Later this month, the city’s startup and innovation community will gather to celebrate the 2022 BostInno Fire Awards honorees.
The selected companies were chosen based on nominations you and other readers sent in. They 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. Honorees were chosen across nine categories.
Today, we'll meet the honorees that make consumer products that change how people live their lives. Or, you can file them under “things you’re most likely to put in your online shopping cart.” They are knitting apparel for Olympians, developing bras for women with 30-40 DD-I cups, providing a refill service for personal care and home care products and more.
Join BostInno for a cocktail reception on Wednesday, Nov. 30, to recognize this year's honorees and to see who our judges name as the winner, or Inno Blazer, in each category.
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Behave Bras
After appearing on Shark Tank earlier this year and landing a fast deal with Kevin O’Leary, Attleboro-based Behave Bras went from $56,000 in revenue in 2021 to more than $1 million in revenue through the first half of 2022. CEO Athena Kasvikis projected the company, which makes bras with an innovation design in 30-40 DD-I cups, would finish the year with $2 million in revenue.
Metalenz
This company only emerged from stealth in 2021, but it already has more than 20 patents on innovations that simplify and improve optical devices and enable advanced sensing across multiple markets with its metasurface technology. Its work is built on research from the Capasso Lab at Harvard University. The Boston-based company said its technology will be in millions of consumer devices this year.
Sh*t That I Knit
This woman-owned and operated company employs 400 artisans in Lima, Peru, to handcraft its knit designs. STIK was an official licensee of Team USA for the delayed 2020 Winter Olympics, providing beanies and mittens featuring hand-embroidered Team USA stitching with the official U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team logos. The company was also recently named a licensee of the NFL. And yes, that means merino wool beanies featuring the Patriots logos.
Good Filling
This Woburn-based company provides a refill service for personal care and home care products through automated refill machines. Two years ago, Petros Palandjian started Good Filling by refilling bottles in the basement of his South End apartment. In the last year, Good Filling launched self-service refill machines at seven locations throughout Boston and one in New Jersey. The company plans to add 12 more locations in September 2022.
REEKON Tools
This Boston-based, self-funded hardware startup was founded during the pandemic by MIT engineers and an Army veteran. First, it added digital capabilities to a power saw. In May 2022, REEKON Tools launched its digital tape measure and has already generated at least $2.5 million in pre-orders from over 11,000 backers. This company appears to be turning into a favorite for builders and DIY enthusiasts.
