Angie Hicks, co-founder and CMO of Angie’s List, received the Investor of the Year Award during TechPoint’s 18th annual Mira Awards honoring the best of tech in Indiana.

The Trailblazer Award recognizes visionaries whose contributions have had lasting and significant impact on our technology ecosystem and our state.

“Angie’s personal story of taking a big risk and persevering is an inspiration to a generation of Hoosier entrepreneurs who are following in her footsteps and choosing to build their businesses in Indiana,” said Mike Langellier, president and CEO, TechPoint. “Over the past 20 years she has built one of our community’s most recognizable brands—a brand that bears her name and features her in national TV commercials. Further, she and her former colleagues, Scott Brenton and Bill Oesterle, created the Orr Fellowship program, which has been a remarkable supplier of top talent to our tech community.”

Hicks founded the company in 1995 with her mentor, venture capitalist Bill Oesterle. During the first few years of doing business, Hicks sold memberships door-to-door, and she read contractor reviews to members over the telephone when they would call in to the company’s one phone line in a small rented office that didn’t even have furniture.

Today, Angie’s List employs more than 1,500 people in Indianapolis and has more than five million members using its home services contractor reviews and online products. The company grew by nearly two million new members after a free membership tier was added last year.

“Angie has a uniquely Hoosier success story,” said Oesterle. “She is the modest young woman from Fort Wayne who worked hard and persevered through incredibly difficult circumstances to become an American Household name. Along the way she inspired an entire generation of Hoosier marketing and technology leaders. She is extraordinary and I am so proud.”

In 2001, Hicks helped launch the Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship Program, which focuses on encouraging young entrepreneurs to grow and flourish in Indiana. She has also served on the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

TechPoint, the growth initiative for Indiana’s tech ecosystem, honored the successes and innovation of Indiana companies, entrepreneurs, educators, and other leaders at The Westin Indianapolis during the 18th annual Mira Awards gala presented by Angie’s List, Genesys, and Salesforce.

A total of 15 award winners and three honorable mentions were chosen from the 90 outstanding companies, organizations, and individuals who were selected as nominees this year out of the 180 applications received highlighting achievements during the 2016 calendar year.

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Fifty independent, volunteer judges spent more than 850 total hours reviewing and ranking applications, interviewing nominees, and selecting this year’s winners. Judges included company founders, CEOs and presidents; CTOs, CIOs and software developers; professors and chancellors from Indiana universities; design, human resources and sales professionals, and a variety of other subject matter experts.

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The Mira Awards are named after the first of the brilliant variable stars to be discovered – the Mira Star. It is also the Latin root meaning “worthy of admiration, wonderful, marvelous.” The awards represent the best of tech in Indiana each year.