Fire Awards: Winner - Catalysts/investors
In 2021, Arch Grants reached its 10th year of providing non-dilutive grants to early stage startups in St. Louis, surpassing 200 companies funded through its annual startup competition. It also expanded its funding for local companies, launching its Growth Grants program that provides follow-on capital to its portfolio companies. The nonprofit also plans to increase the amount of funding, starting this year, for its annual startup contest. It will award at least $75,000 to each company, up from $50,000.
Gabe Angieri, executive director of Arch Grants, shared more details on the nonprofit's expansion:
Arch Grants last year celebrated its 10th year of awarding grants to startups. What have been the keys to success in the first decade of backing startups? Arch Grants has only successfully catalyzed local economic impact because of the St. Louis community’s generosity. Our donors, partners and volunteers have invested in the belief that when bold entrepreneurs have the support and resources they need to achieve their goals, the positive impact they can make on the economy and culture of a region is limitless.
Of the 207 companies we have awarded since 2012, 161 are still active, with 85% of those active companies maintaining operations in St. Louis. This is a direct outcome of our ability to connect portfolio companies with the resources they need to grow and scale in St. Louis, including assistance in attracting follow-on capital, recruiting and hiring key talent and providing access to our robust regional and national network of partners and collaborators.
A critical factor that separates Arch Grants from most other economic development organizations is our structure as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. This allows us to quickly adapt and improvise to changing circumstances to maximize the benefit we can provide our portfolio companies and the entrepreneurs that lead them.
Arch Grants is increasing the amount of funding it provides to startups. What made now the right time to increase those figures? Simply put, we determined that we would be more impactful in fulfilling our mission of catalyzing economic development in St. Louis by increasing the Startup Competition funding awards. Increasing our base grant award by 50% to $75,000 and adding a $25,000 relocation grant for companies that relocate to St. Louis has already spurred a 20% increase in the number of applications for our Startup Competition this year and will undoubtedly help our yet-to-be-selected 2022 Cohort Companies achieve their growth objectives faster and more easily once they enter our program. It was also an important signal that we could broadcast nationally and internationally that despite the significant challenges posed by the pandemic and subsequent economic turbulence, Arch Grants is committed to doubling down on making St. Louis even more supportive and welcoming to startups ready to scale.
How has Arch Grants evolved since its founding? Arch Grants has evolved in myriad ways since our founding, but most significantly in the range of the services we’re able to offer in support of the entrepreneurs and startups we’ve awarded. Arch Grants launched the Growth Grants program in 2021 to provide up to $100,000 in follow-on funding to help Arch Grants companies that have demonstrated success in creating jobs and expanding operations in St. Louis. As of May 2022, nine Arch Grants companies have been awarded a total of $850,000 in Growth Grants. Any Arch Grants Company still operating in St. Louis is eligible to apply and, if awarded, must commit to remaining in St. Louis for at least two years. These awards must be matched at least two-to-one by other growth capital and are designed to make it easier for our founders to go out and raise money from additional investors.
In addition, Arch Grants has introduced an entrepreneur-in-residence program whereby our companies can access real-time advice and guidance from highly experienced entrepreneurs, expanded our physical footprint to offer co-working and shared meeting space with our portfolio companies, and expanded partnerships with local membership organizations like Greater STL Inc. and the Saint Louis Club to ensure our founders can quickly access resources and connect with regional leaders after entering our program.
In supporting startups, Arch Grants has placed a focus on funding companies created and led by those from underrepresented groups. How can St. Louis become a more welcoming place for minority founders? St. Louis has an opportunity to become the best place for startups led by founders from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. Arch Grants is committed to increasing support to these companies through intentional and targeted funding partnerships. Bank of America, Ferring Family Foundation and other funding partners have stepped forward to help drive this effort, but we can, and should, go much further. We also need more local investment in companies led by underrepresented founders. Arch Grants is currently building relationships with venture capital firms focused on this space. Still, more local efforts like those of Ascend Capital and Advantage Capital would certainly make St. Louis more welcoming for minority founders.
What is Arch Grants’ top goal for the next year? Our top goal for Arch Grants over the next year is the same goal we’ve had every year since our founding: increase the economic impact our companies can make in St. Louis by marshaling robust support and resource partners. Building on previous years’ efforts, in 2022, we are focused on increasing the connectivity and peer-based support between our ever-growing community of founders. As a small but mighty team, Arch Grants has always focused on leveraging a large community of supporters to assist our founders. Today, our founders number in the hundreds, and many are primed and eager to support our more recently-funded companies, creating a “founder flywheel effect." We will celebrate this past and future flywheel effect at our community-wide 10X celebration in November.
There’s currently concern about an economic downturn and what that means for startups. What are you doing to ensure Arch Grants can continue to help portfolio companies grow, even in a downturn? As an organization formed in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 recession, Arch Grants has always been a de facto insurance policy against unpredictable economic downturns, local or national. Even as large corporations move operations, merge, or downsize, Arch Grants ensures that a steady flow of promising high-growth startups have access to non-dilutive capital and the resources they need to grow in St. Louis, thereby creating new jobs, generating revenue, and generally investing in our community.
Our founding vision always included the ability to ensure a perpetual funding pipeline for entrepreneurs in St. Louis, and thanks to generous support from a growing group of local philanthropists and foundations, Arch Grants has raised over $20 million toward an endowment through our Sustained Impact Campaign. Initiatives like Growth Grants and our ability to fund companies through the Startup Competition are all now underwritten partly by investment proceeds from these endowed funds. With incredible ongoing annual funding support from the St. Louis community, Arch Grants is well-positioned to continue attracting, retaining, and supporting high-growth startups in St. Louis for the long term.
For links to profiles of winners and finalists in the 2022 Fire Awards and Startup Exit Awards, go here:
