Looking back, 2023 has been a bit of a rollercoaster for startups.
While funding rounds shrank and slowed their pace, dozens of local companies were able to secure the backing they need to innovate, iterate and, of course, go to market. Austin Inno's annual Fire Awards seek to highlight these companies that broke through to achieve big gains.
The standout startups on this list were sourced through nominations, Inno's reporting throughout the year and the Austin Business Journal staff. Many of them raised large sums of money from venture capital firms, while others made their mark by launching new products, landing big name partners or merging with other companies.
The list also aims to spotlight the broad range of innovations being developed in Austin. That includes companies building AI-powered robots, particle accelerators and rocket ships, in addition to cybersecurity, fintech and biotech. Inno is once again also highlighting the supporting cast of accelerators, venture firms and nonprofits that help tie our tech community together and fuel its future.
On Dec. 13, we'll all get together to celebrate these successful startups at the Inno Fire Awards at the Texas Bankers Association, which has delightful views of the Texas Capitol and downtown. During the party, we'll spotlight all 35 companies on this list and name a Blazer winner for each category. Pick up a ticket here.
Now, let's check out this year's Fire Award winners...
Software/AI
CharterUp – CharterUp, a tech company that connects companies with buses, was ranked No. 2 overall on the Inc. 5000 list with a whooping 111,130% revenue growth from 2019 to 2022. The company operates in roughly 30 cities, including Austin and San Antonio, and it’s led by founder and CEO Armir Harris. It raised a $60 million round led by Austin's Tritium Partners last year.
Coder – Coder’s cloud-based development suite has been churning out fresh updates and helping remote developers accelerate their work throughout the year. The startup, founded by Ammar Bandukwala, Kyle Carberry and John Andrew Entwistle, is coming off a $31 million series B in 2020. Meanwhile, its former leader, Entwistle, has gone on to found travel startup Wander.
Howdy.com – Howdy started the year strong, adding $5 million to the $13 million series A funding round raised in August 2022 and growing its valuation by more than 20% in the process. The talent sourcing and HR startup also acquired Brazilian talent marketplace company GeekHunter for an undisclosed amount in August.
Overhaul – Back in March, logistics tech startup Overhaul Group Inc. raised $38 million in new equity funding, along with $35 million in non-dilutive debt. The cash helped fuel its geographic expansion, while also funding its acquisition of SensiGuard. Overhaul, founded in 2016, has now raised $137 million in total funding.
Atmosphere – The streaming content company just about stole the show right out of the gates this year, announcing $100 million in new funding, including $80 million in equity backing. The startup, which was born out Chive Media, also posted revenue growth of 1,865% from 2019 to 2022, making it No. 306 on the Inc. 5000 list.
Gage Zero – If we’re going to have electric trucking fleets, we’ll need a lot of charging stations. Gage Zero, a women-led startup, secured $300 million in equity backing earlier this year to develop this key charging infrastructure and facilitate a future with vehicle lower emissions.
One Model – This summer, AI-powered recruiting and hiring startup One Model secured $41 million in fresh funding. That came on the heels of a strategic alliance with Deloitte for future-looking HR technologies.
8fig – This Austin- and Tel Aviv-based startup provides ongoing lending to e-commerce companies to help them manage cash flow. In May, it raised $140 million in new capital. The company has now raised $196.5 million in total.
ContentStack – Marketing startup ContentStack put the $80 million it raised in late 2022 to use quickly. Led by CEO Neha Sampat, who was an ABJ Women in Business award winner this year, the startup quickly integrated OpenAI’s ChatGPT technologies. And the company ranked No. 268 on 2023’s Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list, posting 506% revenue growth over the course of the prior three years.
ProsperOps – This startup, which uses automation to help tech businesses save on cloud computing spending, started to turn a profit in 2020. But it waited until 2023 to raise venture funding, announcing a $72 million investment led by H.I.G. Growth Partners. The remote-first company said earlier this year it was on track to expand headcount to about 60 employees and was considering locking down an office on South First Street.
Cybersecurity/Fintech
SpyCloud – SpyCloud has been growing at a fast clip for several years, but it really hit a hot streak this year. In August, it announced a $110 million funding round to go on a hiring spree and expand its massive library of hacking data to help big businesses avoid sophisticated snooping.
HiddenLayer – This has been the biggest year for AI yet, and HiddenLayer is well positioned to help prevent hackers from disrupting the data that drives AI to make decisions. The company, which pitched to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in October and won the RSA Innovation Sandbox Contest, also raised a $50 million series A round in September.
Episode Six – Episode Six has found its niche in developing software that helps businesses, including banks and other fintech companies, implement modern payment processing systems and virtual ledgers for their digital cash registers. The startup, founded in 2015, said in May it raised $48 million in new venture funding to help it expand its reach and grow its team.
Eagle Eye Networks – Cloud-based video surveillance company Eagle Eye Networks was among the many companies to quickly innovate atop new AI technologies, and it was rewarded with its work by landing a $192 million investment. Eagle Eye founder and serial entrepreneur Dean Drako attributed the big raise to being a first mover in the cloud video surveillance industry with an open platform that allows it to be molded to meet the varied needs of businesses.
Ouro – This is the new umbrella company for two longstanding Austin businesses — Rev, which largely powers rewards programs for purchases, and pre-paid debit card maker Netspend, which first IPOed in 2010 before being bought by TSYS in 2013 and then Global Payments in 2019. Netspend founders, brothers Roy and Bertrand Sosa, bought back that company in a billion-dollar deal recently and rolled it and Rev into Ouro. They have ambitious goals to expand its global reach and help underserved populations get access to funds. They’re hoping to build the business to its next IPO in the coming years.
Social impact/edtech/Healthtech
Babson Diagnostics – Earlier this year, health testing company Babson Diagnostics rolled out a new way to conduct blood tests called BetterWay that doesn’t require a phlebotomist. The startup, which raised $31 million in 2021, moved into a new space earlier this year where its purpose built lab where we will be able to run upward of 50 million blood tests each year.
Omaiven Health – This startup’s call center automation software, powered partly by artificial intelligence, manages the administrative busy work of documenting everything and understanding scheduling issues for clinics and patients, as well as answering questions. The startup, founded in 2018 by CEO Jerold McDonald, this year got a boost from the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund when it named McDonald as one of six founders in Texas to receive $150,000 of non-dilutive funding, as well as $100,000 worth of Google Cloud credits and a variety of mentoring and networking connections.
Pattern Bioscience – Pattern Bioscience Inc. uses single-cell microbiology technology that doesn't require lengthy timeframes for bacteria to culture and quickly gives doctors the information they need to prescribe effective antibiotics. In April, the startup raised a $28.7 million series C to conduct clinical studies and submit its pneumonia tests for regulatory review with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Card.io – Making running more fun and competitive, we’ve watched Card.io’s app evolve from its early beta testing to a full launch in 2023. The startup, led by Destin George Bell, has more than 6,000 users worldwide and has had some of the startup scene’s best launch events and partnerships, including the Austin American-Statesman Capital 10K.
Diligent Robotics – This startup’s hospital robot, Moxi, continues to gain more traction and funding. The company expects to have around 100 of its bots spread across 30 hospitals and this year raised $25 million to help fuel its growth.
CPG - Hardware
Firefly Aerospace – Firefly has been wowing us for a few years, and it’s back on the 2023 fire list because it’s secured a bevy of new launch contracts to deploy satellites and explore the moon. Meanwhile, in February, the company raised the eight-figure first tranche of what could be a massive $300 million funding round.
EnergyX – In April, EnergyX landed a $50 million series B funding round from GM Ventures, the venture capital arm of General Motors Co. to commercialize its technology and refinery processes at locations in North and South America. The company, founded in 2018, has developed a new way of extracting lithium from brine. It frames that process, called direct lithium extraction or DLE, as a more efficient and sustainable way to obtain lithium metal.
Infinitum – This startup, which makes smaller and more efficient motors for industrial processes, HVAC systems, data centers and materials handling, has been booming for a couple years. But it really made waves in 2023 when it announced it had raised $185 million in series E funding. With that, it announced it will open a new, 110,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Saltillo, Mexico, that will be capable of producing 200,000 motors per year.
Apptronik – This year, Apptronik drew nationwide attention when it announced the launch of Apollo, a humanoid robot developed through a decade of iterations by the startup. It's 5 foot 8 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. It can lift up to 55 pounds, and its primary function so far is moving boxes around in warehouses. But more is on the way as the company unlocks new applications to give it new functions.
TAU Systems – This University of Texas spinoff this year announced it has secured a location in California where researchers around the world can come and conduct high-level research with its small-scale particle accelerator. Only two other accelerators in the U.S. can boast as much power from their electron beams, and they’re both about three kilometers long, compared to TAU’s 20 meter device.
Investors/community support
TXV Partners – This locally based minority-led private-equity firm turned heads this year when the Wall Street Journal reported it’s targeting a $500 million fund to back sports-related businesses, including consumer health care and training. Led by co-founders Marcus Stroud and Brandon Allen, startups that the firm has backed are already seeing their work put to use in the NBA, NFL and Premier League.
Capital Factory – Capital Factory, a startup accelerator, investor and coworking space, has continued to live up to its name as the “center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas” through hundreds of big events, VIP guests and global networking. It remains as one of, if not the, most active startup investors in Texas, and its reach continues to expand through podcasts, events and activations across the state.
Trust Ventures – This venture firm has been in Austin for about five years, and its local activity has seemed to increase each year. The firm, which raised a $200M third fund in 2022, this year helped back StellarFi’s $15 million series A, GreenLite’s $8 million seed round and Black Ore’s $60 million round.
Austin Women in Technology – This nonprofit helps bring together women from across Austin’s tech and startup ecosystem through networking events, professional development and support for fellow nonprofits that support STEM education and more. In 2023, the organization stepped up its programming and continues to bring new women tech leaders into the spotlight both locally and nationally.
DivInc – DivInc is helping elevate diverse founders in Austin and across the state, and it continues to chase new horizons by adding an accelerator in 2023 for decentralized web innovations and clean energy, adding to programs for sports tech and social impact. It has also teamed up with Capital Factory, BlavityORG and others for special events and programs.
M&A
Setpoint – In May, lending startup Setpoint Technologies made its first acquisition by scooping up Resolute Diligence Solutions, which vets single family rentals and residential transition loans, for an undisclosed price. The company said the deal puts them on track to create an integrated, all-in-one solution that will revolutionize capital markets operations.
OJO Labs – Real estate-technology company OJO Labs sold its Canadian operations to Royal Bank of Canada in February. Financial terms were not included, but Inman reported that the startup netted $200 million from the sale as well as fresh debt raised from Vista Credit Partners, an arm of Vista Equity Partners.
Data.World – This data technology startup in May acquired technology from Austin-based Mighty Canary Inc. to build out a new "DataOps" application that uses automations to provide contextual insights and real-time data quality updates. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
Curative – Curative, which rose to prominence with Covid-19 testing and vaccination during the pandemic, opened its wallet in June to fuel a continued shift into health insurance. Curative Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Austin-based Curative Health Holdings Inc., said it purchased American Country Insurance Company for an undisclosed amount.
CesiumAstro – This aerospace communications startup, which landed a $3.6 million U.S. Air Force contract and a Department of Defense deal for $5 million this year, in January acquired TXMission Ltd., a United Kingdom-based communications company that makes software-defined radios and modems for satellites, ground stations and airborne platforms. Financial terms weren't disclosed. The deal gave CesiumAstro its first office in the U.K, as well as expands its reach to European countries.
You can check out last year's Fire Award winners here.
