A dip in venture capital funding has made for a challenging year in the startup world.
Still, Atlanta companies continue to grow and evolve. In recognition of the area's most innovative companies, Atlanta Inno has identified 25 companies in six categories as honorees of our 2023 Fire Awards. The categories reflect the diversity of the tech scene, from artificial intelligence to clean energy.
The list was curated through community nominations, Atlanta Inno reporting and input from industry leaders. The team considered factors such as funding, revenue growth, mission and future potential when selecting the finalists.
See below for information on this year's honorees.
Information Technology/Software/AI
Blooksy
CEO Anthony “AJ” Joiner
Started in: 2020
Blooksy is an AI-powered writing platform that guides writers through the process of starting, writing and editing their books. In September 2022, Blooksy received $100,000 from Google for Startups as part of its Black Founders Fund. This summer, Blooksy announced a partnership with the City of Atlanta to empower young writers ages 14 to 18 by using the platform to publish a book.
Fusus
CEO Chris Lindenau
Started in: 2019
With 310% revenue growth year-over-year, security software company Fusus was a top-ranked Georgia company on the 2023 Inc. 5000 list, which ranks the fastest-growing private companies in America. Last year, the Peachtree Corners company picked up a $21 million investment and a strategic partnership with defense technology manufacturer and maker of the Taser, Axon Enterprise Inc. It recently opened an office in the United Kingdom. The technology has helped local police departments in metro Atlanta arrest suspects and close cases in murder investigations.
Montra
CEO Scott Ryan
Started in: 2018
Montra is an IT management company that automates key business technology processes, including IT onboarding, device monitoring and management, and security and cyber compliance management. From 2019 to 2022, the company said its revenue growth was 417% and its projection for 2023 was an additional 51% growth. The company was featured in the 2022 and 2023 Inc. 5000 list and was the 10th fastest-growing software company in Georgia.
Tractian
CEO Igor Marinelli
Started in: 2019
Tractian is an Atlanta startup that uses artificial intelligence to predict when machines need maintenance. Tractian's monitoring software and sensors are used in more than 1,000 industrial plants, according to the company. In August, the company raised $45 million led by New York private equity firm General Catalyst, which has investments in short-term rental giant Airbnb and glasses maker Warby Parker. Tractian has grown from 23 employees when it launched in 2019 to more than 300 employees today.
Ziscuit
CEO Mark Anthony Peterson
Started in: 2020
Ziscuit is a web engine that helps connect shoppers with the grocery stores closest to them with the cheapest prices for food. Last year, Ziscuit received $100,000 from Google for Startups as part of its Black Founders Fund.
Health care
Codoxo
CEO Musheer Ahmed
Started in: 2017
In early 2022, AI cost containment platform Codoxo raised $20 million, which brought the company’s total funding to $30 million. These investments helped fuel a significant revenue increase in 2022, which included signing some of the company's largest contracts during the year. Codoxo landed on the 2023 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies at No. 329, with a 1,738% three-year growth rate. Its new generative AI product, ClaimPilot, aims at making health care cost containment and payment integrity programs more efficient while easing health care workforce constraints.
Cognosos Inc.
CEO Braxton Jarratt
Started in: 2015
Cognosos is a real-time asset tracking system that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to track everything from medical equipment to cars. Cognosos tripled its revenue in 2022 and raised $25 million in March 2023. It also announced contracts with Siemens Healthineers, as well as with many major original equipment manufacturers in the auto industry. Cognosos also signed a lease to expand its Atlanta headquarters.
Rialtic
CEO Doug Williams
Started in: 2020
Rialtic is an Atlanta health care data and payment platform that helps health care payers and providers manage operate more efficiently. In August, Rialtic raised $36.7 million. The company's initial focus is on payment accuracy, but it aspires to also work on other areas of health care processes, such as prior authorizations and pricing, CEO Doug Williams previously said.
Sojorne
CEO Efe Odeleye
Started in: 2023
Sojorne is a digital assistant platform that helps parents raising children with special needs. In nine months, Sojorne has grown to six employees and raised $120,000 from Techstars Atlanta. The company built and launched its health care app and developed concierge health services tailored specifically for special needs parents, establishing a presence in Georgia and Tennessee. In April, the Technology Association of Georgia named Sojorne one of the 40 most innovative companies in the state.
Fintech
Momnt
CEO Barclay Keith
Started in: 2019
Momnt is a financial services platform that offers embedded lending for the home improvement and health care markets. Between 2021 and 2022, the company saw revenue growth of over 2,000% and added 100 employees. Since the company was founded four years ago, it has raised more than $15 million in capital and moved into a new corporate headquarters in Sandy Springs. The company was recognized as an Inc. 2023 Best Workplace.
Rainforest
CEO Joshua Silver
Started in: 2022
Rainforest focuses on providing software platforms for payment processing. Since it started last summer, the company has grown to almost 20 employees and has secured $8.5 million in venture capital funding from Accel, Infinity Ventures and Tech Square Ventures, among others. In April, the Technology Association of Georgia named Rainforest one of the 40 most innovative companies in the state. Rainforest also won the early-stage pitch competition at this year's Venture Atlanta conference.
Venture funds
Fearless Fund
General Partners Arian Simone and Ayana Parsons
Started in: 2018
The Fearless Fund, a venture capital firm that focuses on investing in women of color, shot to national prominence when a conservative activist filed a lawsuit alleging one of the Fearless Fund’s small business development programs for Black women was racially discriminatory. That lawsuit led other venture funds focused on underrepresented groups to rally around the Fearless Fund, and Fearless Fund leaders have vowed to fight the lawsuit. The fund has over $40 million in assets under management and has received investments from J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Mastercard International and PayPal Holdings.
Hawks Ventures
Senior Vice President and Managing Director David Garcia
Started in: 2023
Hawks Ventures, a new business unit of the Atlanta Hawks organization, is a $50 million fund that will provide capital to minority-led and underrepresented startups. It will also find strategic investments that can benefit the Hawks and State Farm Arena. Its first infusion was $750,000 to Arena Innovation Corp., a fitness startup based in San Francisco.
LaunchPad at Morehouse
Founding Director Kylan Kester
Started in: 2021
LaunchPad at Morehouse operates as a program and a physical space for students to connect, promote and grow their businesses. LaunchPad started with six fellows in 2021 and this year has grown to 30. Since its founding, LaunchPad fellows have been awarded more than $50,000 in equity-free capital, and about 40% of the students in the program have been able to grow their revenue targets to over 100%. Students who have participated in the program have gone to participate in Techstars and Harvard Innovation Challenge and be featured in Black tech publication Afro Tech. The LaunchPad program has been supported through donations from the Center for Black Entrepreneurship, Blackstone Charitable Foundation and alumnus Justin Bayless.
Shadow Ventures
CEO KP Reddy
Started in: 2018
Shadow Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on property technology which recently expanded to Louisville, Kentucky. It provides seed funding to companies developing technology that focus on real estate, property management and construction, with an emphasis on sustainability. The firm began investing in 2018 and has about $60 million in assets under management. Its current fund is $12 million. Its investors include big names in construction, engineering and real estate such as Hensel Phelps Construction, Thornton Tomasetti, Power Engineers and about 50 other companies.
TTV Capital
Managing Partner Gardiner Garrard
Started in: 2000
Atlanta early-stage financial technology venture capital firm TTV Capital closed its sixth fund at $250 million in March 2023, the largest in the firm’s history. The fundraise had initially targeted $150 million and was oversubscribed by $100 million. Last year, TTV Capital made 18 investments in early-stage fintech companies. Former Global Payments Chief Financial Officer Paul Todd joined TTV Capital as a venture partner earlier this year.
Transportation/Logistics
Carpool Logistics
CEO Michael Malakhov
Started in: 2021
Carpool Logistics is an automotive logistics company leveraging technology to optimize vehicle shipping. Its marketplace connects vehicle shippers (auto auctions, dealers, auto manufacturers and consumers) with auto haulers that have available space on their trucks. The company has grown its revenue from $850,000 in 2021 to a projected $11.9 million in 2023. Its workers have increased from four people in 2021 to 40 this year. Carpool Logistics raised $3.5 million from Atlanta Ventures, Overline VC and its co-founders.
CharterUP
CEO Armir Harris
Started in: 2019
CharterUP, this year's No. 1 fastest-growing private company on the Atlanta Business Chronicle's Pacesetter list, is a charter bus provider founded in Atlanta. The company works with hundreds of vendors to allow customers to quickly book buses and also sells its software to charter bus operators. CharterUP experienced revenue growth of 114,900% from 2020 to 2022. CEO Armir Harris hopes to capture more than half of all market share in North America within the next five years. The company earlier this year opened a second headquarters in Austin, Texas, and last year, raised $60 million in its first venture funding round.
Hermeus
CEO AJ Piplica
Started in: 2018
Hermeus is one of Atlanta's most ambitious startups. The company aims to build a hypersonic jet that could get passengers from New York to Paris in 90 minutes. The Mach 5 aircraft would fly at more than 3,000 miles per hour. Hermeus has raised around $110 million in investments. In August, Forbes named Hermeus among its 2023 list of companies that it expects to reach a $1 billion valuation.
Saltbox
CEO Tyler Scriven
Started in: 2019
Saltbox is a co-working and warehouse company that provides flexible warehouse and workspace to small and medium-sized companies. Many of Saltbox’s customers are e-commerce companies that sell physical goods directly to consumers. Since 2022, the company has opened seven co-warehousing locations, bringing its total count to 12 nationwide. It has also opened four fulfillment centers in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and Columbus, Ohio. Saltbox now has over 750 members, and nearly 75% of its member businesses are led by people of color or women. In September 2023, the company’s leaders traveled across the country in a custom-built cargo container to speak with small business owners on a 10-day “Saltbox Across America” tour.
Slip Robotics
CEO Christopher Smith
Started in: 2020
Slip Robotics produces a robotics system that automates loading and unloading trailers for shipping. In May, the company raised $10.65 million. Six investors participated including Blake Patton, managing partner at Atlanta venture capital firm Tech Square Ventures, and Thiago Olson, managing partner at VC firm Eve Atlas.
Clean energy
Ascend Elements
CEO Mike O’Kronley
Started in: 2015
Ascend Elements opened a $50 million lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Covington, Georgia. The Massachusetts-based company has raised $542 million in 2023, along with $480 million in grant awards from the U.S. Department of Energy. This year, Ascend Elements has landed contracts with companies including Honda Motor Co. and SK Battery America. The company says it is valued at approximately $1.5 billion.
Emrgy
CEO Emily Morris
Started in: 2014
This climate tech company places small turbines in irrigation channels to generate hydropower, which helps offset the cost and carbon footprint of pumping, treating and transporting water. In 2023, Emrgy completed its $18.4M Series A funding round and nearly doubled its number of employees to 40 people in the last 12 to 18 months. The company has shifted its business model away from selling the generation equipment itself to offering power purchase agreements (PPAs) to power consumers. Emrgy sees this as a key accelerator of sales and business opportunities leading to the company's current fundraising and scaling efforts.
Nexus Circular
CEO Jodie Morgan
Started in: 2008
Nexus Circular is an advanced recycler that converts landfill-bound plastics back into virgin-quality plastics, displacing fossil-based materials. Nexus is rapidly expanding worldwide. Earlier this year, the company picked up $150 million in a funding round led by Cox Enterprises to build additional recycling facilities. Nexus Circular signed long-term agreements with ChevronPhillips Chemical, Brakem and LyondellBasell to supply advanced recycled products that can then be used to create other products. Nexus Circular also launched an initiative at Deaconess Midtown Hospital in Indiana to recycle clean used plastics from the hospital.
Wattch
CEO Alex Nussey
Started in: 2020
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. Wattch raised $3.5 million from both generalist and energy-specific venture capital funds during its seed round this year. In the past year, it has increased its staff from five to nine employees and closed its first serious contracts, moving the company to the post-revenue stage.
