StartupAZ names new CEO, awards grant funding

StartupAZ Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping launch new companies in Arizona, has announced that Diana Vowels would take over as the new CEO of the organization.

Vowels is deeply ingrained in the Valley’s startup scene; She joined StartupAZ last year to run talent attraction efforts and previously worked as VP of community and general manager at Galvanize downtown. Last year she chaired the Venture Madness 2021 pitch contest.

Vowels replaces Brandon Clarke, who co-founded StartupAZ in 2015.

“Brandon’s vision and passion built a solid foundation at StartupAZ, creating a platform in which generosity and performance drive one another,” Vowels said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to lead the organization into the future, build new collaborations and initiatives to help founders build their businesses and continue to contribute to the generosity-performance flywheel.”

StartupAZ has become a central hub for the Valley’s blooming tech ecosystem. The group’s board of directors is stacked with entrepreneurial expertise, including co-founder Mario Martinez, chairman Tom Curzon, Arizona State University's Jacky Alling, CampusLogic founder Gregg Scoresby, Solera Health founder Brenda Schmidt, Healthiest You co-founder Jim Prendergast, Axosoft co-founder Hamid Shojaee and Ji Mi Choi, also from ASU.

StartupAZ also runs a program called the Collective each year, which brings founders together to learn from each other and foster startup growth. 

New grant funding announced

StartupAZ has helped distribute funding for local companies during the Covid-19 pandemic, both last year and again in 2022.

Last year StartupAZ worked with InvisionAZ, a nonprofit and venture capital fund, to award about $1 million to 33 companies and this year the two groups were given another $1.5 million to do the same. A list of the first 16 recipients is below.

The first batch of money came from the Arizona Commerce Authority and the second, $1.5 million batch came from the state's Crisis Contingency and Safety Net Fund, according to Gov. Doug Ducey’s office.

The Crisis Contingency and Safety Net Fund was established in March 2020 to provide $50 million in direct relief to the communities most impacted by Covid-19. The state Legislature gave Ducey this money with the stipulations that it may only be used for housing assistance; homeless services; economic assistance to small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, nonprofit organizations and health care providers; and food bank operations.

As of Feb. 16, just $213,000 of the original $50 million had yet to be allocated, according to the governor’s office. Small businesses were among the biggest recipients from this Covid crisis fund, collectively reaping more than $17 million through various programs, which was second only to programs aimed at reducing homelessness during the pandemic, which received more than $18 million.

The $1.5 million for startups in 2022 represents about 3% of the money that was set aside for those most impacted by the pandemic. Recipients are expected to receive between $25,000 and $50,000 each.

Here are the 16 recipients named so far: