company looks to increase its users by 60% before the next raise.
Carpool Logistics
CEO: Michael Malakhov
Number of employees: 26
Funding: $2 million
This startup launched with the belief that automotive logistics is too fragmented, with small businesses shipping only a few cars to dealerships, while the industry lacks innovation to optimize transactions. Carpool Logistics cuts costs and emissions of transporting vehicles by bundling them and connecting vehicle shippers with auto haulers that have available space on trucks. In July, the company received a $2 million raise from Atlanta Ventures.
Chezie
Founders: Dumebi and Toby Egbuna
Number of employees: 5
Funding: $750,000
First-generation Nigerian immigrants Toby and Dumebi Egbuna started Chezie in June of 2020 knowing the importance of feeling like someone should belong where they work. Chezie makes it easier to launch, manage and grow an employee resource group. It also helps companies build inclusive workplaces with solutions to connect ERGs with business outcomes. The startup’s clients include the NBA, Chegg, and Warner Music Group.
ConConnect
CEO: Andre Peart
Andre Peart launched ConConnect after serving five years in New York State prison and struggling to obtain employment and services. The startup connects formerly incarcerated people to employers, service providers, and up-skilling programs in real time through professional networking technology.
Dr. Noze Best
CEO: Christy Brown
Number of employees: 10
Christy Brown is a well-known Atlanta entrepreneur. She has had four previous company exits and was president of the Launchpad 2X program. Brown joined Dr. Steven Goudy, pediatric ENT and distinguished pediatric surgeon for Emory University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Scottish Rite Hospitals, to grow her new startup Dr. Noze Best. The company provides products empowering parents to provide in-home respiratory care for infants. This year, it looks to launch two new “NozeBot” products, a humidifier, consumables and enter a new retail store and international distribution.
EnviroSpark Energy Solutions Inc.
CEO: Aaron Luque
Funding: $15 million
This startup has been tapped to help build out the U.S. EV charging network. It was awarded a federal government contract to design and install charging stations at federal agency locations throughout the Southeast. It partnered with the city of Dunwoody to install and operate 24 EV chargers in four public parks and government buildings. EnviroSpark has designed and installed at least 5,800 chargers across North America. In December, it raised $10 million from investors including Frank Blake, The Home Depot Inc.’s former chairman and CEO; Chick-fil-A Inc.’s president and chief operating officer Tim Tassopoulos; and Paul Bowers, Georgia Power’s former chairman, president and CEO.
Happy Talks
CEO: Christian Ross
Number of employees: 3
Funding: Bootstrapped
Callers for this startup, launched in January 2021 by Christian Ross, will have phone conversations with senior and socially isolated members of families so they can have a comforting human interaction. Members of Happy Talks’ platform are primarily the children and grandchildren of those who need care. The startup provides four half-hour long conversations to patients per month and sends boxes filled with items based on their interests and conversations. The company addresses the AgeTech, sometimes called SilverTech, sector aimed at providing an aging population with technology.
ImIn Inc.
CEO: Lauren Wilson
Number of employees: 6
Funding: $1 million
After working in call centers for several years, Lauren Wilson saw 10-20% of the workforce calling off work. She learned personal stories of how staff members needed to take time off, but how those callouts impacted a company's revenue. ImIn is a staffing software platform for call center employees to meet their weekly minimums with flexibility. Workers have access to their schedules, while businesses can fill in scheduling gaps through notifications to employees. The startup raised a $1 million seed round from Atlanta-based Collab Capital.
Joulea
CEO: Ramtin Motahar
Number of employees: 16
Funding: Self-funded
Buildings and construction account for more than a third of global carbon emissions. Ramtin Motahar wants to address that pollution with Joulea. Its software system helps commercial buildings cut energy costs and reduce its carbon footprint with rocket science principles and drone technology. Its software creates an energy model of the building based on construction, operations and location, and then uses that model for an analysis of renovation costs and financial payback.
Kabila
CEO: James Oliver
Number of employees: 2
Funding: $145,000
The new project from serial entrepreneur and nonprofit founder James Oliver Jr. is similar to Tinder. Only instead of matching for dates, entrepreneurs match to create founding startup teams. Kabila also provides micro grants of up to $1,000 based on need — funds to pay for mental therapy and entrepreneurial workshops. In August, it entered into the three-month long Techstars Austin accelerator program. Oliver believes his startup has a $4 billion market potential, based on the more than 1 million startups launched each year multiplied by how much Kabila intends to charge.
Momnt
CEO: Barclay Keith
Funding: $9 million+
Originally launched as Artis Technologies in 2020, Momnt integrates into merchant websites in the health care industry to let customers use loans to pay for large purchases, such as medical or dental work. In September, the company raised $9.5 million to grow its footprint internationally and enhance its products. It has partnered with Atlanta financial company Paya Inc. and Drummond Community Bank. The company completed the Atlanta Tech Village incubator and later Georgia Tech’s ATDC incubator.
Nexus Circular
Founder: Jeff Gold (current CEO is Jodie Morgan)
Funding: $150 million+
Cox Enterprises Inc. bought a majority stake, with a $150 million equity raise, into Nexus Circular, which turns landfill-bound plastics back into oil. The company takes plastic waste from industrial and commercial suppliers, and converts it into oil with thermo-chemical recycling. This allows for plastics not usually meant to be recycled, such as Styrofoam and film, to be given another life. Following the Cox investment, the company hopes to build facilities that can process over 250 million pounds of used plastic each year.
OXOS Medical
CEO: Evan Ruff
Funding: $22 million+
Dr. Gregory Kolovich and Evan Ruff are looking to solve how expensive, time consuming and wasteful the process is behind getting an X-ray. Patients sometimes travel hundreds of miles for the scans, and it can cost thousands of dollars for an ambulance ride. Then it can be hours of waiting in the emergency room. Still, the doctor often won’t even have access to the X-ray images But often the doctor would not even have access to their X-ray images. OXOS Medical created a hand-held and cloud-connected X-ray machine called Micro C that provides radiographic diagnostic imaging. The company has raised at least $22 million, with investments from over 80 medical professionals.
PCKL
CEO: Michael Gottfried
Number of employees: 8
Funding: $2 million
After 18 months in product and brand development, Mike Gottfried launched this sporting equipment startup with a lineup of pickleball gear in August 2022, riding the monumental wave of interest in the sport. PCKL sells paddles and balls, with plans to launch additional products and accessories this year. Within six months of launching, the company had its gear featured by Forbes, Men's Health and Newsweek. The company has raised an initial $2 million in funding from BLH Ventures.
SmartGov Data Tech
CEO: Tye Hayes
Tye Hayes was a professional at Lockheed Martin and the chief technology officer for the City of Atlanta before launching SmartGov Data Tech. The company helps governments and education agencies connect, detect and archive data. It can help implement facial recognition technology, along with artificial intelligence for transportation and tracking. It will launch through the Black Progress Matters tech incubator, which focuses on Black-owned businesses. Her first company, N-Ovate Business Solutions, has seven government entity customers and four business clients, including Microsoft Corp.
SuperCopy
Founders: Richard Lee and Timothy Min
Number of employees: 3
This startup is an AI-content generation platform for teams that helps brands communicate with their audiences. It automates tasks such as content proofreading, email campaigns, marketing brainstorming, blog content, campaign tracking and website copywriting projects. The company’s co-founder and CEO Richard Lee also founded Atlanta-based Rangr Inc.
SustainAble Home Goods
CEO: LaToya Tucciarone
Number of employees: 3
Funding: $300,000
This startup is an ethical design company that connects consumers to smaller brands that practice fair trade, ethical sourcing and sustainable manufacturing. Founded in 2017, designer LaToya Tucciarone opened its first location at Ponce City Market in 2019. SHG was in the first class of the Yotpo Grow incubator. She was also in Google for Startups, Google Black Founders Fund and EOA.
Transition
Founder: Kayla Wright-Jackson
Kayla Wright-Jackson’s grandfather lived alone, had three hip surgeries and contracted an infection. She said he passed away from a lack of nursing staff to care for him. That led her to launch Transition. The platform addresses the shortage of skilled professionals by bridging the gap between vocational training and employment opportunities. It has received funding from Techstars, Jumpstart Foundry, and other angel Investors. It has also won awards from Google and the Center on Rural Innovation.
Uplevel Communications
CEO: Courtney Culmer
Courtney Culmer spent over 20 years in the marketing and communications industry, working for companies like ESPN, United Technologies Corp. (now Raytheon Technologies) and NCR Corp. She started Uplevel in 2020 to help corporate communications and marketing departments that were facing headcount and budget constraints as demand on those teams increased. At the same time, a growing pool of talent is seeking opportunities beyond their networks. Uplevel connects companies with vetted marketing and communications talent to fill short- and long-term gaps on their teams. In 2022, it was a recipient of the Google Black Founders Fund.
VacMobile Corp.
CEO: Jennifer Sparks
Number of employees: 10
Funding: $1.7 million
This startup’s software helps make sure that employers and individuals adhere to regulations by allowing users to upload their immunization history on a mobile device and send where it’s required. Jennifer Sparks realized the company's market potential when she moved from Albuquerque to Atlanta and discovered her kid’s vaccination records weren't valid proof in Georgia. The company has raised $1.7 million and is in the process of raising another $1.5 million in seed funding. It joined the Advanced Technology Development Center’s Accelerate portfolio in August 2022.
Wattch Inc.
Founders:
Wattch is a software development company that offers energy data analytics platforms for the renewable energy industry. It allows users to track the performance of their energy assets, validate performances and diagnose the causes of failures from anywhere.
Zinnia
CEO: Lauren Marturano
Number of employees: 3
Funding: $250,000
The latest company being built out of David Cummings’ Atlanta Ventures studio, Zinnia is helping companies that opt for hybrid or remote models to plan offsite events. It automates the process to plan meetings, such as training sessions or multiple-day summits, by connecting businesses to locations and venues that align with their goals and budget. Before Zinnia, Lauren Marturano founded clean water nonprofit Drink Local Think Global and sat on the board of Women at Microsoft Corp., was CEO of Miami-based businesses management company Ternary Developments Inc. and founded the Salesforce Women's Network in North Carolina.
