Holy smokes! It's been a wild year in just about every way. For local startups, it has been a year of surviving, pivoting, thriving and succeeding.
Each year, Inno aims to highlight and honor 50 of the Austin startups and tech companies that have made exceptional strides over the past 12 months. They include a few big players that have secured big exits, as well as recently emerged companies that came out of the gates with ambition and traction.
The 50 Inno on Fire honorees were selected after a call for nominations earlier this year, and the Blazer winners for each category were selected by a panel of judges, including Morgan Flager at Silverton Partners, Oksana Malysheva at Sputnik ATX, RetailMeNot founder and angel investor Cotter Cunningham and Mitch Jacobson with Austin Technology Incubator.
We highlighted these Inno on Fire companies and the Blazer winners in each category in a slick video below, and we had a conversation with three of the On Fire leaders, which you can check out in the second video.
See the full list of Inno on Fire companies here.
Now, let's check out the 2020 Inno on Fire Blazer winners in each category.
Software | The Zebra
Auto insurance comparison startup The Zebra started 2020 with a $38.5 million round of funding that later grew to $43 million. In June, its co-founder and CMO, Joshua Dziabiak, stepped away from day-to-day operations to focus on a new startup. But the company didn’t slow down. In October, it reported it reached profitability and is nearing a $100 million run rate, reporting $6 million in net revenue in May and $8 million in September as it looks to branch out into homeowners insurance comparisons.
CPG | Tecovas
It's not easy to make it as a boot company in Texas. The market might seem flush with leather if you stroll through a Western store. But Tecovas has carved out a significant slice of the market with its boots and leather goods. In 2020, it has continued to launch new brick-and-mortar stores nationally, including a shop in Houston and one in Nashville. That all came on the heels of a $15 million round that followed a $24 million round in 2019.
Covid Innovators | Armbrust American
Surgical mask-making startup Armbrust American quickly ramped up production of its masks at its high-tech manufacturing facility in Pflugerville earlier this year as the pandemic set in. It landed multimillion-dollar contracts to supply masks to Texas school teachers, as well as the Illinois Department of Human Services. Founded by OwnLocal founder Lloyd Armbrust, the company quickly became one of the U.S.'s biggest surgical mask producers in a matter of months.
Social Impact | Notley Ventures
Notley Ventures, a venture capital firm co-founded by Dan Graham and Lisa Graham that invests in organizations committed to positive social change, this year launched Notley Tide to funnel donations to social justice organizations in the wake of George Floyd's death at police hands. It's one of several initiatives the organization has played a role in, including partnerships with Women@Austin and DivInc, as well as education programs, the Catalyst Games and Philanthropitch.
Cybersecurity/Security | SpyCloud
SpyCloud closed its series C, a $30 million round led by Centana Growth Partners, this year. That came after it tripled revenue in 2019, and grew to 70 employees with a goal of adding 30 new people with the new funding. In the early days of the pandemic, SpyCloud identified 136,000 new websites with Covid themes, many of them with questionable security certificates and potentially designed to steal from consumers.
EdTech | Literati
Last year, book subscription and book club startup Literati raised a $12 million round. This year, it became a strong example of how to keep workers safe and navigate business opportunities during a pandemic. The company introduced hazard pay — a 35% pay boost for fulfillment center employees. After initially focusing on kids, it has more recently added an adult book club and partnered with NBA star Steph Curry, international activist Malala Yousafzai and Richard Branson, among others, on curated book lists.
HealthTech | Everlywell
Everlywell, founded in 2015 by Julia Cheek, was among the first companies to develop an at-home Covid-19 test this year. The at-home health test kit startup announced the Covid test in mid-March, and it secured FDA emergency use authorization in May. In September, it named Andy Page, former CEO of Caption Health and former president of 23andMe, as company president. Update: On Thursday, after winning the Blazer award, Everlywell announced it had raised a $175 million funding round at a $1.3 billion valuation, making it Austin's newest unicorn.
Lifestyle | RVshare
RV rental marketplace RVshare came to near standstill when cities mostly shut down in the early days of the pandemic. But it saw business boom just as soon as people started getting back out in a distanced way. The company, dual headquartered in Austin and Akron, Ohio, recently raised a $100 million round of funding. The startup was founded by Mark Jenney and Joel Clark in 2013, and it is led by former HomeAway CRO Jon Gray.
Real Estate Tech | OJO Labs
OJO Labs had another big year in 2020, acquiring personal finance platform Digs and real estate search site Movoto, as well as launching its agent referral program. Plus, it secured a $62.5 million funding round. The startup, founded by John Berkowitz and David Rubin in 2015, uses AI and human intelligence to help people during the homebuying process.
Community Builders | Beam (formerly Women@Austin)
Women@Austin, recently renamed as Beam, has been supporting local women founders for years, and in 2020 it made one of its biggest moves yet, launching the Beam Angel Network. The fund provides direct capital to early-stage, Texas-based, women-founded companies. It landed an initial $250,000 commitment from Notley, which was followed this fall by a $100,000 donation from Kevin McGibben, CEO of California-based LogicMonitor. It has also developed an extensive list of community partners.
