The Arizona Commerce Authority named 26 semifinalists for the 2021 Arizona Innovation Challenge on Wednesday after fielding 110 applications this year. Most of the companies are based in the Valley, but startups from across the state and one from California made the cut as well.
The Innovation Challenge is a program designed to help early stage companies scale by connecting them to mentoring, resources and, for some, the possibility of earning non-dilutive cash awards in the future.
These 26 companies are now on the path to potentially joining the Venture Ready Accelerator, a 12-month business building program from the ACA, provided they make it through the AIC as a winner.
From this stage, the 26 companies will receive feedback on their initial applications and tune up their pitches for the semifinalist judging round, which takes place from Oct. 20 to Nov. 9. AIC finalists will be named on Nov. 10 (there are typically 15) and final pitches will be made, in-person, on Nov. 17.
As many as 10 AIC winners will be announced on Dec. 1 and winning companies will be eligible to join the Venture Ready Accelerator. Companies can receive up to $150,000 in funding by hitting standard Venture Ready milestones, according to the ACA website.
Botco.ai, EnPower, Trainual, Qwick, Virtuous, Paradox, CampusLogic, and eVisit are just a few of the many past AIC winners that have gone on to build successful startups in the Valley.
This year just more than 46% of all AIC applications came from IT and software companies, followed by biotech and life science companies which made up 28.2% of the applications. Among the 26 semifinalists, 10 are software companies and another 9 are in life sciences.
Here's the full list of 2021 semifinalists:
Ampcera Inc. - Tucson - Advanced Materials sector
Better Agency Inc. - Mesa - IT and software sector
Biomotum Inc. - Flagstaff - Bio and life sciences sector
Bluetail Inc. - Phoenix - IT and software sector
BMSEED LLC - Phoenix - Bio and life sciences sector
CIRQ+ - Scottsdale - IT and software sector
Denture Care Hub - Santa Rosa, CA - Bio and life Sciences sector
Desert Saber, LLC - Oro Valley - IT and software sector
Dorm Room Movers - Scottsdale - IT and software sector
EnKoat LLC - Phoenix - CleanTech and renewable energy sector
Gelco Products - Anthem - Bio and life sciences sector
Hoolest Performance Technologies - Tempe - Bio and life sciences sector
My Little Mascara Club - Tempe - IT and software sector
Navi Nurses - Phoenix - Bio and life sciences sector
Oryx Additive Inc. - Tempe - Advanced manufacturing sector
OXbyEL Technologies, Inc. - Phoenix - CleanTech and renewable energy sector
OZZI - Phoenix - IT and software sector
Paramium Technologies - Tucson - Advanced manufacturing sector
ReSuture - Surprise - Bio and life sciences sector
Rixon Technology - Chandler - IT and software sector
SaiOx Inc. - Tucson - Bio and life sciences sector
SchoolCues - Phoenix - IT and software sector
TapRoot Interventions & Solutions - Phoenix - CleanTech and renewable energy sector
Tectonicus Constructs - Bisbee - CleanTech and renewable energy sector
The Patient Company - Scottsdale - Bio and life sciences sector
VIVAHR - Phoenix - IT and software sector
