Four panelists and more than 50 attendees joined Rhode Island INNO last Wednesday as we hosted our fourth annual INNO Fire Awards, honoring the startups in our local ecosystem setting the innovation scene ablaze.
This year’s fire awards honored 25 startups, nonprofits, entrepreneurs and other entities who represent the local innovation community and those who are doing extraordinary work to stand out amongst the crowd.
Some key points of conversation were how the pandemic has affected businesses, sharing reopening strategies and how startups can be change-makers for equity.
The event was moderated by Carolyn Jones, market president and publisher for the Boston Business Journal.
The featured panelists were Gary Goldberg, founder & CEO of SquadLocker, Lindsay Kuhn, co-founder of wingspans and Amanda Roman, director of program development & operations at the Rhode Island Black Business Association. None of this would have been possible without our sponsor: Cox Business.
The video recap can be viewed through our Youtube channel:
We’ve recapped the Inno Blazers winners below.
Lifestyle & Consumer
Artist Republik: The company was born of the increase of self-made artists who rely on producing music through streaming platforms. It offers a networking platform for independent music artists to manage themselves. Prior to its official launch, Artists Republik had an 11,000-person waiting list in just two weeks. In its first six months, it counted 17,000 users on the platform. This past July, Inno highlighted its $540,000 seed round.
Health & Wellness
Asthenis Pharmacy: Asthenis participated alongside Cardkits Toys in the 2020 DESIGNxRI Providence Design Catalyst. It's a Latino-owned, online health community that connects users to building a health-conscious community by promoting public health guidance and health education. Asthenis provides prescription pickup, medication review and education from pharmacists. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the startup has partnered with the Rhode Island Department of Health to get critical care to the state's underserved communities.
Ecosystem Supporters
RIHub: RIHub is part incubator and part accelerator, offering mentoring, in-house events, workspaces and launch assistance to local startups. Managing director Annette Tonti noted in a July feature that RIHub is specifically catered to by the community, for the community approach. The portal allows budding entrepreneurs to grow and for the community to be involved with the ins and outs of emerging startups.
Fintech
Beeline: This startups is mobile platform that promises to streamline the home loan approval process, including titles and closing through, a single mobile app. Beeline first reached the Inno scene after gaining $7.6 million in seed funding last May. The app operates by linking directly to a user’s personal bank account and using machine learning algorithms based on the data, Beeline creates approvals once the personal and financial information is verified.
INNO Picks
Wanderlust: The Wanderlust Group is an outdoor technology company composed of Dockwa, Marinas.com, and Campouts.com. It uses a marketplace and technology platform that connects users to outdoor destinations. This past year, the pandemic brought the company a 400 percent growing in inbound leads and $14.2 million in a Series B funding round.
