NEVCA Pulls Back the Curtain on Nominees for the 8th Annual NEVY Awards

The NEVYs 2Oz0: There’s No Place Like Home - Celebrating the Brains, Heart and Courage Unique to New England’s Entrepreneurs and Investors.

BOSTON — November 9, 2020 — The New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) revealed the nominees for its eighth annual NEVY Awards, which recognize and celebrate the top innovators, investors and companies in the region. This year’s theme, “2Oz0 NEVYs: There’s No Place Like Home,” pays homage to the twists and turns and wicked witches of this “alternate reality” of a year and the unique challenges of 2020 that these organizations have overcome. Presented again this year by Dell Technologies, winners will be announced during a live broadcast ceremony on December 1st. Like the original Wizard of Oz, the stage and theatrics will be on screen, but ruby slippers are still encouraged.

“This year’s NEVYs are particularly reflective of New England’s strength and resolve in the venture ecosystem,” said NEVCA President Jody Rose. “2020 — the upside down and inside out year — brought new obstacles, but these companies and investors continue to defy gravity. We are so excited to be able to adapt the show, put a new twist on the NEVY Awards, and bring our community some much needed celebration.”

The NEVYs honor both early- and late-stage companies, as well as the venture capitalists who support them, and cover a broad spectrum of the region’s thriving industry clusters. Notably, in addition to adding CleanTech and MedTech to the traditional Technology, Healthcare, and Life Sciences Academies, the 47-member investor selection committee behind this year’s nominations was over 48% female, reflecting a specific gender equity initiative the NEVCA is incorporating into its mission.

Technology award categories and nominees include:

• Emerging Tech Company: DUST Identity, Lightmatter, Macro, Neural Magic, Reggora
• Hottest Tech Startup: Drizly, Embark Vet, HomeTap, LogRocket, Tulip, WHOOP
• Tech Exit of the Year: 6 River Systems, Acquia, Buildium, VMware Carbon Black, Draftkings, Onshape, Recorded Future
• Next Cornerstone Tech Company: DataRobot, Desktop Metal, Drift, FlyWire, Klaviyo, Toast

Healthcare award categories and nominees include:

• Emerging Healthcare Company: Abacus Insights, Inc., Bend Financial, Buoy Health, Eleanor Health, Firefly Health
• Powerhouse Healthcare Company: Groups Recover Together, Kyruus, PathAI, PatientPing, WHOOP

Life Sciences award categories and nominees include:

• Patient Impact Award: Acceleron Pharma, bluebird bio (winners)
• Emerging Life Science Company: Kronos Bio, LUCA Biologics, QurAlis, Tidal Therapeutics
• Powerhouse Life Science Company: Akouos, Aura Biosciences, eGenesis, EQRx, Pandion Therapeutics
• Life Science Deal/Exit of the Year: Black Diamond Therapeutics, Exonics Therapeutics, Kymera Therapeutics, Momenta Pharmaceutical, Morphic Therapeutic, Relay Therapeutics, Semma Therapeutics

MedTech award categories and nominees include:

• Emerging MedTech Company: Conformal Medical, GI Windows, Hyalex Orthopaedics, Kytopen, Sherlock Biosciences
• Powerhouse MedTech Company: Avedro, Convergent Dental, Embark Vet, Podimetrics, Sema4

CleanTech award categories and nominees include:

• Emerging CleanTech Company: Boston Materials, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, LineVision, Motif FoodWorks, Optimus Ride, Verdox
• Powerhouse CleanTech Company: CIMCON Lighting, Indigo Ag, Sense, VoltServer, XL Fleet

Alongside Presenting Sponsor Dell Technologies, the NEVY Awards in Emerald City are supported this year by returning sponsors: Abbvie, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Deloitte, IDA Ireland, Johnson & Johnson Innovation — JJDC, Matter and V2 Communications; and new sponsors Enel, JP Morgan, and MassDevelopment.

Tickets for this year’s NEVY Awards are available at thenevys.com. Follow official updates from the NEVCA team on Twitter with #NEVYsOz, or on Facebook, Medium and at www.newenglandvc.org. More information on NEVY Awards history and vision is available at thenevys.com.