Thursday, June 26, 2008

Alaire, Mountz among E&Y N.E. Entrepreneurs of the Year

By Mass High Tech Staff

Brightcove Inc. CEO Jeremy Allaire has received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008 Award in the Media and Entertainment category, and Kiva Systems Inc. founder and CEO Mick Mountz won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008 Award in the Emerging Business category in New England.

Allaire, a Mass High Tech 2007 All-Star, founded Internet video platform developer Brightcove in 2004. Prior to Brightcove, he was CTO at Macromedia Inc., and co-founder of Allaire Corp., well-known for its Cold Fusion software during the web boom of the 1990s. In 2001, Allaire Corp. was bought by Macromedia, which was bought by Adobe Inc. in 2005.

Mountz conceived of Kiva Systems and its robotic mobile fulfillment system in the early 2000’s while he was working to develop next-generation order fulfillment strategies for Webvan. The company has a long-standing relationship with Framingham’s Staples Inc., and signed a deal with pharmacy chain Walgreen’s in Nov. 20007.

Allaire and Mountz were chosen by an independent panel of judges, and the award was presented at an event at the Westin Boston Waterfront on Tuesday. Winning the New England award makes both Allaire and Mountz eligible for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008 national award, which will be given out in November.