Can we get a drumroll, please?
It’s time to unveil the 2023 honorees of the BostInno Fire Awards.
The Fire Awards is BostInno’s premier awards and events showcase. Every year, we recognize 50 companies, organizations or people that have had a banner year within the local ecosystem.
This year’s Fire Awards honorees were selected based on nominations you sent in. These companies have demonstrated their success in raising funds, launching new products, bringing in new customers, growing their Boston footprint and supporting the local community and innovation ecosystem.
BostInno will host an event on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at W Boston to recognize the Fire Awards honorees and announce the Inno Blazers — a single winner from each category chosen by our panel of industry judges. Come celebrate and network with the innovators in Boston's startup ecosystem.
Now, let’s meet the 2023 honorees:
Food/Agtech Fire Awards honorees
The companies behind the innovative, delicious and eco-friendly food technology of the future.
Inari Agriculture: This Cambridge-based company may have been honored by the Fire Awards in 2021, but its accomplishments over the last two years made it worthy of another recognition. Inari specializes in gene-edited seed technology. In early 2022 the company received two U.S. patents that help bring farmers proprietary GM traits in tandem with novel gene edits. Inari has also announced a strategic collaboration with Australia’s InterGrain and a $124 million Series E fundraise in October 2022. Since the start of 2022 Inari’s headcount has grown by 46.9%.
Hillside Harvest: This Black immigrant-owned company’s sauces are inspired by founder and owner Kamaal Jarrett’s Caribbean roots. Jarrett was born in a small town outside of Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in Milton, Massachusetts. Hillside Harvest is the official hot sauce sponsor of the Boston Red Sox and Major League Rugby’s New England Free Jacks’ official hot sauce. The company has five products sold at Whole Foods, Brothers Marketplace, Volante Farms and several other local stores in Massachusetts. In the last year, Hillside Harvest expanded into New York, New Jersey and the Midwest and was featured on Entrepreneur Magazine's web series “Elevator Pitch,” winning a $10,000 cash grant for best pitch of the day.
Foodberry: This Boston startup is developing ways to make hydrated foods more snackable by wrapping them in plant-based coatings made from fruit and vegetable fibers. In the last 12 months, Foodberry pivoted from a consumer model to a B2B model and secured several commercial partnerships. Foodberry partnered with NadaMoo! to encapsulate its chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavored coconut milk ice cream with mango, orange, peanut butter, mint and salted caramel coatings, which are now in more than 700 stores nationwide. Keji Market and Foodberry have also launched fresh fruit bites in convenient stores across NYC. This summer, Foodberry and a multinational coffee and tea company teamed up to bring “Coffee Berries” to Italian convenience stores.
Divert: Divert is a Concord-based company on a mission to put food waste to use. The company uses its IoT platform of hardware, sensors and algorithms to help grocery stores track wasted food. Divert then processes the food using anaerobic digestion. Bacteria inside the digesters consume the carbon dioxide from the food and leave behind methane, which is considered a “renewable natural gas” by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. In October 2022, Divert announced an offtake agreement with bp worth approximately $175 million. Earlier this year the company secured a $1 billion infrastructure development deal with Enbridge Inc. Divert works with more than 5,400 retail stores across the U.S., with more than 1,000 additional stores contracted in 2023.
Fintech Fire Awards honorees
Startups building an accessible financial future for millions.
Stackwell Capital: In 2022, Stackwell Capital launched an investing app for the Black community. The company has since partnered with organizations like Prudential Financial, the NBA and WNBA and several HBCUs. Through its partnerships and campaigns, Stackwell has invested nearly $1 million back into Black communities by providing seeded accounts to help kick start investing and wealth building for thousands of people. The Boston company has attracted the interest and investment of the likes of Michael Gordon, president of Fenway Sports Group; Jeremy Sclar, CEO and chairman of WS Development; and The Kraft Group.
FiVerity: Founded by serial entrepreneur Greg Woolf, FiVerity is tackling digital identity fraud. The startup says its platform helps financial institutions combat fraudulent activity through secure information sharing, real-time fraud detection and collaborative machine learning risk models. FiVerity spent the last year building a mechanism in its platform to anonymize and securely share intelligence patterns and identity elements of known fraudsters. In April the company announced a $4 million seed financing round, led by Mendon Venture Partners. Other investors included Mendoza Ventures, Service Provider Capital, Grasshopper Bank and FinCapital.
Origin: This Boston startup wants to make financial planning and wealth management more accessible. The company has raised $70 million from VC funds and its customers include Lattice, Roku and Udemy. This spring, Origin acquired Finny to expand into workplace financial education. Origin says it has been doubling its revenue year over year.
Marstone: This Providence company is making its debut in the BostInno Fire Awards after making the Rhode Island Inno Fire list in 2022. The enterprise digital wealth management company said it saw 67% new client growth over the last year, including signing a $250 billion asset manager, its largest client to date. Marstone also expanded to now support two languages, brought on its first international client, began serving credit union clients and employers.
Cleantech Fire Awards honorees
Creating a better planet for future generations starts with these startups.
SparkCharge: One of the biggest barriers to electric vehicle (EV) adoption is making charging more accessible. In September 2022, SparkCharge rolled out the latest addition to its Roadie line-up, the Roadie V3. Serving mainly commercial fleets, SparkCharge says it can deliver DC fast charging (DCFC) at speeds up to 125kW. In 2024, SparkCharge plans to roll out a new solution that will be grid-free and provide the flexibility to charge thousands of vehicles a day without a grid connection. SparkCharge has partnered with industry leaders such as Hertz, MASS DOT, Zipcar, and AAA.
florrent: Headquartered in Amherst, florrent is designing and building high energy density ultracapacitors to help stabilize electric grids and address critical bottlenecks for the adoption of renewable energy, EVs, and electrified buildings. The company creates ultracapacitor electrodes using materials derived from hemp stalks from Black and Indigenous farms across the U.S. In the last year, florrent has opened its production facility in South Deerfield, expanded its R&D team and was accepted to the ACCEL program run by Greentown Labs and Browning the Green Space. In September florrent announced it raised a $2.1 million pre-seed.
Aclarity: Aclarity is a VC-backed, woman-founded and led startup that is on a mission to destroy, not just dispose of, PFAS "forever chemicals.” In six months, the Mansfield company doubled the size of its team, garnered a more than $50 million sales pipeline, and partnered with top engineering and waste management firms to deploy its PFAS destruction equipment at customer sites. Aclarity also has grant funding from MassVentures’ SBIR Targeted Technologies program and recently closed $12.85 million, part of its Series A.
Boston Metal: Located in Woburn, Boston Metal is developing technology to decarbonize steel production. The company’s technology, which it calls Molten Oxide Electrolysis, aims to replace coal in steel production with an electro-chemical process. This year Boston Metal closed a $262 million Series C Funding, the largest round of this stage in Massachusetts so far in 2023. In 2022 the company launched its Brazilian subsidiary, Boston Metal do Brasil. Boston Metal said its technology is being scaled up for production at its pilot plant outside of Boston, while nearing commercialization for high-value metals production at its facility in Brazil.
Bevi: The pandemic was difficult for Charlestown-based Bevi. The company's primary customers were office spaces, which were empty for several years. Bevi pivoted and began working with customers across hospitality, manufacturing, and multi-family real estate developments. The gamble on a new direction appears to be paying off. The company said it reached 5,000 customers this year and is surpassing its pre-pandemic revenue peak.
AM Batteries: This Chelmsford company is developing technology to significantly reduce capital equipment, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions in the battery industry. In the last 12 months, AM Batteries raised a $25 million Series A funding round, signed three joint development agreements with two top tier cell manufacturers and one global electronics manufacturer, and signed a lease on a new 33,000-square-foot facility that is five times larger than its current facility.
Ecosystem Supporters Fire Awards honorees
There would be no Boston startup ecosystem without these community leaders.
Suffolk Technologies: Four years after its establishment by real estate and construction company Suffolk, Suffolk Technologies has made big steps in funding early and growth-stage startups solving built environment challenges. Suffolk Technologies was recently recognized by AGC Partners as the #1 most active construction technology venture capital investor from 2018 to 2022. To date, the firm has backed thirty-three companies. Suffolk Technologies also runs a six-week accelerator program called BOOST to accelerate industry-wide adoption of breakthrough technologies.
Boston Impact Initiative: Boston Impact Initiative (BII) is a nonprofit impact fund that invests in entrepreneurs of color and community-controlled real estate to help close the racial wealth divide. In 2022, the organization launched a $20 million integrated capital fund to support enterprises that are building an equitable economy with communities of color. The organization also provides entrepreneurs with technical assistance, business coaching, connections and educational programming. Over the last 10 years, BII has invested over $14 million into more than 75 enterprises. Its second fund has already supported 15 companies and expanded its geographic footprint to include all of Massachusetts and the Northeast.
Girls Who VC: Founded by Harvard University student Isabella Mandis, Girls Who VC is an organization focused on increasing the number of women in the venture capital world. In the past eight months, Girls Who VC has grown to more than 2,500 members across six continents, received a grant from the Harvard Innovation Labs, and been featured on Forbes 30 Under 30. The organization provides recruiting content through podcasts, newsletters, blog posts, and social media posts, as well as its ambassador, scout, and mentorship programs.
Boston While Black: Boston While Black is a digital and in-person membership network for Black professionals, entrepreneurs and students. The organization is creating spaces, tools, and resources to help its members thrive in Boston. Since its inception two years ago, Boston While Black has bootstrapped over $1 million in annual revenue, welcomed more than 1,400 members, established over 18 corporate partners, and hosted several city-wide events for over 20,000 attendees.
MassBio: This trade group tasked with advancing Massachusetts' leadership in the life sciences has made headlines over the last year. At the start of 2023, Kendalle Burlin O’Connell took over as top executive after more than 15 years at the organization. This summer MassBio served as the local host to more than 20,000 biotech industry leaders at the BIO International Conference at the Boston Expo and Convention Center. Just a week before the conference, MassBio announced the launch of Bioversity, a nonprofit created to develop new training pathways and employer connections for underrepresented populations and individuals traditionally left out of the life sciences industry. The trade group also continued its work with MassBioDrive, its biotech accelerator. By the end of this year, MassBioDrive will have supported 21 startups from seven states and two countries.
Pillar VC: This Boston VC firm has invested in more than 20 startups over the past year, bringing its total portfolio size to more than 100 companies. Pillar VC also recently launched the Pillar-MIT AI Collective to provide seed grants for projects in AI, machine learning, and data science, as well as a partnership with Nucleate to provide pre-seed funding to early-stage founders. Beyond its role funding startups, Pillar VC has hosted more than 143 events in the Boston area over the past year, which collectively brought together more than 6,000 Boston area innovators and entrepreneurs.
Underscore VC: Underscore VC, a Boston-based firm that backs seed-stage founders, believes it takes a community to build an iconic and enduring company. In that spirit, Underscore allocates 10% of its fund carry to community members who source or support their portfolio of startups. The firm also has a host of programs and events to foster that community, such as the Startup Secrets series, which was re-launched this year. The ‘Masterclass’-esque videos offer advice from Underscore’s team on topics like fundraising, hiring, go-to-market and culture. The series, which started as a course at the Harvard Innovation Labs, has already amassed over four million views.
Biotech Fire Awards honorees
Boston's biotech scene is always impressive. Here are the names you need to know this year.
Rapport Therapeutics: In 2023, Rapport Therapeutics came out of stealth with its platform for the discovery and development of precision neuromedicines, appointed a CEO, announced two major financings totaling $250 million, established a scientific advisory board that includes two Nobel laureates and entered the clinic with Phase 1 studies for the treatment of drug-resistant seizure disorders.
Abpro: This Woburn company is developing monoclonal antibodies to treat diseases in oncology, ophthalmology and infectious diseases. Last September, Abpro announced a $1.75 billion-dollar partnership with Celltrion, a South Korea-based pharmaceutical company working to commercialize its bispecific antibody. The company is also using AI to accelerate drug development for Covid-19. By using AI to predict possible mutations, Abpro is working to cut down the eight-week experiment process into a single afternoon.
Rome Therapeutics: This Boston biotech launched in 2020 after being incubated by GV with scientific leader Rosana Kapeller at the helm. Earlier this year Rome nominated its first development candidate and formally unveiled its proprietary data sciences platform, which the company says will help identify new targets, design clinical trials, and potentially uncover biomarkers that could measure an individual patient’s response to therapies. The company recently completed a $72 million Series B extension financing to advance its lead program into early clinical studies and progress its platform and pipeline.
Vaxess: Cambridge-based Vaxess is developing a self-administered vaccine patch technology. In the last year, Vaxess announced $37 million in Series B funding, launched a phase 1 trial of the MIMIX-Flu vaccine patch and shared the clinical trial results, hired a former Sanofi executive as the company’s chief strategy officer, and most recently announced a collaboration with AstraZeneca.
Cue Biopharma: This biopharmaceutical company is working on precision immune modulation for developing protein therapeutics to address unmet needs in oncology and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. In the past year Cue Biopharma advanced two clinical trials with its lead oncology drug program CUE-101 and began dosing patients with the second promising oncology drug candidate, CUE-102, in its third Phase 1 study. In February 2023, Cue Biopharma landed a collaboration and option agreement with Japanese pharmaceutical company Ono Pharmaceutical Co.
Affini-T Therapeutics: This biotech is working on treatments for solid tumor cancers. Affini-T recently moved into a new space in Watertown’s Arsenal Yard. The company is led by entrepreneur Jak Knowles and advised by the likes of Phil Greenberg, who was recently elected president of American Association for Cancer Research and Jim Allison, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology. In the last year, Affini-T announced the appointment of Thaminda Ramanayake to lead its business development efforts, a licensing agreement with MSK, partnerships with ElevateBio and Metagenomi, and presented data from its solid tumor cancer programs. The company is on track to begin clinical trials early next year.
Orna Therapeutics: This Watertown company announced a $221 million Series B financing in August 2022. Orna also announced a collaboration with Merck worth up to $3.5 billion to advance the next generation of RNA technology in the U.S. In late 2022, Orna also landed a partnership with Simnova Biotherapeutics to develop the greater China market for a number of Orna’s products.
Later-stage software companies Fire Awards honorees
These software industry titans have been around for more than a few years. But over the last year they rolled out new programs or achieved noteworthy successes.
ThreatX: This Boston software company raised $30 million in Series B funding in August 2022. In FY 2022, ThreatX saw a 73% increase in new customers over FY 2021. In the last year ThreatX also hired a new chief revenue officer. Last year, ThreatX and CEO Gene Fay launched a podcast, eXecutive Security, focused on helping people enter and advance within the cybersecurity field.
LinkSquares: In May 2023, this Boston AI-powered legal technology company introduced its enterprise legal management platform that would centralize all of legal’s work. Prior to this, LinkSquares launched an e-signature tool for legal departments. Since the start of 2022, LinkSquares has doubled its revenue and more than doubled its customer base to over 1,000 businesses. LinkSquares achieved over 2,000% subscription revenue growth in the last three years and an ARR of over $30 million.
Fairmarkit: Fairmarkit is a Boston-based company that helps enterprise procurement teams with sourcing. The company’s autonomous sourcing platform utilizes emerging technologies like GenAI and is used by organizations like Boeing, bp, ServiceNow and SDI. Fairmarkit’s latest Series C funding round in late 2022 brings the total funding to $78 million with 100% YoY growth.
CloudZero: In June, Boston-based CloudZero announced $32 million in Series B funding to expand its cloud cost intelligence platform. The company plans to use this funding to expand platform features, advance its enterprise functionality and add headcount. CloudZero says it has already made substantial additions to its team in 2023 — a year in which many tech companies have announced layoffs.
Autura: Earlier this year, Autura moved its international headquarters from San Francisco to the Fort Point neighborhood in Boston’s Seaport District. The SaaS company streamlines the towing and parking-enforcement process for law enforcement, government, towers and car owners. Alongside the move, Autura announced a new executive leadership team, including CEO Craig Powell, COO Nina Carazas and CTO Rick Blaisdell. In the coming year, Autura plans to nearly double the size of its team through hiring in Massachusetts.
Earlier-stage software companies Fire Awards honorees
Meet the talented new kids on the block in the Boston software ecosystem.
Venti Technologies: Based in Boston and Singapore, Venti Technologies is building autonomous vehicle logistics systems for ports, airports, warehouses, and factories. The MIT-rooted company raised a $28.8M Series A funding round in the first quarter of 2023. In the last year alone, Venti has grown from 18 employees at the end of 2022 to its current 120-person team.Venti is partnered with a large port operator and is on track to deliver a moderate-size operational driverless container truck fleet this year.
Modulate: This Somerville company created an AI-driven tool to fight online toxicity, and then went on and raised a $30 million Series A round of venture capital last year. Modulate said its AI solution, called ToxMod, detects and flags hate speech, harassment, bullying and other toxic speech in video game voice chats and has so far helped customers take over 4 million moderation actions to protect players. Modulate has partnerships with the Anti-Defamation League and the Family Online Safety Institute, and recently worked with the e-sports team of the Boston Celtics to create a new STEM and e-sports program at The Epiphany School in Dorchester.
Guidesly: Guidesly founder David Lord was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Northeastern University. His latest venture, Guidesly, is a SaaS platform for outdoor recreation guides with a consumer e-commerce marketplace. It is serving fishing and hunting, but is expanding into snow sports, water sports, off-road (ATVs), wildlife and mountain sports in Q4 of this year. Guidesly says it processes over $500,000/month in payments. Since launching, the company has raised a $5 million seed round and added an additional $2.5 million in funding earlier this year.
Atlantic Quantum Corp.: After raising a seed round in mid-2022, Atlantic Quantum has been on the move. The team built out a quantum computing lab in Cambridge and is designing and testing its first chips. While the team plans to stay and build in the Cambridge area after spinning out of Will Oliver's lab at MIT, Atlantic Quantum also launched a small fabrication team in Gothenburg, Sweden. The startup also took part in the first cohort of the Boston Intel Ignite Incubator.
Healthtech Fire Awards honorees
These healthtech companies are focused on improving physical and mental well being.
Folx Health: Folx Health may be based in Boston, but it’s a nationwide healthcare provider for the LGBTQIA+ community. In June 2022, Folx expanded its direct-to-consumer virtual healthcare platform offering to include a B2B employee benefits package. The company also raised $30 million in Series B funding last September. FOLX says as more states pass bills to restrict gender-affirming care, its work is more important than ever. One of its recent steps to support the LGBTQIA+ is a partnership with the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition to provide grants to people who can’t afford gender-affirming care.
Cohere Health: Going from three employees on January 1, 2020, to more than 600 employees in 2023, plus more than doubling its revenue year-over-year, Cohere Health is on fire. The Boston company has created a platform focused on “intelligent prior authorization” with a suite of tools that it says can improve patient care, cut down on physician paperwork and lower administrative costs for health plans. Just this year Cohere will serve six health plans and process 5.5 million prior authorizations for 15 million health plan members.
Perch: They may work out of a Cambridge office, but Perch is working on the field, pitch and court. A growing number of teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, and NCAA use Perch’s AI-backed weight training platform to monitor player movements during exercises and enhance their motivation, safety and performance. And they’ve got more cash: Raising $4 million last year, including an investment from Miami Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones, bringing the total amount raised by the company since its founding in 2017 to $7 million. This year Perch formed a performance advisory board. Its members include coaches and sports scientists from teams like Boston College Football, Chelsea Football Club and the Seattle Seahawks.
Uwill: Uwill founder and CEO Michael London says mental health is the defining higher education challenge of our time. Uwill, a Natick-based company with more than 200 college partnerships, pioneered a student and therapist matching platform. In April 2023, Uwill completed its $30 million Series A funding from Education Growth Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm. Uwill is also working with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s administration to provide free mental health and wellness support for more than 400,000 students at 45 public and private colleges in the state.
Boston Micro Fabrication: Out of Maynard, Boston Micro Fabrication serves healthtech and medtech companies, as well as technology and electronics clients, with its micro-3D printing technology. The company said its technology is essential for innovation in healthtech and medtech, which often require very small parts with complex design features. These include drug delivery methods like microneedle patches and lab-on-a-chip technology. In the last 12 months, the company successfully closed a Series C round of funding totalling $43 million, a Series D funding round totalling $24 million, expanded global operations with new state-of-the-art facilities in Greater Boston and Shenzhen, China, and opened a new R&D center in San Diego.
Outcomes4Me: This Boston company is taking AI and machine learning and using them to help cancer patients navigate their care and access personalized treatment information. When patients provide their health information, Outcomes4Me says the platform offers both doctor-approved and FDA-approved guidance based on their diagnosis. The company supports over 150,000 breast and lung cancer patients, and recently rolled out a multi-cancer offering. Founder and CEO Maya Said was recognized as a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce 2023 Pinnacle Awards Achievement in Entrepreneurship honoree.
Iterative Health: Fresh off a 510(k) clearance from the FDA for SKOUT, its AI-assisted device that flags suspicious polyps during colonoscopies, this Cambridge-based company is focused on addressing gastroenterological conditions like colorectal cancer. Iterative Health says SKOUT is being rolled out to physicians across the U.S. The company also partners with providers to improve clinical trial patient recruitment through the combination of AI technology and end-to-end clinical trial services. This year, Iterative Health announced three partnerships: Gastro Health, Florida Research Institute and Allied Digestive Health. The company has also nearly doubled its headcount since last year.
Consumer Goods Fire Awards honorees
Consider these companies' products fodder for your holiday shopping lists.
Nix Biosensors: This Boston-based startup came into 2023 on the heels of launching its first product, the Nix Hydration Biosensor — a biosensor and corresponding software app that measures hydration levels in real-time to help athletes, soldiers and laborers quantify their fluid and electrolyte needs. Having launched in the endurance segment last year and secured partnerships with teams such as Human Powered Health and Team Amani, Nix has expanded its reach into team sports, military and laborer segments with partnerships with the Kansas City Current (NWSL), PitFit Training (IndyCar and NASCAR) and several fire departments, among others, to create custom hydration strategies.
ChopValue Boston: Launched by Dorchester resident Elaine Chow in 2022, ChopValue Boston is turning used chopsticks — which are usually destined for landfills — into furniture and other home goods. Its Charlestown microfactory diverted more than 5 million chopsticks (about 18 tons) in its first year of operation.
Lawnbright: This Lynnfield-based DIY-lawn care company saw strong organic growth in the first quarter of 2023. In 2021, Lawnbright launched a platform that generates custom lawn plans based on customer inputs like soil tests and climate, as well as a texting platform that provides live, guided advice on applying lawn products. Better Home & Gardens named Lawnbright the best lawn care subscription service in 2023.
Unicorn: Based in Duxbury, Unicorn wants to ensure period products are as ubiquitous as toilet paper in bathrooms across the country. The company aims to do this by bringing its low-cost, low-profile period care dispenser to bathroom stalls. Unicorn’s strategic partners include JPMorgan Chase, American Express and MassMutual. The company is also raising a $3 million seed round to fuel its growth.·
Moxie Scrubs: Alicia Tulsee built her lifestyle brand for nurses out of the Harvard Innovation Labs, starting with scrubs designed by nurses, for nurses. The startup is expanding its products to over 100 nationwide locations and projects to hit $2 million in revenue this year and $10 million next year.
Marcella: Husband and wife Andy and Siyana Huszar are the co-founders of Marcella, an ethical women’s fashion brand. For the last three years, Inc. Magazine ranked Marcella as the fastest-growing company in Massachusetts. The company reported a three-year growth of 8,445% in 2023. The company is based out of Northampton, but it has a global impact. By partnering with the NGO CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education), Marcella estimates it has supported over 750,000 school days for girls, helping cover costs for things like transportation, sanitary pads and school uniforms.
Sign up for The Beat, BostInno’s free daily innovation newsletter from BostInno reporter Hannah Green. See past examples here.
