2021 in Review: Rev Members Continue to Grow Despite Difficulties
2021 was another great year to be an Ithaca-based entrepreneur. Despite challenges including Covid-19 closures, staffing shortages, and supply chain delays, founders were quick to adjust their business models to fit the current state of the world. Even considering those difficulties, the Ithaca entrepreneurial community continued to flourish. Rev member companies persevered and were able to create new jobs, generate revenue, and raise capital, significantly boosting the local economy and aiding in economic recovery.
Rev: Ithaca Startup Works is excited to share that in 2021, Rev member companies created 151 new jobs, generated $25.8 million in revenue, and raised $40.4 million in capital, an impressive feat through a year of uncertainty. Notable accomplishments include $10 million in Series A financing raised by grocery e-commerce platform Rosie, cloud-optimization startup Exotanium’s $5 million seed round, and $500k raised in pre-seed funding by baby-feeding telehealth platform SimpliFed, one of Rev’s newest members.
“We’re thrilled by the progress and triumphs of our member companies over the past year,” said Ken Rother, Director of Rev. “They’ve successfully navigated some of the most challenging times entrepreneurs have had to face. All of us at Rev are excited to see what they do next, and will be here to provide support and resources throughout their entrepreneurial journeys.”
Innovation never slowed down for Rev’s members, as they continued to make progress, grow, and change the faces of their respective industries. Some of our favorite headlines from the past year include:
- Antithesis Foods’ collaboration with regional partners to attempt to bring chickpeas — typically grown in places like Arizona — to farms in New York.
- Energy startup Dimensional Energy’s journey in the Carbon XPRIZE competition and $2.7 million Department of Energy award.
- Head & Heal’s journey from local farmers to industry innovators as they gained attention and awards for their leadership in the hemp farming space.
- Ursa Space System’s partnership with geospatial intelligence provider BlackSky to expand their product offerings to include high-quality satellite imagery.
As an incubator, Rev also continued to thrive during a challenging year. Through a year of virtual programming and online networking opportunities, Rev was able to continue to share resources and facilitate connections within the entrepreneurial community, netting 11 new member companies between 2020 and 2021. The Manufacturing Hardware Accelerator graduated its first cohort of participants, and member company South Hill Cider served as the venue for Rev’s first in-person networking event since the pandemic began. Rev also welcomed several new Entrepreneurs-in-Residence to the incubator: Ed Bizari, Amy Cheney, Aaron Proujansky, and Beth Xie.
As we continue to return to normalcy, Rev is excited to continue to offer face-to-face and virtual opportunities for networking and entrepreneurial support. Eager to get back to in-person connection? Join us at Rev: Ithaca Startup Works on the evening of Thursday, April 14 to celebrate local food and agricultural entrepreneurship at Food & Ag Networking@Rev: Eat, Drink, Innovate.