Meet the BostInno 2024 Fire Awards honorees

It’s time to unveil the 2024 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 with a major year within the local ecosystem. This year’s Fire Awards honorees were selected based on your nominations. These companies have demonstrated their success in raising funds, launching new products, attracting new customers, growing their Boston footprint, and supporting the local community and innovation ecosystem.

BostInno is scheduled to host a celebration event on Monday, Nov. 18, at  Boston Chops in downtown Boston to recognize the Fire Award 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 2024 honorees:

Consumer Goods: 

Consider these companies' products fodder for your holiday shopping lists.

Hydrow: Hydrow has seen significant growth in the past year. The Boston-based fitness company acquired a majority stake in Speede Fitness, a high-tech strength training and analytic company. Additionally, Hydrow struck several partnerships with films and TV shows like "The Boys In The Boat,"  "Hope in the Water" and "Lessons in Chemistry." In the past year alone, the company has seen a 23% increase in unit sales and a 273% increase in Amazon sales. 

Unicorn: UNICORN wants to use its platform to normalize period products and foster an environment of respect and equality in the workplace. Its year has been full of partnerships and development, with 300% growth compared to the previous year and strategic partnerships with companies like STAPLES, WB Mason, and dozens more. To cap the year off, UNICORN installed its products in thousands of bathrooms across the United States. 

WHOOP: Boston-based WHOOP has no shortage of features for its wearable technology, and it hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. In the past year, WHOOP has integrated GPT -4 from Open AI into its system, a stress monitor, a strength trainer, and its own WHOOP coach. The wearable tech company also struck key partnerships with world-renowned athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo. To boot, it’s expanded its global footprint, rolling out to markets in India, Mexico, and six countries in the Golf Cooperation Council region. 

Cybersecurity: 

These startups are keeping us safe from the less relaxing form of phishing. 

Allure Security: With its AI-powered detection, Allure can scan 10 million websites daily, allowing it to fulfill its goal of protecting customers from scanners and impersonators. In the past year, the company has become an online brand protection advisor to numerous cybersecurity information sharing and analysis centers. Allure also closed a $10 million Series A, became the top-rated provider of brand protection and added a director of security threat research.

Black Kite: Black Kite prides itself on providing trustworthy data to its customers. The Boston-based cybersecurity company helps its customers with new programs that alert which of their vendors, suppliers, and partners are impacted by high-profile security events. The cybersecurity company continues to grow rapidly while continually releasing new software to aid its customer base in solving the issue of cyber-third-party risk management. This year alone, Black Kite released its new Supply Chain Management solution and an AI-driven document parser that analyzes documents and provides insight into a vendor's compliance.

Fiverity: At Fiverity, one of the few female-managed cybersecurity companies in Boston,  Meghan Sutherland transitioned into the CEO role, secured funding from Mendon and Mendoza and doubled the company’s ARR to $500,000 all within six months. Since joining the team, she has led the Fiverity team into an execution mindset and grown Fiverity into a thriving company to watch. 

Grax: Over the past year, GRAX launched a free solution for Salesforce data, grew 30%, expanded with blue-chip customers, and entered new verticals like the automotive industry. By solving the critical problem of data accessibility and reliability that has stymied AI and analytics progress for years, GRAX is poised to transform how businesses innovate with their data.

Lookout: As workplaces evolve, data becomes harder to protect, and Lookout is trying its best to keep yours safe. How? In just one year, they’ve launched a new generative AI tool to transform cybersecurity operations, increased strategic investment in data-centric cloud security, and formed new partnerships to enable managed service providers to help close the mobile security gap for their customers.  

Modulate: In the past year, Modulate has grown its employee base from 38 to 45. The Somerville-based company also closed major companies within the gaming space like Rockstar games and Activision, bringing voice moderation technology into global blockbuster games like Grand Theft Auto Online and Call of Duty. To prove their dedication to maintaining a safe gaming environment, Modulate launched the Gaming Safety Coalition to create and share new research and best practices around trust and safety in gaming. 

Solo.io: Founded in 2017, Solo.io has been ahead of the curve in its commitment to open-source innovation. All Solo.io products are built on open-source technologies and its commitment to open-source has helped it stay ahead of open-source sustainability challenges. In 2024, Solo.io released significant product advancements, introduced groundbreaking ways for software integration and expanded its team to make those advancements a reality.  

Wabbi: Wabbi paved its path as a bootstrapped, female-founded cybersecurity company competing in a field with companies that are several times larger. With revenue set to triple, customers doubling and its engineering team rapidly expanding in 2024, Wabbi's pioneering technology and thought leadership have earned it top industry recognition. Wabbi is poised to become a pillar of Boston's innovation economy as it says it is one of the only sustainable solutions to the need for integrating security into DevOps, as highlighted by a recent White House report.

Early Stage Biotech: 

Boston's biotech scene is always impressive. Here are the names you need to know this year.

C4 Therapeutics: Since December 2023, C4 Therapeutics has seen abundant growth. It inked new drug discovery partnerships with Merck & Co.’s US and German branches and grew its market cap by over 500%. While expanding its business reach, C4 has also been busy in the lab, advancing two promising homegrown drug candidates through early-stage clinical trials. As C4 moves into the future, it brings on two new members to its board of directors and enough cash to sustain operations into 2027. 

Carna Health: Carna Health is blazing a path forward and trying to position itself as a leader in chronic kidney disease (CKD) screening, management, and digital health innovation. In the past year, Carna Health collaborated with Nova Biomedical and Neodocs, as well as other point-of-care device manufacturers. Carna successfully implemented a CKD screening program in Bermuda that empowered local health providers to provide early detection and efficient management of CKD for over 250 individuals, identifying over 50% of participants with CKD. By combining AI-driven software with accessible testing solutions, Carna Health is not only improving individual patient care but also addressing global healthcare disparities and potentially saving billions in healthcare costs through early intervention.

CytoTronics: Cytotronics is trying to transform cellular biology with state-of-the-art semiconductor technology embedded in microplates that can capture live-cell data. Launched in late 2021 and backed by a $9.3M seed investment, the company unveiled its innovative drug discovery tool in February 2024, winning the Product Award at SLAS among over 400 exhibitors. CytoTronics' technology is gaining traction globally, with its early access beta program attracting diverse institutions across multiple continents. 

Kelonia Therapeutics: Boston-based Kelonia Therapeutics is a targeted gene delivery company trying to create off-the-shelf genetic medicines that are accessible to everyone. To achieve this goal, the company has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Astellas Pharma worth almost $800 million and unveiled preclinical data in mice and non-human primates that underscore the potential for its iGPS platform to bring safe, effective CAR T therapies to common medical practice for treatment of all multiple myeloma patients. 

Mythic Therapeutics: Mythic Therapeutics is pioneering a revolutionary approach to antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) with their FateControl™ technology platform, aiming to expand cancer treatment options for patients previously overlooked by existing therapies. In the past year, the Waltham-based company has made significant strides, presenting promising preclinical data for their lead candidate MYTX-011 at AACR and initial Phase 1 clinical trial results at ASCO. With over $120M in funding, a growing team of 40+ experts, and the recent appointment of industry veteran George Eliades as CEO, Mythic Therapeutics is poised to transform the cancer treatment landscape.

Orbital Therapeutics: Orbital Therapeutics launched in September 2022 and has since established itself as a company poised to unlock the potential of RNA-based medicines. The Cambridge-based company was thrust forward by its $270 million Series A funding in 2023. The company plans to build an expansive pipeline of medicines across various human diseases, including immunomodulation for autoimmune disease and oncology, next-generation vaccines, and protein therapeutics.  

Thymmune Therapeutics: Thymmune Therapeutics is a biotech company developing a machine learning-enabled thymic cell engineering platform to restore normal immune function in age-related immune decline and diseases.  In the last year, Thymmune received $37 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health marking the agency's first investment in this critical area of research. 

Ecosystem Supporters: 

There would be no Boston startup ecosystem without these community leaders.

Biobuilder Educational Foundation: For over a decade, the Biobuilder Educational Foundation has been educating a future-ready workforce that will solve the world's most serious challenges with science. The foundation launched its BioTechBuilder to provide skills-based training and credentialing to students who can complete the program with an industry-recognized certification. Participation in the BioBuilderClub, one of BioBuilder's flagship programs, grew 25% in the last year, expanding opportunities to develop novel biotechnologies and present their work to nearly 300 high school students from 11 states and four countries. 

Breaktime: Breaktime offers job and financial training to young adults to provide them with the tools necessary to prevent homelessness. In operation since 2019, Breaktime is renewing a $1 million grant with funding partner the Patrick J McGovern Foundation. In the past year, Breaktime has expanded its budget to over $6,000,000 annually. The program has served over 200 adults, helping most secure stable housing six months after completing the first stage of the program. 

Commonwealth Counsel: Commonwealth Counsel, a full-service public affairs consulting firm, actively shapes policies that promote growth and innovation in biotech, climate tech, and healthcare. In the past year, the Firm has expanded to include 13 new clients and enhanced its commitment to supporting community-focused organizations. The ecosystem supporter also diversified into renewable energy sectors while simultaneously shaping policies that foster growth in biotech, climate tech, and healthcare so that they can continue their work with the community. 

Excelestar Ventures: Excelestar Ventures is a venture capital firm committed to technological innovation with an emphasis on diverse entrepreneurs. The evidence is in the makeup of Excelestar’s portfolio, with 61% of its companies being minority-led and 50% female-led. Behind the Boston-based firm's dedication to its mission is Tasneem Dohadwala, the founding partner of Excelestar. Dohadwala is involved with the Boston community and mentors young founders through the Harvard Innovation Labs and Wellesley College. 

Glasswing Ventures: Glasswing Ventures is a first-capital-in investor in startups applying artificial intelligence and frontier technology. The venture firm open-sourced its AI Pallette, a proprietary framework that helps founders and enterprise buyers understand the world of AI. Glasswing's partners have demonstrated their commitment to fostering the next generation of tech leaders by teaching over 40 classes at prestigious universities and hosting 25 entrepreneurship events in Boston. The venture firm continues to serve the Boston AI community with the appointment of Rudina Seseri, the founder of Glasswing, to the Massachusetts AI Task Force. 

Howe Innovation Center, Perkins School for the Blind: The Howe Innovation Center is a recent extension of the Perkins School for the Blind, and its short existence has already made waves. Within the last year, the Howe Innovation Center struck up multiple partnerships with local and national organizations like Amazon, MIT, and MassChallenge to put on programming revolving around inclusive design. The innovation center also met with five senators, three congresspersons and the director of Disability Policy at the White house to discuss the current state of innovation in the disability space.  

Intel Ignite: Intel Ignite supports startups through its “co-founder-as-a-service” model, allowing program directors and mentors to leverage their industry knowledge, expertise and connections to help startups.  Within the past year the 19 startups who engaged in Intel Ignite’s Boston-based US program had an average of $7.5 million in funding, with $143 million in total funding. Altogether, the Intel Ignite portfolio raised over $500 million in the first quarter of 2024 and its litany of mentorship, exclusive workshops, resources, and programs have helped startup founders secure funding and prepare their go-to-market strategies. 

SmartLabs: SmartLabs was founded in 2015 based on the belief that modern science requires a new, adaptable resourcing infrastructure. Almost ten years later, the Boston-based company is continuing its forward march, appointing industry veteran Brian Taylor as CEO, setting the stage for strategic growth and announcing a $48 million in Series C financing. With the launch of its CleanSuites offering and plans to expand services beyond its facilities, SmartLabs is poised to play a crucial role in future-proofing the Boston life science industry.

Startup Boston: Startup Boston is dedicated to uniting the Greater Boston and New England startup communities. In the past year, the incubator says registrations for its seventh annual Startup Boston Week increased 37%. Expanding its impact, Startup Boston launched a year-long event series in collaboration with the City of Boston and hosted a unique showcase of the Greater Boston Accelerator Scene.

HealthTech: 

Companies that try to make living a healthy life easier for consumers and medical providers

Cohere Health: It’s been quite a year for the Health Tech scene, and Cohere Health is no exception. In the past year, Cohere raised $50 million in additional equity funding, bringing its total raise to $106 million. The startup expanded its partnerships with major health plans like Humana and Medical Mutual and unveiled a collaboration with Epic to integrate their solution into EHR workflows. Its platform also achieved impressive results, including 70% faster access to care for patients, 32,400 clinical review hours saved annually for a single health plan client and up to 80% automatic approval of prior authorization requests.

Folx Health: In the past year, Folx Health introduced eight new insurance partnerships and expanded its mental health offerings by launching a crisis text line for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The new text line helps Folx Health provide patients with around-the-clock care and real-time communication access to Folx Health staff. 

Formlabs: This year, Formlabs launched its new Form 4B, a new 3D printer for medical and dental applications. The printer is so fast that it can print a dental model every 49 seconds, six splints in 35 minutes, and 130 crowns in 20 minutes. Developing the newest printer also led to groundbreaking biocompatible materials approved by the FDA, Formlabs is spearheading a digital dentistry transformation that promises to enhance patient comfort and drastically reduce wait times.

Inari: Inari, the Cambridge-based SEEDesign™ company, is revolutionizing agriculture by combining artificial intelligence and gene editing to develop high-yield, sustainable crops. Their innovative approach has led to remarkable progress, including a tenfold increase in potential soybean yield-related gene edit targets in 18 months. With ambitious goals to significantly increase yields and improve resource efficiency for major crops, Inari is preparing to commercialize high-yield soybeans and conduct trials for corn and wheat. The company's potential has been recognized through substantial funding, including a recent $103 million Series F round, bringing its equity to over $575 million and maintaining a $1.65 billion valuation.

RxSense: RxSense has had a year filled with strategic partnerships and product launches that have ignited the company. The company partnered with Kroger to launch the Kroger health savings club and worked with Walgreens to launch a digital marketplace for discounted prescription medications, saving patients almost $70 million. RxSense and CEO Rick Bates were also highlighted by Forbes early in 2024. 

UWill: Now in its fifth year of operation, UWill, based in Boston, has grown to support over two million lives in all 50 states and 40 countries. Additionally, UWill struck the first-of-its-kind deal with the state of New Jersey to provide comprehensive mental health and wellness support to students at 45 public and private institutions. Uwill's recent acquisition of Christie Campus Health and expansion into K-12 and workplace mental health services underscore its rapid growth and commitment to addressing mental health needs across diverse populations.

Late Stage Biotech: 

Biotechnology companies in or approaching trial phases

Avalyn Pharma: Avalyn Pharma is working to provide solutions for patients with rare and severe respiratory illnesses. Within the last year, the biopharmaceutical company completed a $175 million Series C financing, the fifth-largest Series C among US biopharmaceutical companies in 2023, and began recruiting patients for a Phase 2b trial of its lead program, AP01. Avalyn has shown promising long-term data showing near-stabilization of lung function. With its diverse, inclusive leadership team, Avalyn is poised to redefine the landscape of respiratory disease treatment.

Beam Therapeutics: This Cambridge biotechnology company is getting closer to making its vision a reality by using base editing technology to propel the boundaries of genetic medicine forward. Beam Therapeutics treated its first patients in two clinical studies, including its lead program for sickle cell disease. Within the last year, Beam also sold rights to a partnered program to Eli Lilly for $600 million and expanded its board of directors. 

FogPharma: Founded by Harvard professor Greg Verdine in 2016, FogPharma produces its helicon platform of stabilized helical peptides for needy patients. The Cambridge biotech brought the first-ever Helicon drug to the clinic, appointed a new CEO, began a collaboration with ARTBIO and raised a $145 million Series E round. 

Generate:Biomedicines: This Somerville-based biotechnology company is leveraging generative AI to enhance programmable precision. The company moved from concept to clinic in just 17 months and is now operating from its new CryoEM facility in Andover, MA. The past year proved fruitful for Generate, as it published studies on its generative AI model for drug discovery, raised a $281 million Series C financing round and initiated new partnerships with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Life Biosciences: It’s a common misconception that aging is caused by random wear and tear. The people at Life Biosciences know that specific biological mechanisms cause it and are creating therapies to target those mechanisms. To advance its work on these therapies, the Boston-based company has advanced its partnership with gene therapy manufacturer Forge Biologics. It is making strides in its research, demonstrating the effect of cellular rejuvenation on visual function. 

Sarepta Therapeutics: Sometimes, it all comes down to what you can deliver, and Sarepta Therapeutics delivers a lot. The Cambridge-based biotechnology company develops gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In the past year, it received accelerated approval. It expanded approval for its drug that slows or halts the genetic disease, which now makes the drug available to 80% or more of all diagnosed Duchenne patients.

Robotics: 

Builders of robots to make everyday life and manufacturing easier.

Fluent Metal: Fluent Metal’s liquid metal printing process simplifies workflows, reduces costs, and makes high-quality metal parts more accessible. The company emerged from stealth in March of this year and generated interest from the automotive defense, jewelry and manufacturing industries. The emergence from stealth came on the heels of a $3.2 million Seed round for the 3D printing company.  

GelSight: GelSight uses proprietary elastomeric 3D imaging technology invented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to provide highly detailed images and surface characterization of any material. The Waltham company sold 1,500 devices this year, brought its revenue up 100% year over year compared to 2023 and won Hexagon’s Sixth Sense open innovation platform competition. After winning the competitions, Hexagon and GelSight worked together to establish a global partnership agreement. As it continues to blaze a trail in robotics, GelSight has added various new hardware and software features to its products. 

RightHandRobotics: Founded in 2015 by a DARPA challenge-winning team from the Harvard Biorobotics Lab, the Yale GRAB Lab, and MIT, RightHand Robotics is advancing the Boston Robotics scene one screw at a time. The Charlestown company inked a deal with Staples in February, upgraded its product line with a focus on a higher level of autonomy, expanded its picking range and opened a new headquarters in Charlestown. In addition, RightHand also raised a $66 million Series C and named a new CEO. 

Software: 

The companies that are pushing AI to the limits

Describe.ai: Describe.ai allows readers to read and search summaries of judicial opinions, making the process of reading legal briefs both faster and easier. The Newton company, founded by husband and wife Richard DiBona and Kara Peterson, launched in July 2023 and has since been a finalist and semi-finalist in a milieu of competitions, including being nominated for a Webby.

Featurebyte: FeatureByte launched in 2022 to make the historically time-consuming, tedious, and painful work for data scientists radically simple. Since its launch, the company has been nominated by the New England Venture Capital Association for “Emerging Tech Company of the Year,” launched its first product offering and was one of 10 participants for NBCUniversal’s LIFTLabs Enterprise AI Accelerator. 

Insurify: Insurify is blazing a trail in the software industry with its AI-powered platform that offers personalized insurance quotes from over 100 providers, streamlining a traditionally complex process. The company capitalizes on a massive market opportunity, with 46 million U.S. drivers switching car insurance annually. It has secured strategic partnerships with major players like MassMutual and Nationwide while expanding its product offerings. Insurify's innovation, market potential, and strategic growth, culminating in the acquisition of Compare.com in 2023, made for a blazing year. 

Labviva: Labviva doubled its revenue to $3.2 million in the past 12 months and is forecasting $6M-$7M by the end of 2024. The Boston-based company's AI-powered platform has attracted major clients, including three of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the US and Europe while maintaining 100% customer retention and increasing its monthly user base by 90%. Labviva's Inventory Management System, which streamlines real-time inventory management and integrates with leading procurement systems, has positioned the company as a leader in modernizing procurement for the life sciences sector, earning it recognition and a high valuation from investors.

Lambent: Lambent Spaces is making big strides in real estate tech through its software platform, which provides crucial insights for real estate and facilities management professionals. The company established a strong presence in higher education and is gaining traction in the corporate sector. Recently, it expanded its reach with the launch of Lambent Embedded, an API-based tool that integrates with various workplace management applications. The launch led to partnerships with major global real estate management firms and is projected to contribute 25% to Lambent's topline growth in 2024.

Reprise: Reprise has emerged as a trailblazer in the interactive demo creation space, earning recognition from industry giants like Gartner and G2 while attracting an impressive roster of clients, including Microsoft, Dell, and Shopify. The company's platform has become the go-to solution for enterprise-level demo automation, setting a new standard in how tech companies showcase their products. With a growing team and a clear vision for the future, Reprise is not just riding the wave of demo automation – they're creating it.

SmartBear: SmartBear's most remarkable accomplishment in the last year has been the introduction and rapid expansion of HaloAI, their AI-driven technology deployed across their entire product portfolio. HaloAI has shown significant results, with over 1,200 testers collectively saving thousands of hours by automating test cases in just the first two weeks of using HaloAI with SmartBear's Zephyr Scale. The company's commitment to AI-driven innovation, its strategic growth (including 10 acquisitions in just over five years) and an expanding global customer base has made it a company to watch.