Meet the 2021 Fourth Revolution Award Winners

Get to know a little more about the companies who took home a win.

mHUB and MxD decided to do things differently with the 5th annual Fourth Revolution Awards by launching a winners reel rather than a virtual ceremony. Click here to celebrate Midwest innovation in under 15 minutes. 


The winner’s video presented five awards to deserving leaders, companies, and industrial initiatives that have made significant contributions to the Midwest region’s manufacturing ecosystem. 

Product of the Year

Flowsense by Rhaeos

Where did your idea and value proposition start?

The FlowSense technology was born out of the Rogers Research Lab at Northwestern University. Leading engineers and neurosurgeons recognized an unmet clinical need in hydrocephalus patients and developed a technology to assess fluid flow subdermally in shunts. After initial clinical trials showed promising results, Rhaeos took off and a business was formed. 

How has your business grown since the beginning?

Over the past 2 years, the company grew from 1 employee to a lean mean of 10! The team consists of startup and industry veterans who have brought multiple devices to the market and we’re hiring. Inquire within! 

How has being in the Midwest helped shape your company?

The Midwest is home to some of the biggest named research institutions and medical device manufacturers in the world. These two items coupled with the recent expansion of the life science and hardtech sectors by way of innovation centers and accelerators make this region an exciting place to be in.

What growth do you expect to see in the next few years?

Rhaeos is on track to launch its first product next year. Our team of 10 will double next year and likely triple after that. Rhaeos is mission-driven to address the needs of patients with chronic medical conditions. Hydrocephalus is the first chapter in this novel.

Small and Mid-Sized Manufacturer of the Year 

Pioneer Service

Where did your idea and value proposition start?
I’ve been in manufacturing my whole life but would be more accurate to say it began a generation ago with my parents. Although having been born into a manufacturing family definitely gave me a “leg up,” the desire to prove my worth and make a difference drove me to leave the family business (M&M Grinding) to become co-owner of Pioneer Service Inc, where I also serve as CEO to this day. 

How has your business grown since the beginning?
When I assumed control of Pioneer Service, it was a small, struggling shop with one customer. The owner (my uncle) loved the industry but didn’t particularly care for the day-to-day of running a business.  We grew steadily until the Recession of 2008-2009, where we, like many American manufacturers, were nearly driven to close forever. Fortunately, we found our way through digital transformation and remade ourselves as a high-tech precision manufacturer, allowing us to serve the aerospace, defense, medical, and other industries with demanding parameters.

How has being in the Midwest helped shape your company?
The Midwest has its challenges, but the inherent diversity of the workforce has always been a critical advantage. The variety of backgrounds (economic, ethnic, education) gives us a larger toolkit of problem-solvers that has seen us through several recessions and global setbacks, including COVID-19. 

What growth do you expect to see in the next few years?
More automation, both cobots and robots, and 30% revenue growth. Expansion and automation go together, but the goal is to replace tasks, not people. Less tedious work, more meaningful productivity! 

Rising Star

Allergy Amulet

Where did your idea and value proposition start? 

I’ve managed food allergies my entire life. When the food that sustains you can also kill you, eating can be less of an enjoyable experience and more of an anxiety-inducing struggle. I saw the need for a fast and portable food allergen sensor so people like me can feel safer when eating out. 

How has your business grown since the beginning?

We’ve come far in a few short years: establishing a product category, publishing our work in one of the nation’s leading scientific journals, and selling out of pre-order Amulet Starter Kits in less than 24 hours. We’re planning to reopen our shop in early 2022 and cannot wait to introduce the Amulet to the world.  

How has being in the Midwest helped shape your company?

The Midwest played a key role in our early success. One of our first growth points occurred after being accepted to Gener8tor, a Midwest-based nationally ranked accelerator. They helped us identify office space and connected us with other founders and investors in the area. Being in Madison has also allowed us to stretch our dollars further—we would not have lasted on our current burn rate if we were based in the Bay Area. 

What growth do you expect to see in the next few years? 

We’ve got big things coming! Besides growing our team, we’ll be expanding our allergen detection offerings and moving beyond allergens into food contaminants, toxins, and biomolecules. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay tuned as we grow! 

Community Empowerment:

Future Founders

Where did your idea and value proposition start?

Future Founders was created to foster inclusion in the entrepreneurial community and to seed more diverse founders into the startup ecosystem. The organization was established in 2011 through the merger of two programs: one created by the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (which now runs 1871) in 2005 and another created by Uptake Technologies Founder & CEO Brad Keywell in 2006. 

How has your business grown since the beginning?

Future Founders initially began with programs that exclusively served middle and high school students on Chicago’s south and west sides. However, we expanded our work nearly seven years ago with the addition of several accelerator programs for the idea and growth-stage 18 to 30-year-old entrepreneurs from underserved communities across the country.

Since 2005, our programs have served over 35,000 youth, and our cohorts of national 18 to 30-year-old founders have generated $32.8M in revenue, secured $34.9M in capital, and created 543 jobs in the last four years alone.

How has being in the Midwest helped shape your company?

Chicago is our home, and we are forever committed to expanding the rich entrepreneurial ecosystem of this city. We believe the entrepreneurial community here is second to none, and are proud to have so many incredible entrepreneurs, business leaders, educators, VC’s, elected officials, and other stakeholders serving as the wind in our sails as we play a small role in affirming Chicago as one of the best places to launch and grow businesses in the entire world.

What growth do you expect to see in the next few years?

In the coming years, we plan to capitalize on lessons learned from our massive programming overhaul driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, expanding our immersive virtual and hybrid programs for both middle and high schoolers as well as young adult entrepreneurs. Our goal is to not only provide meaningful first contact with entrepreneurship, but also the validation, skill-building, and network young founders need to start and grow profitable businesses.

Future Founders is on a mission to build the nation’s largest inclusive community of intentional young entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial-minded leaders. And we look forward to continuing our pursuit of this mission with the hope that these efforts lead to a world where our businesses reflect our people, and opportunity, choice, and economic freedom are equally available to all.

Innovation of the Year

ClearFlame Engine Technologies

Where did your idea and value proposition start? 

ClearFlame began during the co-founders’ graduate work at Stanford University while looking for a solution to both sides of the energy problem: increasing sustainability while also expanding energy access. Diesel engines are critical to world economies and quality of life—moving people and goods, allowing efficient agriculture and construction, and generating power—however, they also impact our climate and compromise local air quality. 

The most efficient solution to this problem is a diesel engine, without the use of diesel fuel. ClearFlame maintains the rugged performance and practicality of traditional diesel engines that fleets, farmers, and other end users expect while replacing 100% of the petroleum fuel with clean-burning, renewable liquid fuels, such as ethanol.

How has your business grown since the beginning?

Since inception, we’ve proven the technology at scale, completed a demonstration on a commercial engine platform, and are now on track to deploying our demonstration trucks by the end of 2021. We’ve continued to scale up our team and grow our diverse network of strategic partners, supporters, and investors.

How has being in the Midwest helped shape your company?

ClearFlame would not be where we are today without the support of the Midwest. The rich, innovative ecosystem that exists here has allowed us to grow, evolve, and develop partnerships critical to our success. The heart of advanced manufacturing and agriculture, the Midwest has given us opportunities we could not have gotten anywhere else. 

What growth do you expect to see in the next few years?

One of the benefits of ClearFlame technology is the potential for rapid, low-cost scalability by utilizing existing decarbonized fuels, refueling infrastructure, manufacturing, and human resources. We look forward to putting our solution in the hands of our future customers, deploying our pilot program of Class 8 trucks next year, and expanding our solution to other markets, including agriculture and power generation.  

Congratulations again to the winners and all the companies who were nominated for the awards. Together, we will ensure that the region’s manufacturing sector is driven, infused with world-class talent, and continues its reign as a global leader into the future.