Who doesn’t like a good cocktail party – getting dressed up, going out on the town, and especially recognizing those who work hard each day to improve the lives of others and their community?
In the Metroplex and beyond, the Tech Titans Awards Gala is kind of a big deal. On Aug. 23, the bigwigs of tech, innovation and even local government gathered at the Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West, 6007 Legacy Drive to celebrate those making changes and disrupting the status quo in their industries.
Here’s a roundup of the categories and the winners in each. NTX Inno had a chance to speak with a few of the winners most directly related to the tech and startup industry in the region:
Corporate Company CEO – James Klein, Qorvo
Recognizing tech leadership in companies with more than $200 million in revenue.
Greensboro, NC-based Quorvo, which has its Infrastructure and Defense Projects (IDP) Headquarters in Richardson, is a semiconductor company that uses radio frequency technologies to empower other businesses in the Internet, mobile, defense/aerospace, and infrastructure space.
Klein is President of Qorvo’s IDP division. A graduate of Texas A&M, Klein comes to Qorvo via has position with TriQuint as Vice President of Infrastructure and Defense Products before TriQuint’s merger with RF Micro Devices to form Qorvo. He has previously worked with such companies as Texas Instruments and Raytheon.
Emerging Company CEO – Calvin Carter, Bottle Rocket
For a company with revenues between $2 million and $200 million, this award recognizes CEOs who show strong leadership in emerging businesses.
Addison-based Bottle Rocket is a software and app developer that works with companies to develop customer experiences and customized marketing strategies. The company, which was founded more than a decade ago and employs about 250 residents has worked with such local giants as 7-Eleven, Southwest Airlines, Sabre and Dave & Busters.
“We design everything to be customer-centric; it’s important for us to have a high level of empathy, so we can put ourselves in the place of the user who is going to be using [our software],” Carter said. “When you put everything from a user-centric point-of-view, the tech is important because those users have found that their lives are better, more convenient, more efficient when they use that.”
Founder and CEO, Calvin started Bottle Rocket in 2008. In that time, he has led the company as it has developed more than 250 “experiences for brands and consumers. In 2013, the company was acquired by London-based ad and marketing firm WPP.
Corporate CTO – Mark Haney, Alkami Technology
Fostering the development of new technology is important to keep a company relevant and growing. This Award recognizes CTOs who show technical leadership in helping navigate their organizations.
Plano-based Alkami provides digital banking software to over 130 different financial institutions. The company recently finished a Series C in which the company raised more than $18 million, according to a June filing with the SEC.
“I’m much more of a precise, struct and discipline CTO... for me it’s ‘how do we put a structure in place, so that every development team has empowerment and creativity at their disposal?’... in order to solve the biggest problems our clients put forward to them,” Haney said.
To read more about Haney and Alkami, check out their NTX Inno profile here: (Insert Link)
Corporate CIO Award – Pamela Arora, Children’s Health
CIOs are instrumental and leading their companies through the development and implementation of technical developments. This award recognizes those whose leadership through an IT development made a serious impact on the value of the company.
Senior VP or Information Services and CIO Arora has been with Children’s Health since 2007. She was awarded for her role in the implementation of an organization-wide medical record system.
Children’s Health is a healthcare system dedicated to treatment, advocacy, education, and preventative care. This North Texas-based organization has been active in the community since 1913.
Corporate Innovation – PepsiCo
For recent or emerging developments in tech or the company’s approach to it, this award recognizes companies showing innovation and unique accomplishments.
PepsiCo, with headquarters in Plano, is a multinational food and beverage giant. In the 2Q of this year, the company’s shares rose to $1.54 per share. The subsidiary of Zacks Beverages reported $16.4 billion in revenues for the quarter.
Emerging Company Innovation – GIACT
Recognizing the same outstanding work as in the Corporate Innovation category, just for companies with revenues between $2-200 million.
Allen-based GIACT Systems, LLC offers customer verification, payment risk and identity fraud protection, and KYC compliance through its EPIC Platform, with the company’s calling card of being the “only financial technology provider to offer a complete set of enrollment, payment, identity, compliance, and mobile solutions built on a single platform.”
Technology Inventor – Corey Clark, Ph.D., BALANCED Media | Technology
Advancing the market is important for any company. This award recognizes those pioneering a process, product or idea making strides in those spaces.
Balanced Media, based out of McKinney, is technology company that uses video games and computer science to explore and improve the health and tech industries. According to Crunchbase.com, the company has a total funding amount of $2 million.
After getting a PhD in electrical engineering from UT Arlington, Clark not only serves at Deputy Director of Research and Assistant Professor of Computer Science at SMU Guildhall, he is also the CTO of Balanced. The award at the Tech Titans event is due to his work developing the HEWMEN platform – a crowd-computing network which uses data and medical imagery to study human intelligence by observing the problem-solving skills of gamers, then using that to guide AI. It also happens to be used to make advancements in the treatment of cancer.
Technology Advocate – Tom Edwards, BlackFin360
Just because your company isn’t directly involved in the tech space, doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from emerging technologies. Recognizing non-tech related business leaders, this award highlights those who help benefit the tech industry in the DFW Metroplex.
Edwards tends to do it all. He was recognized at the Friday event for his work, through his website Blackfin360.com, as a futurist speaker (notably TEDx and SXSW), strategic consultant and writer about all things tech and innovation in the region.
Investment Catalyst – Perot Jain
It’s always good to recognize those who help others. This award honors those who complete a significant investment contributing to the economic prosperity of the North Texas region.
Founded in 2014, this Dallas-based VC firm, with cofounders Ross Perot, Jr. and Anurag Jain, invests in seed and early-stage companies in the B2B, business services mobility and healthcare economies. Some of their investments include local startups Roomored and Hyper Giant. At the gala, the Perot family was honored for their deep-rooted history of helping drive the tech and telecom industries in DFW; Ross Perot Sr. passed away at the age of 89 in July.
Technology Adopter– Rebel Athletic
Integrating emerging technology into your business, even though said business is not directly related to the tech product and service industry seems like something to be celebrated. This award does just that, giving it up to companies building their brand through the adoption of new tech.
Carrollton-based Rebel Athletic is an athleticwear brand focusing on women and cheer, which was already approaching $20 million in revenue after its first year in 2015. Honored for the result of their partnership with Addison-based app developer SevenTablets: FitFreedom. The software uses AR to find clothing measurements and fits with near-perfect accuracy for customized cheerleading uniforms.
Tech Titan of the Future, University – Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, The University of Texas at Dallas
Having an educated workforce benefits everyone. This award recognizes institutions in the DFW area that promote, encourage and support students pursuing educations in tech- and engineering-related fields.
With its program Innovate(her) and while celebrating its 50th anniversary, UT Dallas was recognized for the initiative which promotes education about tech, finance and entrepreneurship to middle school girls through mentorships and single-day conferences.
Tech Titan of the Future, High School – Leigh Ann Mitchell, Lewisville High School
Recognizing those who are instrumental in shaping the lives of future leaders - teachers. The Tech Titans of the Future Award goes to those implementing innovative techniques or programing into the classroom.
Veteran math teacher at Lewisville High School Kilough, Leigh Ann was recognized for incorporating graphing calculator software developed by Dallas-based Desmos and 3D printers into the classroom to help students visualize concepts and to make math accessible.
Community Hero – Bob Sawler, The Realtime Group
This award recognizes those who give back; a person within the tech industry working to get the community involved.
VP of business Development at The Realtime Group – a Plano-based design and development firm – Sawler was recognized for founding the nonprofit, Food for the Soul which seeks to end childhood hunger in DFW-area schools by providing meals to children. One of the programs Food for the Soul started is responsible for feeding more than 1,500 kids each weekend; the organization has provided more than 2.5 million meals to districts across the Metroplex.
Fast Tech – Fastest Growing Company – Leo Cyber Security
Selected by nominations vetted by Crowe and Comerica Bank, this award recognizes DFW-based companies working thin the tech, media, telecom, life sciences, and clean tech spaces that are growing rapidly.
LEO is a cyber security software firm based in Dallas and was recognized for its rapid expansion since its founding. The startup was founded just three years ago. In that time, the company has increased its revenue by about 3000 percent, according to Founder David Deering. He said the company is on track to do between $4-5 million in revenue this year.
“We’re extremely pleased, and it's a recognition not only for all the employees who've helped us build this business, but also to our customers, who realize hiring Leo makes more sense than doing it themselves,” Deering said.
