We asked our readers, sifted through our own news stories and built a roster of 50 Tampa Bay tech and startup companies that have set the local ecosystem on fire in 2020. Then, we brought those companies under one (virtual) roof on Nov. 16 to honor the Inno on Fire winners.
They were the companies with massive expansion, groundbreaking launches, a slew of top-notch hires and more — all in a time of unprecedented change.
Of those 50 companies, we had a panel of local judges choose one company from each of the 10 categories that is truly blazing a trail in their industry, aptly named the Blazer award. We've got those below.
B2B blazer: Omnivore
Omnivore relocated from Silicon Valley to the Tampa Bay region at the end of 2019 and in 2020, raised $3.6 million. The team is made up of former executives from Tampa Bay tech giants: Dan Singer is the former vice president at FairWarning, a Clearwater-based cybersecurity company that received a $60 million investment in 2018. Mike Wior, Omnivore's CEO, was the former vice president of hosting competency center at Wells Fargo. The company has seen its platform take off in restaurants in need, after many had to pivot during the coronavirus pandemic.
B2C blazer: Lunchpool
The platform, launched in 2018, pivoted to become widely used for virtual events during the coronavirus pandemic. It has hosted more than 178 events since March, from Startup Week Tampa Bay to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and has an upcoming event in Australia. The company is also seeing growth within its ranks: While in June it had a single employee, it is now up to 10 with plans to hire "as many as possible" by the end of 2020.
Coronavirus heroes blazer: Spirion
Cybersecurity and compliance firm Spirion teamed up with the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce to launch the 'This One's On Us' initiative, with the goal of raising funds to provide meals for restaurant employees, either to take home to their families or feed others in need. Spirion employees donated a percentage of their paycheck to the program and in 15 days alone raised over $9,000, helping feed over 800 restaurant employees.
Cybersecurity blazer: JustProtect
After moving from NYC to Tampa in 2019, the company has found its footing in the Southeast. It was part of the Tampa Bay Wave's TechDiversity cohort, received a six-figure investment from Lakeland Venture Investments and is a finalist for Startup of the Year.
Edtech blazer: Script
Our first two-time Blazer winner, the Tampa-based company provides paperwork automation for schools. In the last two months it has added five new employees, with "several more to come" according to company officials. Script has also seen a 600% increase over the last year.
Equity advocate blazer: AMRoC Fab Lab
The Foundation for Community Driven Innovation's Advanced Manufacturing & Robotics Center, or AMRoC Fab Lab, launched the Equity in Entrepreneurship program in 2020. The 16-week program takes entrepreneur-hopefuls through the entire process of creating a startup, from forming an idea to securing funding.
Healthtech blazer: Immertec
The company started the year partnering with USF Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation, finished a $12 million dollar raise in 2020 and expanded its senior leadership team to include the likes of Magic Leap, Microsoft and Apple execs.
Inno Pick blazer: Lumina Analytics
The analytics company launched solutions that not only could be used in tracking coronavirus cases but in predicting the spread. And in September, they sealed a partnership with IBM.
Investment firms blazer: Ballast Point Ventures Group
The group invested nearly $5 million into local cybersecurity company Abacode and participated in a round with local firm Weatherford Capital on a $38.5 million deal in an Austin startup.
Software blazer: eNotaryLog
eNotaryLog, which officially launched this year, is an online notarization platform that allows users anywhere in the world to notarize forms, which are all HIPAA compliant. It originally had plans to grow slowly with an outbound sales process, but soon switched to an entirely inbound sales process due to massive growth that came from the need during the coronavirus pandemic. It now employs 30 people including some who were laid off from other local startups.
The event also had a panel discussion among stand out Fire honorees — Knack, Immertec and Peerfit — to discuss pivoting during the pandemic, what changes will last beyond 2020 and ensuring equity and inclusion in the workplace. Check out the panel with footage from our entire event here:
And here are the 2020 Inno on Fire honorees and Blazer winners:
