On July 9, the St. Louis entrepreneurial community came together for St. Louis Inno’s Fire Awards, which recognizes the innovators shaping the entrepreneurial ecosystem and applauds companies and organizations growing their teams, launching new products, and positively impacting society. The companies recognized include five WashU alumni, and we are thrilled to see their continued commitment to St. Louis and the impact their startups are having on the local ecosystem and beyond. Congratulations to WashU alumni Fire Award winners Erica Barnell, James Barbieri, Daphne Benzaquen, David Karandish, and Jerry Kent!
Erica Barnell (MD, PhD ’23), Co-Founder of Geneosopy
Geneoscopy is committed to providing safe, effective, and innovative noninvasive tests that improve gastrointestinal disease detection, treatment, and monitoring. The biomedical company won the Skandalaris Center’s Global Impact Award in 2017, received the FDA’s “Breakthrough Device” designation in 2020, and signed a multi-year agreement with LabCorp, a global leader in innovative and comprehensive laboratory services, in 2023.
James Barbieri (MBA ’18), Co-Founder of WingXpand
Whether it’s helping farmers grow more yield to secure our food supply, emergency crews triage disasters faster, or giving soldiers a protective eye in the sky — WingXpand makes the most powerful smart planes that expand from the smallest pack possible to deliver rapid, AI-driven insights where you need it most. Their onboard real-time AI automatically detects and alerts on your interests, getting smarter as it goes.
Daphne Benzaquen (MBA ’17), Co-Founder of EMERGE The Agency
EMERGE The Agency specializes in refining a company’s message and ensuring it resonates deeply with its ideal customer. Co-founders Daphne Benzaquen and Jessica Pasteris Conick’s groundbreaking wholesale training program has transformed their customers’ approach to market engagement. The duo helps brands aiming to define and captivate their target markets through compelling storytelling and precise customer targeting. Daphne also provides her industry experience and insights to aspiring entrepreneurs as part of the Skandalaris Center’s In-Residence program.
David Karandish (EN ’05), Founder and CEO of Capacity
Capacity is a support automation platform that uses practical and generative AI to deflect tickets, emails, and phone calls—so your team can do their best work. They offer solutions for self-service, agent assistance, and campaigns & workflows to over 2,000+ companies to help automate their support. As a member of the Skandalaris Center National Council, David volunteers his time and expertise to the implementation of our mission and provides creative ideas to further develop our programs and enhance and expand our impact.
Jerry Kent (BU ’78, MBA ’79), Chairman & CEO of TierPoint
TierPoint has expertise with a wide array of services designed for transformational IT leaders. Taking a platform-agnostic approach to helping clients achieve their most pressing business objectives, TierPoint draws on a comprehensive portfolio of services, from public to private to multitenant cloud, from colocation to disaster recovery, security, and more.