Chicago Innovation held its 19th annual awards ceremony on Monday night in a virtual broadcast that revealed 23 winners across several categories.
CMC Material, Quest, Threekit, Novartis Gene Therapeutics, Horizon Therapeutics and FLEx Lighting each won Chicago Innovation Awards in the main category.
The Covid-19 Response Award was given to Abbott, InstaShield and Safe Haven Foundation.
Chicago Innovation gave its Up-and-Comer Award to The Small Exchange, 2ndKitchen, Hologram and Sabanto.
Chicago Innovation gave out several other niche awards. See them all here.
CMC Materials has developed a process to measure nanoparticles. Quest makes an all-in-one system that creates complete climate control of an indoor grow room. Threekit makes a software that provides photorealistic digital renderings of retail products. Novartis Gene Therapeutics has created a novel gene therapy for treating spinal muscular atrophy syndrome. Horizon Therapeutics has created an FDA-approved medicine for treading Thyroid Eye Disease. And FLEx Lighting makes optical film that can provide low-power LED lighting to a device’s display.
Winners were chosen from more than 270 nominations, which were narrowed down to 100 finalists by a panel of 12 judges. The 272 nominees combined account for nearly 1,700 patents, $5.7 billion in revenue and 7,320 new jobs, according to Chicago Innovation.
Winners receive the opportunity to ring the Nasdaq bell in New York, as well as participate in meetings with the mayor, governor and Cook County president. New this year, winners will also get the opportunity to meet with key leaders of the United Nations to discuss achieving UN global sustainability goals through innovation.
The awards ceremony kicked off with remarks from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Governor J.B. Pritzker and Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle. And Miles White, executive chairman at Abbott, which has won more Chicago Innovation Awards than any company in the organization’s 19-year history—10 in total—delivered an address about how the company has kept innovation central to its mission.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Abbott has been instrumental in delivering testing kits.
Chicago Innovation says that 98% (310) of its previous winners since the program began in 2002 remain in business today. Additionally, 51 previous winners have either been acquired or gone public.
