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Minne Inno announces the 2021 Fire Awards
On June 18, 2021, NetSPI was recognized as a 2021 Fire Award winner.
The Fire Awards are always meant to be a celebration of the companies and people that keep Minnesota’s tech and startup scene alive.
With this year’s fourth annual Fire Awards, we want to celebrate even harder than ever before after one of the most trying years in memory. That’s why we have the biggest Fire Awards ever, honoring 50 companies from across the state.
We sourced these Fire winners from our readers and added some companies that have made waves in the past year or are on the precipice of big things. Many companies were honored because of the steps they took to help tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
In July, a Blazer winner will be selected from each category by a panel of judges. Blazer winners are the hottest companies in each category, deserving some extra recognition. More details about that event will come out later this month.
We’ve honored companies in a variety of categories. Startup of the Year is the startup that has risen above the rest in the past year, while the Growing Companies category is for those companies that are a bit smaller but show the potential to be a Startup of the Year down the road. We’re also honoring the organizations that support our ecosystem with the community builder category, as well as a few specific industries like medical devices and health and wellness.
Let’s meet our Fire winners!
High Tech Company:
NetSPI is a Minneapolis-based cybersecurity company that specializes in penetration testing, which is sometimes called ethical hacking. In May, it raised $90 million in venture capital. Its clients include Fortune 500 companies like Medtronic and Microsoft.
Digi Key is an electronics distributor and one of Minnesota’s largest private companies. The Theif River Falls-based company helped the University of Minnesota produce the Coventor, a jerry-rigged ventilator that helped address ventilator shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Arctic Wolf is a transplanted unicorn cybersecurity company. Founded in Silicon Valley, it moved to Eden Prairie in 2020 at the same time it announced a $200 million round of venture capital funding at a valuation of over $1 billion.
Lucy, also known as Equals3, is a Minneapolis-based AI firm that helps Fortune 500 clients manage their data. It raised $3 million in June and plans to double its employee base to over 50 by the end of the year.
Carrot Health is a Minneapolis-based firm that collects consumer data for health plans to help them address what are known as the social determinants of health, or environmental factors that affect people’s health. It has been experiencing 100% growth since it was founded.
Read the full article here: https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/inno/stories/inno-on-fire/2021/06/18/meet-minne-innos-2021.html
