Boston's breeding some of the most cutting-edge companies in the country the world.
Digital and print business magazine FastCompany unveiled on Monday its list of the World's Most Innovative Companies of 2014. The staff spent over six months garnering and analyzing data on enterprises from coast to coast, ultimately whittling down the list to 50 – four of which hail from Boston and Cambridge.
The list's results point to companies that have pursued an idea with passion; a product or service that they have unfaltering faith in. Though "some overvalued companies and overhyped inventions will eventually tumble and money will be lost," writes FastCompany, "breakthrough progress often requires wide-eyed hope." And the featured firms, from big to small, do just that.
The four Boston companies that made the overall list were as follows:
#35 – XL Hybrids
Coming in at number 35 on the list is Boston-based XL Hybrids, a company that retrofits commercial vans and tractor trailers with electric motors and a lithium-ion battery pack, turning them into hybrids. The gas-guzzlers-turned-green-machines see a 20 percent decrease in fuel use after their XL Hybrid makeover. The company picked up some speed in 2013, growing revenues twentyfold and inking deals with FedEx and Coca-Cola. In December, XL Hybrids also secured a $3 million Series C debt financing from WindSail Capital Group. Since its start in 2008, the cleantech company has raised around $8 million in both equity and debt funding.
#43 – Harvest Power
Rather than piling up in the leftovers and yard scraps in a city dump, Harvest Power converts the waste into energy. Harvest Power's largest digester is based in a suburb of Vancouver and supplies power to 200,000 people. The company has nearly 40 plants across North America and produces 65,000 megawatt hours of power and 29 million bags of soil, mulch and fertilizer, all of which it sells to farmers and landscapers. Founded in 2008, Harvest Power earned $130 million in revenue in 2013. The company raised an eye-catching $110 million from from Kleiner Perkins and Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management among others in 2012.
#44 – iRobot
iRobot may have a long legacy here in Boston, but the robotics company has kindled its innovative spirit over the years. Started out of MIT in 1990, the firm has become an anchor here in Massachusetts, navigating the production of hardware and robotics for both commercial and military sale. At Las Vegas's International CES this year, iRobot debuted its refurbished floor-cleaning consumer robot, the Scooba. In the past year, the enterprise's revenue rose roughly $50 million to almost $500 million, with its investments in new technologies totaling at $60 million.
#47 – Philo (formerly Tivli)
Started out of a cable-lacking Harvard dorm room, Philo – formerly known as Tivli – provides a seamless and simple service that brings live television content to devices that students actually use to consume media – smartphones, tablets and laptops. According to FastCompany, Philo has worked with cable providers to serve more than a dozen campuses, and currently has a 90 percent adoption rate at its Cambridge alma mater. The model is attractive to both cable providers and the collegiate customers themselves. The next steps? Philo plans to integrate social features and targeted ads, as well as bring the service to other community networks such as hotels, hospitals and airplanes. The startup, founded in 2010, raised $3.6 million in June 2013 in a round led by New Enterprise Associates with participation from Mark Cuban’s Radical Investments, HBO, CBC New Media Group and WME, among others.
Boston companies also made FastCompany's industries top-ten lists, including LogMeIn (#9 in The Internet of Things). iRobot and XL Hybrids were repeat winners, landing the #9 in Consumer Electronics and the #3 spot in Energy, respectively.
