These are the 2023 Fire Awards honorees in the Igniters category. Read about all of this year's honorees here.
Bach
Industry: technology
Headquarters: Philadelphia
Bach launched in 2020 as an app to help friends and brides-to-be as they plan a bachelorette party. It was intended to serve as a resource where attendees could vote on what to do during the getaway, allow them to book an Airbnb rental and flights, as well as split bills. After success in that realm, Bach founder Mike Petrakis told PHL Inno earlier this year that the company is working to expand Bach’s purposes beyond just bachelorette parties to other group getaways. The app currently lets users book experiences in 25 different cities including Las Vegas, Nashville and Scottsdale, Arizona. In just three years, it has already surpassed 500,000 trips booked on the platform. To help with Petrakis’ desired growth trajectory, the company raised a $9 million Series A this spring on the heels of an $8 million seed round last year. In addition to raking in venture backing, Bach quadrupled revenue in 2022 and is aiming to at least triple it in 2023, Petrakis said.
CampusESP
Industry: education technology
Headquarters: Philadelphia
Higher education is facing head-on the so-called “enrollment cliff” — a decrease of 15% or more in college-aged individuals starting in 2025. As schools batten down for a dearth of students in the coming years, Philadelphia ed-tech startup CampusESP has positioned itself as one solution. The platform serves to supplement and bolster recruitment strategies for colleges and universities by communicating directly with parents throughout the application process. Its model has gained success and CampusESP now has partnerships with 315 higher education institutions, including Penn State University, Drexel University, and the University of Delaware. It also recently launched a product that specifically caters to two-year college students. As the company continues to grow – it experienced 76% growth over the past year alone – the startup recently took office space at the Graham Building at One Penn Square West as it caters to a growing team that is now up to 45 employees. CampusESP is on track to hit $10 million in revenue this year.
Cecilian Partners
Industry: information technology
Headquarters: New Hope
Cecilian Partners was founded in 2019 as an information technology firm that works specifically in solutions for the real estate industry. Its XO software is a construction management platform that allows real-time sharing for builders “to submit their information for home sales, building specification, contracts, and more,” according to its website. It also has an Xplorer mapping software and land management software Parcel IQ. This year it launched Customer Blueprint and Lot Vault. Customer Blueprint offers resident engagement and community management tools from both an app and website for confirming facility reservations, maintenance requests and more. Its Lot Vault platform offers lot banking solutions for community builders and investment firms. Cecilian Partners today has a valuation of $30 million, according to the company. Cecilian Partners reported it had tripled revenue in the last 12 months and grew its client base over 65%.
InductEV
Industry: renewable automotive technology
Headquarters: King of Prussia
InductEV CEO Barry Libert has big plans for the King of Prussia company he began leading a year ago. He wants the firm – which makes charging pads that allow electric vehicles to charge wirelessly while still running – to be the region’s next startup unicorn, a company with a valuation of $1 billion or more. Revenue at InductEV, formerly known as Momentum Dynamics, is projected to grow from $2.5 million in 2022 to more than $25 million in 2023, Libert said. The company expects revenue to reach $100 million by the end of next year. There’s certainly no shortage of runway in the space. The global electric vehicle market is projected to swell from $193 billion in 2022 to more than $693 billion by 2030, according to Vantage Market Research. As InductEV forges ahead, last year it made several leadership changes, including appointing Libert as CEO and former General Motors Chief Engineer of Electric Vehicles Chuck Russell as president. Earlier this year, InductEV raised nearly $19 million in funding and recently moved into a 50,000-square-foot research and development facility, which the firm believes is the nation’s first such space solely devoted to electric vehicle charging. Its clients have included Indianapolis Public Transportation Corp., Martha’s Vineyard Transit Authority and Kansas City International Airport.
LoanStar Technologies
Industry: financial services
Headquarters: Swarthmore
Founded in 2016, LoanStar Technologies has been steadily growing over the past few years, reporting revenue of nearly $6.5 million in 2022. It has roughly doubled its revenue each year since 2020 and became profitable in June 2021. The company, located in Swarthmore, helps smaller banks and credit unions compete with national lenders through its turnkey MerchantLinQ, a locally branded lending solution and toolkit. The platform allows consumers to instantly apply for large purchase financing at lower rates than larger institutions at the point of sale, something that helps them reach the underbanked and unbanked. That includes points of sale like contractors and retailers across home improvement projects as well as elective medical procedures and the purchase of recreational vehicles. Its sizable growth landed LoanStar Technologies as the second-fastest growing local company on the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Soaring 76 list last year.
