Minne Inno — the Business Journal’s news outlet focused on the startup scene — is proud to present its fifth installment of the Blazer Awards.
The following Blazer winners represent the one company in each category of our earlier-announced Inno on Fire finalists that’s truly lighting its industry on fire. Winners were selected by Minne Inno/Business Journal editors based on the strength of their applications, the needs they’re meeting and their growth trajectory.
Startup of the Year:
Rise Modular
Apartment construction is booming, but the commercial real estate market is simultaneously experiencing soaring construction costs, labor shortages and supply-chain issues.
Minneapolis-based Rise Modular is tackling these roadblocks and the ongoing housing shortage with a more cost- and time-efficient way to build multifamily developments.
Rise uses a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled production facility in Owatonna to build six-sided building modules that are then assembled on a development site within days. By moving 70% to 80% of a development’s construction indoors, costs, quality and safety are all more controllable.
Founded in 2018 by Christian Lawrence, Rise is on pace to build 449 units of housing this year, a 55% increase from last year.
The company’s service model proves that modular developments can be both attractive and high quality, because it works with developers from the earliest stages of the design and manufacturing process through an integrated team of experts in development, design, manufacturing and construction.
Rise has grown from 70 employees in January 2021 to more than 150 as of May 2022. It still expects to hire two dozen more by year end.
Read More at Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal
