TechPoint​, the nonprofit, industry-led growth initiative for Indiana’s technology companies and overall tech ecosystem, will honor Indiana’s best companies, entrepreneurs, educators, and other leaders for their achievements and innovation at the JW Marriott Indianapolis during the 19th Annual ​Mira Awards gala​ on Saturday, April 28, 2018. Applications and nominations for the 18 individual, product, company and “people’s choice”’ public voting categories are now live at techpoint.org/mira.

The Mira Awards is a six-month season of events and announcements that bring awareness and focus on Indiana’s tech, innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Combined, these activities drive venture investment, customer acquisition and heightened exposure worth millions of dollars to Indiana’s economy.

“In just over a decade, Indiana has seen more than $7 billion in acquisitions and IPOs from our tech community.” said Mike Langellier, President and CEO of TechPoint. “The Mira Awards exist to celebrate our state’s tremendous tech success stories and amplify them to media, investors and technology buyers nationwide.”

Anyone from the public may nominate a company, startup, scale-up, school, team or individual that they think should apply for a “Best of Tech” Mira Award. It is not necessary to be nominated to apply. Application and nomination forms are available at techpoint.org/mira, and the application submission deadline is Friday, Jan. 19, 2018.

Fifty-two independent subject matter experts, who serve as judges, evaluate and rank the applications. The rankings determine which applicants become nominees. Next, nominees deliver presentations and answer questions in-person with one of the independent judging panels, and the judges deliberate and select the winners.

TechPoint created the awards program in 1999 to recognize tech-related achievements and innovation statewide, and ultimately to stimulate future tech growth and entrepreneurship. Among recent Mira Award winners, many have increased sales, venture capital and talent attraction.

Mira Award applicant, nominee and winner highlights:

  • In 2017, Mira Award applicants employed more than 34,500 people worldwide and 7,518 people here in Indiana. These companies posted revenues of more than $3.64 billion (excluding Salesforce’s revenue, which was $6.67 billion on its own).
  • Cloud solutions integrator Kinney Group first connected with venture capital firm Plymouth Growth Partners through the Mira Awards, leading to a total investment in Kinney Group of $6 million by the out-of-state VC firm.
  • Managed mobility software and services provider MOBI saw an immediate and significant increase in the number and quality of candidates applying for jobs after winning Company Culture of the Year (2016) and Tech Company of the Year (2017).
  • Fundraising software company BidPal leveraged the increased awareness and credibility from winning three Mira Awards over 11 years to hire top developers and open doors with venture capitalists who have since invested millions in the company.
  • Artificial intelligence marketing software provider DemandJump won two Mira Awards the same year, which helped the company close its oversubscribed $1.8 million seed round and caught the attention of key research analysts at Intelligentsia, Forrester and Gartner.
  • Inventors of the connected “toy of the year,” Edwin the Duck, won back-to-back Mira Awards in two different categories that opened doors with national media and investors who otherwise wouldn’t have heard of pi lab.

“One of the major gains that DoubleMap has experienced after receiving our most recent Mira Award as Scale-up Company of the Year has come in the sales department,” said Ilya Rekhter, Co-founder and CEO of DoubleMap. “It has been an advantage to our team to be able to reference the award and use it as leverage to win larger deals. In the past, it was easier for agencies to overlook DoubleMap because we were largely considered a startup. Now that we have won the Scale-up award, we feel like we have officially graduated from being a startup and can now be more competitive on a larger scale and scope.”

Winners will be announced at a black-tie awards ceremony and gala featuring a reception and three-course seated dinner with live music on Saturday, April 28th, at the JW Marriott Indianapolis.

The 2018 TechPoint Mira Award categories include: 

  • PEOPLE
    • Investor of the Year
    • Community Champion of the Year
    • Educator of the Year
    • TechPoint Foundation for Youth Bridge Builder Award
    • Rising Star Award
    • Trailblazer Award
  • PRODUCTS
    • Best New Tech Product
    • Tech Service of the Year
    • Innovation of the Year
  • COMPANIES
    • Corporate Innovator of the Year
    • Company Culture of the Year
    • New Tech Start-up of the Year
    • Tech Scale-up of the Year ($100K-$5 Million Revenue)
    • Tech Scale-up of the Year ($5MM-$20 Million Revenue)
    • Tech Company of the Year ($20+ Million Revenue)
  • “PEOPLE’S CHOICE” PUBLIC VOTING AWARDS
    • Best Tech T-Shirt or Swag
    • Best Tech Event
    • Best Tech Space

Public voting for the People’s Choice Awards will take place at techpoint.org/mira starting on February 20, 2018 and will end on March 15, 2018. People’s Choice Award winners will be announced on March 22, 2018.

Follow the conversation online with the hashtag #MiraAwards. Photos of past Mira Award winners and 2018 Mira logos are available upon request.

ABOUT TECHPOINT:

TechPoint is the nonprofit, industry-led growth initiative for Indiana’s technology companies and overall tech ecosystem. The team is focused on attracting talent, accelerating scale-up companies, activating the community, and amplifying stories of success. For more information, please visit techpoint.org.