On Sept. 27, Cincy Inno came to Union Hall in to celebrate the 50 on Fire 2018 winners at our inaugural 50 on Fire awards event.
It was a celebration of the individuals, enterprises and other entities that are driving change for the better in the Queen City’s innovation scene, where we were able to specifically spotlight Cincy Inno’s 50 on Fire winners across seven categories.
This process began with nominations from the community. The Cincy Inno team then culled the list to the remaining 50, highlighted in this post naming the winners and covering the accomplishments that deemed them “on fire.”
The list is comprised of a diverse group of people from diverse organizations with diverse missions and perspectives, a symptom that we at Cincy Inno believe is indicative of a robust and healthy ecosystem.
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. Sherry Sims, founder and CEO, Black Career Women’s Network; Christi Brown, founder and CEO, iReport Source; Thomas Dalziel, executive director, Center for Entrepreneurship & Commercialization at the University of Cincinnati; and Andy Brownfield, reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier all served as judges.
Additionally, Eric Weissmann, vice president of communication, community and economic inclusion at Cintrifuse kicked the night off with a wonderful toast celebrating #StartupCincy.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t also thank our judges, participants and event sponsor, Cintrifuse, for helping 50 on Fire burn bright.
Curious as to the category winners? Worry not — We’ve recapped the Inno Blazers, and an early assortment of pictures from the event, below.
Education/Government
- Abre: A startup that developed an open-source tool for educators. This year, the company has unveiled a host of new programs and offerings, like its Abre Everywhere initiative that looks to help teachers build curriculum from their interesting experiences outside the classroom. [Read more here.]
Fintech
- Wunderfund: This startup allows “anybody” to invest in startups. This year, the company will open an additional Boston office, and Wunderfund and tech accelerator UpTech announced a partnership. Those accepted into the UpTech’s program will have the opportunity to launch an equity crowdfunding campaign via Wunderfund, using UpTech’s final milestone investment of $10,000 as a seed kickstarter. [Read more here.]
Food and Drink
- Nikki Ridenour: Nikki has had extensive experience in the local ecosystem, working with LISNR and launching Plantalytics, which she developed during gener8tor’s inaugural Cincy gBeta accelerator program. Plantalytics helps small- to medium-sized farms keep better records. It’s an imperative move as the FDA will require detailed reports beginning in 2020. Should farmers refuse to comply with these new regulations, they could face jail or large fines. Plantalytics, which is currently undergoing beta testing, wants to make this process of digitizing easy. [Read more here.]
Health Sciences
- Eccrine Systems: This startup develops and manufactures “advanced sweat sensors for medicine, industry and sport.” These sensors allow better analytics of sweat which in turn provide “market-enabling predictive values that have been validated in on-body studies.” In 2017, Eccrine Systems won the Frost & Sullivan 2017 North American Technology Innovation Award and raised more than $3 million in funding.
Inno Pick
- Candice Matthews: Founder of both the Hillman Accelerator, which is on its second cohort and focuses on underrepresented technology founders, and the Black Founders Network, Matthews is an experienced entrepreneur and startup maven, as well as advocate and mentor to other founders.
Nonprofit
- Aviatra Accelerators: Aviatra has a statewide scope, allowing women entrepreneurs to establish, develop and scale their businesses through mentorship, access to capital and more. It’s worked with more than 1,500 women since 2010, helping to secure around $850,000 in low-interest loans. “Our women have received over $6 million in follow-on funding and have generated over $68 million in sales revenue upon completion of our program,” its website states. [Read more here.]
Tech Startup
- LISNR: I’ll let LISNR itself describe its tech: “It’s an advanced, near-ultrasonic, ultra-low power data transmission technology that enables fast, reliable and secure communication between devices via any speaker and/or microphone.” It’s had a massive few years, bringing in $14.4 million, and is considered Cincinnati’s highest-funded startup with oodles of press (most recently, a CNBC-curated list with the likes of Elon Musk’s SpaceX).
