These are the 2024 Fire Awards honorees in the Ablaze category. Ablaze companies have established themselves as major players and are pulling in big funding, making acquisitions and eyeing widespread adoption of their products. Read about all of this year's honorees here.
ArriVent Biopharma
Industry: Biopharmaceuticals
Headquarters: Newtown Square
After a swell of initial public offerings by life sciences firms at the start of the decade, IPOs have slowed to a trickle in Greater Philadelphia. The lone local company to go public in the first half of 2024, ArriVent Biopharma sold 9.7 million shares of its stock in January to close its IPO at $201 million. The Newtown Square pharmaceutical company is focused on bringing biopharmaceutical medicines approved and under development in China to the U.S. and European Union. In June, it inked a deal with Jiangsu Alphamab Biopharmaceutical of China to discover and develop antibody drug conjugates for treating cancer. The deal has a potential value north of $600 million. ArriVent’s current pipeline includes three drug candidates, two of which are in discovery and intended to treat solid tumors. Prior to its IPO, ArriVent closed a $150 million Series A in 2021, the same year it was founded. The 40-employee company is led by CEO and co-founder Bing Yao, who previously helmed AstraZeneca spinoff Viela Bio.
Crossbeam
Industry: Software
Headquarters: Philadelphia
It’s been a big year for Crossbeam. The 6-year-old Philadelphia software-as-a-service company recently completed a merger with Paris-based Reveal, a move that increased its total user base to about 30,000. The companies chose to merge after seeing significant overlap in their platforms, which use data to create a network for sales teams to identify potential partners and grow their existing relationships. CEO Bob Moore describes the technology as “LinkedIn for data,” where the platform is predicated on a network of potential leads. The combined company remains headquartered in Philadelphia and has kept the Crossbeam name. Moore also retained the CEO role. Crossbeam is no stranger to big moves. The company has raised some $117 million since its founding in 2018, including securing backing from venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz. Crossbeam also has backing from major venture capital names like Redpoint Ventures, FirstMark Capital and First Round Capital. Since its $76 million Series C in 2021, it has grown revenue tenfold, Moore said. Long-term, Moore said an IPO could be a potential future path for the firm.
Proscia
Industry: Health care software
Headquarters: Philadelphia
Proscia is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to improve how pathologists diagnose cancer. Based in Philadelphia, the 10-year-old company has grown considerably in the past year, including increasing its clinical customer base by 100%. Now used by over 10,000 pathologists and scientists worldwide, its customer base includes what it says are 14 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies. Its Concentriq software improves and streamlines the interpreting, storing and sharing of digital images of biopsies. In February, Proscia received a key Food and Drug Administration approval for its Concentriq AP-Dx product, which allows it to market its technology to diagnostics labs across the country. That could have significance for its bottom line given that market is valued at around $900 million, the company said. Since its founding in 2014, Proscia has raised some $84 million through four investment rounds. Based in Center City, the company has over 100 employees. It also has an office in Ireland.
ZeroEyes
Industry: Technology
Headquarters: Conshohocken
Founded in 2018 by a team of former Navy SEALs and military veterans, ZeroEyes is using artificial intelligence to help reduce gun violence. It developed technology that integrates with security cameras to detect potential active shooter threats. The company initially gained traction by implementing its technology in schools, places of worship, businesses, government buildings and military bases. This summer, ZeroEyes closed a $53 million Series B, making it one of the largest funding rounds by a tech company in Greater Philadelphia in 2024. The funding came on the heels of the company doubling both the size of its operations in Conshohocken and its total headcount to 170. Last year, ZeroEyes saw the number of security cameras using its technology jump 658% statewide. That’s not the only figure that’s grown. In 2023, the firm quintupled revenue and CEO Mike Lahiff said its annual revenue is now in the “tens of millions.” He projects those numbers will continue to grow as ZeroEyes targets use of its technology in transit agencies. It recently inked a deal with the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada to make it the first transit agency in the U.S. to fully deploy weapons detection analytics.
