One characteristic that defines Chicago's business community is how much of a mixed bag it can be, as no single sector dominates more than 13% of the local economy.
That was on display at this year's Chicago Inno Fire Awards, as TechNexus founders Terry Howerton and Fred Hoch highlighted during their fireside chat with me at our 2024 Inno Fire event, which honored 50 innovators that have blazed a path forward this year despite the drop in fundraising and difficult macro environment startups have faced this past year.
"On fire" could mean a lot of different things in 2024, but the 50 companies on this year's listed ranged from a prayer-based app to a sustainable fashion materials startup to a smokeless tobacco company, and all had big years with even bigger plans ahead.
And as always, the event was highlighted by the Blazer reveal.
While the 50 companies highlighted on this year's list collectively have raised hundreds of millions of dollars, expanded their portfolios, launched new venture funds and more, only five could be Blazer winners.
As a reminder, our categories this year included "fire starters," "embers," "clean energy," "burning hot" and "ready to explode" — and the ventures in each of our five Fire Awards categories are truly shaping Chicago tech this year. Check below for a look at who took home our blazers, and thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate!
Fire starters
Accelerators, investors and ecosystem supporters that are sparking Chicago's innovation ecosystem
There may not have been a fire starter that has had a bigger year than The Bloch Quantum Tech Hub. Although the coalition of industry, academic, government and nonprofit stakeholders led by the Chicago Quantum Exchange missed out on federal funding earlier this year, it received $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration to strengthen the consortium and attract additional capital. The Bloch seeks to advance quantum computing in Chicago, a mission that Gov. Pritzker has long been campaigning.
Through advances in quantum technology, The Bloch hopes to to address challenges across sectors for things like fraud protection (finance), grid resilience (energy) and drug discovery (biotech) and provide feedback on quantum tech with the goals of commercialization and technology adoption. Designated one of 31 tech hubs across the country, The Bloch was created to leverage the region’s strengths, talent and existing economy.
Embers
Early-stage companies ready to make their mark
Skokie, Illinois-based 3D printing startup Azul 3D aims to change the 3D printing game. The company says its printers print at a bigger scale and faster speed. Its High-Area Rapid Printing technology — originally developed at Northwestern University — converts liquid plastic into solid objects using ultraviolet light, enabling users to build objects. The startup raised $15 million at the tail end of 2023 to increase production.
Clean energy
Chicago startups finding alternative forms of energy and companies fighting climate change
LanzaJet is flying high heading into 2025. One of Time's 100 most influential companies of 2024, LanzaJet opened the world's first ethanol-to-sustainable aviation fuel plant and wants to provide a new solution for airlines to shrink their carbon footprints. The Chicago startup received $30 million from Southwest Airlines in February. Before that, the company partnered with British Airways to bring sustainable aviation fuel to the United Kingdom.
Burning hot
Growth-stage companies that are pulling in new funding, approaching a major milestone or ready to expand
Few startups have been able to break through the venture capital funding dam, but Artisight was one of them. The Chicago startup is using artificial intelligence, ambient sensors, computer vision and natural-language processing to create a smart-hospital platform for health care centers. The company completed a $42 million raise to begin the year with the goal of reducing clinician documentation and coordination tasks, giving caregivers more time for direct patient care.
Ready to explode
Late-stage companies that are leading the way and could be the next to IPO
Finally, for our "ready to explode" category, every startup listed fit the bill of what we were looking for, but ShipBob has been growing ever since its founding in 2014 in Chicago through Y Combinator. With a network of more than 50 fulfillment centers across the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia, including two new Innovation Centers announced this week, the logistics startup is preparing to go public with a $4 billion valuation. ShipBob closed $200 million in Series E funding in 2023, bringing its valuation to more than $1 billion.
The 2024 Fire Awards
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