The 2024 Fire Award finalists have been revealed.
ACBJ
Startups provide a certain spark to the Cincinnati economy, and Cincy Inno is ready to honor dozens of the region’s hottest, fastest-growing and most innovative companies – and the founders behind them – as part of our 2024 Fire Awards.
The Fire Awards, first launched in 2018, stand as our most premier program of the year. The finalists – 27 in total spanning five categories, including startup of the year and best overall tech – were nominated by readers and hand-selected by the Cincy Inno editorial team.
For each, the nod represents a banner year complete with big fundraises, hires, acquisitions and/or high-profile product debuts.
The winners will be announced and profiled in the June 21 print edition of the Business Courier. You can check out the 2023 class here.
Startup of the year
Honoring the top companies and entrepreneurs in the region for banner achievements that push Cincinnati to the next level.
Previous winners: Standard Bariatrics, Vndly
- Griid Infrastructure: Norwood-based bitcoin miner Griid made its public market debut in January and is now trading on both the Toronto-based Cboe Canada exchange and Nasdaq Global Market. The company operates four mining sites, although more are in the works, including a fifth location in west Tennessee that’s expected to begin operations this year. For 2023, the firm reported revenue of $19.6 million.
- Enable Injections: Enable Injections continues to scale as it tracks toward a future IPO. In February, the medical device maker announced plans to invest $120 million to build out a new manufacturing facility in Springdale. Enable expects to move in by the end of 2024. Between the new location and its current Evendale HQ, Enable expects to retain and add more than 450 jobs over the next 10 years in the Cincinnati area – more than doubling its current headcount of 200.
- Amify: Amify, a tech startup, helps brands like P&G and Energizer optimize their sales on Amazon. In April, the company announced its acquisition by Houston-based unicorn Cart.com. Amify currently supports more than 50 global brands and has managed about $1 billion in gross merchandise value since it was founded in 2011. In May 2023, the company closed a $10 million Series B led by Houston’s Mercury Fund, locally based CincyTech and SaaS Ventures out of Washington, D.C.
- Kurome Therapeutics: In February, Kurome, a Cincinnati Children’s spinout, cleared its first major hurdle with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It received an OK for its IND, or investigational new drug application, for KME-0584, a first-in-class investigational drug for patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a rare blood cancer, and high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), or a group of blood disorders. The notice means the company can proceed with a Phase 1 clinical trial. Kurome said it plans to initiate that study across multiple sites starting in the latter half of 2024. And there’s more news ahead. It’s likely a fundraise announcement – to support those studies – will follow in close pursuit.
- Nichefire: Nichefire is making a big splash and it continued to ramp up since its 2018 debut. The company has grown revenue year-over-year by 220% and has signed deals with customers like Walmart, Nestlé and Kraft Heinz. In July 2023, it raised a seed fund with participation from Indianapolis- and Cincinnati-based Allos Ventures; Keyhorse Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in Kentucky companies; and Bluegrass Angels, a Lexington-based angel investing group.
- Coterie: Coterie continues to grow like a rocket ship, and the insurtech is grabbing marketshare from some of the most established names in the business. With its recent $27M Series B+ raise – announced in March, and the largest round so far of 2024 – the company has a bigger war chest to keep growing the business.
Best tech
Honoring the companies that have demonstrated the highest levels of innovation over the last 12 months.
Previous winners: Sense Neuro Diagnostics, Pieces
- Tembo: Tembo, the latest venture from Astronomer founder Ry Walker, is building technology to help companies get more out of Postgres, an open-source database. Many enterprises and organizations have adopted Postgres, but it’s complex to build on. Tembo is on a mission to make its use more accessible. Tembo last year raised $7 million from backers like Fireroad, a newly launched venture fund; and veteran seed-stage firm CincyTech.
- Clean Earth Rovers: Clean Earth Rovers launched in the Florida and Southern California markets in 2023; surpassing six-figures in sales in its first year. In addition, the startup has landed contracts with some major West Coast municipalities, including Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Long Beach and more.
- Abre: Abre, an edtech platform for K-12 schools, was initially developed by two Hamilton City Schools teachers. Its tech now helps schools centralize previously siloed data – taken from hundreds of other edtech platforms used across a school district – and helps make it transparent and accessible to all stakeholders in a learning community. In April, the startup raised a $24 million Series A round, bringing its total funding to date to $30.5 million.
- Cloverleaf: Cloverleaf, which offers automated coaching technology for workers and teams, in March secured a $7.3 million Series A extension round. Since its last raise, secured in June 2022, the company has tripled its revenue, landing at No. 468 on the Inc. 5000 in 2023, considered one of the most prestigious rankings of private companies in the U.S. Co-founder and CEO Darrin Murriner feels strongly the company will make a repeat appearance in 2024.
- Pantomath: Pantomath, a data startup launched by ex-GE Aerospace employee Somesh Saxena, in September 2023 completed a $14 million Series A – its second raise in a 16-month span. The company’s ensuing move to new office space in Mason more that triples its footprint in the region.
- Electrada: Electrada, a developer, owner and operator of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, last year landed follow-on funding from famed investment group BlackRock – to date, the New York-based firm has pumped tens of million into the company. Electrada continues to grow its “charging-as-a-service” model. The startup pays for, installs and maintains the EV infrastructure so commercial fleets nationally can convert to clean, electric transportation – without making the capital investment themselves. Its customers include Ferguson, one of North America’s largest distributors of plumbing and HVAC supplies, among others.
Venture capital firm
Honoring firms and organizations playing a sometimes under-the-radar role in propping up fledgling companies or spurring new events or innovations.
Previous winners: Main Street Ventures, EGateway Capital
- Fireroad: Fireroad is quickly becoming one of the most active early-stage venture investors in the region. It closed 10 investments in its first year, even before closing out its inaugural fund. Its backed by a veteran team, including Tim Metzner, formerly of Coterie; Astronomer co-founder Ry Walker; Ocean Accelerator’s Christy Johnson to create Fireroad Ventures, an early-stage venture fund. Its portfolio co’s include Northern Kentucky’s Narratize, New York’s Anonymous Agent (an Ocean Accelerator alum) and Tembo, another Fire Award nominee.
- EGateway Capital: EGateway, a Northern Kentucky firm, is currently raising a $100 million fund and with good progress. It has raised $66.7 million toward that total to date, according to a January filing with the SEC – a feat especially given the current venture environment. EGateway, which launched in 2021, is singularly focused on the e-commerce value chain, or how goods are marketed, sold, transacted and delivered. The firm wants to invest in the technologies, platforms and marketplaces that surround it – while also raising the region's status as an e-commerce capital.
- Queen City Angels: In 2022, Queen City Angels put the finishing touches on the largest fund in its 22-year history. But its past efforts have helped back companies like Kurome Therapeutics and Cloverleaf – 2024 Fire Award finalists – and Standard Bariatrics, the winner of the Startup of the Year award in 2023.
- Cintrifuse Capital: Since its launch in October 2023, Cintrifuse Capital, the newly rebranded investment arm of Over-the-Rhine-based startup catalyst Cintrifuse, has invested $4.75 million in 12 local companies out of its Fund III, attracting more than $33 million in outside capital. In April, the firm landed a $10 million windfall from the state, which it will use to create another $20 million fund to back companies at the earliest stages.
- Main Street Ventures: MSV awards grants to early-stage companies that are often too young for traditional venture capital or bank financing. In 2023, the group awarded more than $1.1 million in grants to 64 companies. Sean Parker, executive director at Main Street Ventures, said the organization had a “staggering” number of businesses – 400 overall – apply for funding last year, “a testament to the thriving startup ecosystem and the vast need for support in the region."
Health care & biotech
Honoring companies and ideas that aim to deliver better care, improve health and lower costs.
Previous winners: Genetesis, Standard Bariatrics
- Bexion Pharmaceuticals: Bexion, a clinical-stage biopharma firm that ranks as one of the region’s best-funded startups, is making promising progress. In the last year, the company, which is developing targeted cancer therapies, named its first chief medical officer. The hire is key as it moves forward with its clinical programs: Bexion’s lead drug candidate, BXQ-350, aims to reduce the intensity and/or duration of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, or CIPN, a common side effect of many forms of chemotherapy treatment. BXQ-350 is also a potential combination therapy for newly diagnosed metastatic colorectal cancer, or mCRC. Colorectal cancer is considered the second-leading cause of death among cancers; only 15% of mCRC patients live past the five-year mark of their diagnosis.
- TRPV Pharmaceuticals: Unicorn startups in the Cincinnati region have been few and far between, but the founders behind TRPV Pharmaceuticals both believe their company could be worth billions. The company, which is development of new drug for heart failure, signed a licensing deal with University of Cincinnati in early 2024, and is in the process of amassing a sizable Series A funding round. If all goes according to plan, TRPV could begin phase 2 clinical trials by the end of the year.
- Carefeed: Carefeed, which has developed a resident and family engagement platform tailored to the senior living industry, had a strong 2023 with triple-digit growth. The company in August 2023 added Steve Haynes to a new role in its C-suite focused on corporate development, while tapped a new VP of sales in April.
- Ms.Medicine: The Ms.Medicine brand has gone national in recent years – by September, its network will include 16 practices in 10 states – but there’s also been some significant expansions locally. The health care/femtech startup, which focuses heavily on women’s health, opened a Concierge Medicine of Cincinnati practice in Mason in September 2023, and there are plans to open a third location in the region in 2024.
CPG/Marketing
Honoring the most promising emerging lifestyle, food and beverage brands.
Last year’s winner: Nettie Pickleball Co.
- CourtAvenue: Digital agency CourtAvenue continues to grow its team both locally and across the country – it employs more than 110 – with a client roster that includes Kia, Epson and the U.S. Air Force. This year, the agency is a finalist for the Business Courier’s Fast 55 award, a ranking of the region’s fastest-growing companies by revenue, and in 2023, CourtAvenue was tagged by Adweek as the fastest-growing agency in America with 6,000% three-year growth.
- Claritas: Claritas, a data-driven marketing company, has been quietly building since its spinoff from Nielsen in 2017. It’s now all-in on artificial intelligence, acquiring Bay Area-based ArtsAI in September 2023 – another firm that ranked on the Inc. 5000 – while adding its first chief AI officer, Rex Briggs, to kick off the new year.
- Remote Vans: The co-founders behind Remote Vans come from tech-heavy backgrounds with ties to the former Brandery accelerator. Now they’re building out an adventure RV brand that’s looking to make remote work more comfortable, and much better looking. The company recently moved into new digs in St. Bernard, which will help boost production. The property also comes with an acre of land for future expansion.
- Cooler Keg: The idea for Cooler Keg came after a long day on the lake. Now, the founders behind the idea are shipping their portable draft bar – which fits inside a classic-sized stainless-steel picnic cooler – around the country. In January, the company launched a collab with Calif.-based Ottonomy to roll out the Ottobot Brew, an automatic draft beverage robot, on the CES show floor. While it could be a fun one-off, CES is the global stage for new innovation, which could prove the ultimate positive exposure.
- Pahhni Water: Two former ex-P&Gers launched premium bottled alkaline water brand Pahhni in 2022. The company, in one year’s time, grew its retail footprint to 230 locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The startup is looking to stand out in a crowded market. Its differentiator? Pahhni sources its water from the city of Hamilton, which has twice earned gold-medal recognition from the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting competition, billed as the Academy Awards of Water.
- Mad Rabbit Tattoo: Mad Rabbit Tattoo was founded at Miami University by former students Selom Agbitor and Oliver Zak, and while the company now formally calls the West Coast home, it continues to pull in plenty of local interest. Cincinnati-based H Venture Partners participated in its most recent $10 million Series A, and Mad Rabbit ranked No. 4 on the inaugural RedHawk50, released in March, Miami’s first-even ranking of the 50 fastest-growing companies owned or operated by its alumni.
