A sold-out crowd of founders, innovators and other representatives of the city's startup community filled Suffolk Punch's Norfolk Room last night for Charlotte's first-ever Inno on Fire awards event.
It was a celebration of the individuals, enterprises and other entities that are doing exceptional work to drive change for the better in the Queen City's innovation scene, where we were able to specifically spotlight Inno on Fire winners across 10 categories.
This process began with nominations from the community last fall. The Charlotte Inno team used those submissions, as well as some editorial insight, to create the final Inno on Fire winner list that was released in November.
The winners are diverse groups of people from diverse organizations with diverse missions and perspectives — indicative, we at Charlotte Inno believe, of a robust and healthy ecosystem.
While last night was about celebrating these startups and entrepreneurs, it was also an opportunity to announce the category winners, otherwise known as "Inno Blazers." A panel of esteemed judges used the list of winners to then choose a specially designated “Inno Blazer” from each category. Inno Blazers received a (literal) red blazer to celebrate the nod. We are grateful to judges Holly Eskridge (City of Charlotte), Keith Luedeman (INCLT), Greg Brown (Charlotte Angel Fund), Robert Morris (Charlotte Business Journal), Terik Tidwell (Johnson C. Smith University), Pasha Maher (Carolina Fintech Hub), Barrett Pack (Dualboot Partners) and Elena Kacan (OrthoCarolina) for their insight.
We’ve recapped the Inno Blazers recipients below, adding an assortment of pictures, social media reactions and even the winner video for good measure.
Finally, we'd be remiss to not thank our founding partners, Ortho Carolina, EY, Carolina Fintech Hub and the City of Charlotte. We're also extremely grateful to our supporting partners, Dualboot Partners, NC IDEA and Tresata, as well as our event sponsors, Google Fiber and JLL.
Meet the Blazers
B2C — Companies that provide products and services to consumers
Skillpop: Led by entrepreneur Haley Bohon, Skillpop wants to “revolutionize in-person education” with pop-up classes of all stripes. And now, thanks to its 2019 expansion, the company will bring its education for all attitude to Atlanta (as well as its four other locations). Read more on Charlotte Inno.
Fintech — B2B companies in the payments and financial services industry
PrecisionLender: In October, Austin-based fintech company Q2 Holdings Inc. closed its acquisition of Charlotte-based banking insights software company PrecisionLender for $510 million. What does that mean for the company? More growth, according to its co-founder (and now executive vice president and GM post-acquisition) Carl Ryden.
Health Care — B2B companies working in the health care space
Carewell: An online shopping site where users can shop for home health products (and helmed by a husband and wife team), Carewell rebranded, sustained a 350% growth rate for the second consecutive year, expanded its team by six (from three to nine) and launched the Charlotte chapter of Aging2.0 — “global innovation platform for aging and senior care.” Additionally, they company was the first to be accepted into SheScales, R2C Group’s marketing accelerator.
B2B —Companies that solve problems for other businesses
Lucid Drones: Drones aren’t just for pretty pictures and leisure flights. For Lucid Drones, they’re the vehicle through which customers can wash their buildings and hard-to-reach windows. The concept, helmed by a trio of Davidson students, got the company featured in TechCrunch; inspired a $150,000 seed round and brought the team to the fabled Y Combinator accelerator (as well as Charlotte Inno’s first-ever Inno Under 25 roundup).
Early Stage — Companies with less than 10 employees or that are pre-Series A
Vishion: The company that creates a search engine that allows users to find furniture and other decor in the exact color they are looking for, Vishion, had a huge year. It launched. It joined The Brandery cohort in Cincinnati. It won the SoGal pitch competition in Washington, D.C. It launched its own design award. The list goes on. Read more on Charlotte Inno.
Growth Stage — Companies with strong product-market fit have grown to over 10 employees or are post-Series A
Ekos: The local startup’s software, which caters to breweries, wineries, cideries (and more) made headlines in October when it announced closing an $8 million Series A round. Atlanta-based venture capital firm, Noro-Moseley Partners, led the round. Additionally, the startup brought on a CFO to round out its leadership team. Read more on Charlotte Inno.
The Shakeup: The Best Pivot Story — Startups that have had to shift their business model or revamp their business
Skipper: The dog-walking company was “built on B2C.” But this year, the company has worked to focus on more B2B initiatives, such as partnerships and relationships with services inside multi-family buildings and more.
Social Impact — Mission-driven companies that have been making an impact in their communities
Bella Tunno: A provider of products for babies (think plates, bibs and more), 15-year-old Bella Tunno has provided one meal to children in need for every product purchased. Thanks to partnerships with groups like Feeding America, Bella Tunno has been able to donate 3.5 million meals — and counting.
Community Builder — Local leaders working to grow our ecosystem
Angel Rutledge: Nominated twice by her peers, Rutledge was consistently named a mentor whose "free, supportive content and advice" is the kind of practical help consistently, proactively given to entrepreneurs across the ecosystem.
Opportunity Challenge — Those improving the ecosystem by providing access to underrepresented founders
Stacy Cassio: Dubbed by her peers as a "force to be reckoned with," Pink Mentor Network founder Cassio established what would become her organization in 2017. Built on the concept of connecting and empowering women, the PMN has grown in size and event offerings, and Cassio was even the recipient of the ATHENA award for leadership. Read more on Charlotte Inno.
Check Out Our Celebratory Inno on Fire Winner and Blazer Video
Tweet Roundup
— Ekos (@go_ekos) January 24, 2020
Shoutout to @KennyRamsey22 and all my fellow innovators who are helping to shape the future of our Queen City! pic.twitter.com/5eVaNKEdCC
— Justin Kelsey (@justintkelsey) January 24, 2020
