It's pretty apparent to anyone who's been paying attention our tech ecosystem is truly on fire, and that was proven last night with our fourth annual Fire Awards.
We gathered 35 of the region's innovators, entrepreneurs and startups under one roof to honor their major moves throughout 2022. They're the ones with the huge funding raises, the big acquisition deals, the headline-making exits and the tremendous growth trajectories.
They were unveiled in a video shown during the event.
But with that, we also compiled a panel of esteemed judges from the Tampa Bay community — an innovation hub, a university, an investment firm, a community partner and some of my colleagues at the Tampa Bay Business Journal — to choose standouts among the stacked list of honorees.
The votes were tallied, naming eight standouts in each Fire category, better known as our "Blazer" winners. We've got those below.
Transplants: Spontivly
The former Canadian company landed in St. Petersburg at the start of the year and has not slowed down. It was tapped as a finalist for the national Startup of the Year competition and closed a $1.2 million seed round, later adding funds from TampaBay.Ventures and "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban.
Serial Entrepreneurs: Bruce Lucas, Slide
Lucas, the founder of publicly traded Heritage Insurance, initially raised $100 million in November for his then yet-to-be-launched company, Slide. It launched to the public in early 2022 and, in March, acquired $400 million in premiums from Orlando-based St. Johns Insurance Co.
Exits: Omnivore
The Silicon Valley-turned-Tampa Bay transplant that caught the attention of Jeff Vinik, Arnie Bellini and The Coca-Cola Co. was acquired in February by New York-based Olo, a publicly-traded company and online ordering provider.
Funders: TampaBay.Ventures
The firm has moved at a breakneck pace since its launch in 2021, closing 11 hyperlocal deals across sectors ranging from cybersecurity to insurtech to an architecture-focused hiring platform.
Healthtech: Gale Healthcare
The fast-growing company closed a $60 million Series A in January, hired a new chief technology officer in August and is up to hiring roughly one person a day, expecting to balloon to an 800-person internal workforce by the end of the year.
Inno Pick: Symphonic Distribution
The music distribution firm kicked off the year with a $37 million Series B round, followed by an expansion to Canada in June. The company entered into a strategic merger with Higher Reign Music Distribution's music distribution division. The company is also weighing the opportunity to further flesh out its technology offerings and acquire rights to music catalogs of independent artists.
Blockchain/crypto: Blockspaces
The business blockchain integration platform raised $6 million in January and, in July, struck up a partnership with Orlando-based Cogent Bank.
Beyond the Bay: Wind Talker Innovations
The Lakeland-based company offers software that, if both devices have it, can directly communicate with one another and bypass cell towers. It has 85 employees spread throughout the country, with roughly 40 in Lakeland and raised $36 million at the start of the year.
Congratulations to all our honorees.
