Cleveland Inno — the Cleveland Business Journal’s dedicated source for covering entrepreneurship and innovation across Northeast Ohio — is proud to unveil the Blazer winners for its inaugural Fire Awards program.
These honorees are being recognized from a field of candidates that are sparking innovation locally and whose work is setting the entrepreneurial economy ablaze.
Following a request for Fire Awards nominations earlier this year, Cleveland Inno writers and editors reviewed companies for consideration. Among the factors discussed in our review were new initiatives, funding rounds, community impact and company growth.
Across two categories of finalists, 11 organizations were selected for recognition. You can learn more about those ventures here. We now present the Blazer Award winner for each of the two categories.
Investors and Supporters
The 2022 Blazer Award winner is ... Society Brands.
The Canton-based company launched in fall 2020 and targets e-commerce native brands for acquisition and aggregation opportunities. The company earlier this year raised $204 million in a funding round led by i80 Group. In announcing that investment, the company, led by CEO Michael Sirpilla, said it aims to grow its portfolio to more than $1 billion in revenue in the years ahead. A recent run of acquisitions for the company has seen it purchase three brands in July, make a targeted acquisition in August and buy three more brands earlier this month.
Learn more about Society Brands from our recent interview with Sirpilla, available here.
Innovators and Entrepreneurs
The 2022 Blazer Award winner is ... Land Energy.
The electric bike and swappable battery startup closed its first investment round earlier this year. The company's first e-bike, called District, can be used as an e-bike, e-moped or e-motorcycle depending on the ride mode selected. The company, with Scott Colosimo as founder and CEO, is aiming to use the investment in part to scale production and expand its Internet of Things platform and manufacturing footprint in Cleveland. Those real estate plans include bringing back to life a historic manufacturing site in Cleveland's MidTown neighborhood.
Learn more about Land Energy from our recent interview with Colosimo, available here.
Interested in bringing your company's story to our attention? Reach staff reporter Mary Vanac at mvanac@bizjournals.com.
