The Gem City is shining brightly as it continues to live up to its rich history of innovation and collaborative idea sharing. Local startups, manufacturers, nonprofits and technology companies are leveraging millions of dollars in grants, government funds, venture capital and sweat equity to propel the region forward with new ideas.
To recognize the region’s fastest-growing, most innovative and impactful organizations, Dayton Inno introduces its second installment of the Fire Awards. It's a recognition for the companies and people setting the local innovation economy ablaze.
Honorees — 15 in total across four categories — were sourced by nominations within the startup Dayton ecosystem and selected by the Dayton Inno editorial team.
Today, there are rising stars in categories like aviation and defense, technology, food service, health care, finance and arts.
These are the honorees and the top Blazer winner in the category of Startups:
CJD Innovations LLC/Wet Wipe Wizard (Category Blazer Winner)
An innovative Dayton startup serving sanitation-related industries is continuing to raise funds and develop prototypes.
Founded by retired surgeon Christopher Danis, CJD Innovations LLC is approaching commercialization of its Wet Wipe Wizard, an automatic dispenser of wet wipes with the push of a button.
Danis says they finished their beta prototype this year. The group took second place in the University of Dayton Flyer Pitch Competition, earning $25,000 of non-equity funding.
Danis says they will display the prototypes at the World of Wipes International Conference in Atlanta this July.
Commercialization of the commercial products is estimated for 2024 with the health care product to follow in 2025. The group has filed its fourth patent for Wet Wipe Wizard.
Danis anticipates the product being used in a variety of spaces including hospitals, casinos, child care centers, schools, assisted living communities, hotels, offices and homes.
The Wet Wipe Wizard has three forms. The battery-powered tabletop and hanging versions are intended for basic commercial and personal uses while the mounted and hard-wired disinfecting version would be utilized in health care spaces.
Birchcreek Wealth Management
Local financial planning firm Birchcreek Wealth Management first opened its doors in 2019. In the last 12 months, the group has added two new wealth advisors and hit a quarter of a billion dollars in assets under management.
“Birchcreek stands out in the wealth management industry because we serve our clients as fee-only fiduciaries. We are one of only a handful of firms in the Dayton region operating under this standard,” says Sayre Payne of Birchcreek.
Birchcreek continues to grow as it looks to hire new advisors and is looking at expansion opportunities in Dayton and Cincinnati.
Payne said in the next 12-18 months Birchcreek is looking for a larger building in Dayton to expand.
With $250 million in assets under management, Birchcreek has grown 27% growth in the last 12 months.
Birchcreek was a 2021 finalist for Community Supporter of the Year by Dayton Business Journal.
Care Task
A Dayton startup has been providing non-emergency medical services to local seniors for the last two years. Founded by Tastee Smith, Care Task provides medical transportation and home service for seniors.
The group was a 2023 winner at the University of Dayton Flyer Pitch Competition where it took home a $11,600 cash and in-kind prize. Care Task serves seniors in three surrounding counties for more than one year with a near 100% satisfaction rate.
Care Task also has benefitted from local entrepreneurship programs at Greater West Dayton Incubator, Urban Elevation Accelerator, Dayton Score, and a Cultural Capital microloan.
Care Task offers a range of services from notary work to home health care. Non-emergency medical transportation will launch in March. By the end of the year, Smith aims to operate a full senior service agency, according to Launch Dayton.
“I want to bring jobs to west Dayton and do community outreach events for children and seniors,” Smith told Launch Dayton.
Simplicity Health
A Centerville medical office is changing the way patients receive care and making it more affordable.
Dr. Charles Opperman opened Simplicity Health Direct Primary Care in September 2020, striving to revolutionize how health care is provided to patients by providing elite-level care at an affordable cost. Simplicity Health is Centerville’s first direct primary care office and offers a membership-based office subscription.
The office has same-day appointments and an on-site lab and pharmacy. Insurance is not a requirement.
In the last 12 months, Simplicity Health has moved its offices to triple capacity. The group also hired two new employees, including Dr. Josh Wenzell.
Dr. Opperman was a 2023 Health Care Hero by the Dayton Business Journal.
To reflect its affordable prices, patients at Simplicity Health have an average cost of $42.57 per year for all of their labs. Pharmacy services have an average cost of $40.65 per patient per year for an entire year supply of medications, according to Opperman.
“Assuming this average cost, Simplicity Health has saved their patients (both insured and uninsured) a total of $53,585 over the course of the year,” Opperman said.
Axe.AI LLC
The Dayton startup Axe.AI LLC was founded with the goal of combatting the growing number of cyber-attacks.
Axe.AI LLC is backed by a Washington D.C.-based red team security services provider. The artificial intelligence (AI) cybersecurity startup is approaching the initial rollout of its AI platform.
Alex Fry, founder of Strong Crypto Innovations (SCI) in Washington D.C., was approached by his director of operations Brett Ewing in 2021 with an idea to automate manual tasks in cybersecurity to focus on upskilling workers. That’s how the two went on to co-found Axe.AI LLC. Their platform is meant to help companies find and understand security vulnerabilities amid other assurances.
Ewing, a native Daytonian, said he chose his hometown as the headquarters of Axe.AI to take advantage of the state’s financial incentives provided to tech companies and the network of support from The Hub.
The Axe.AI platform shows companies their vulnerabilities and qualifications through the calculation of an AXESS Score. The score is a combination of four assessment layer results and a proprietary scoring algorithm using hundreds of risk factors outside of technical controls including history, training and response.
