This story is part of a series looking at the impact of St. Louis' Arch Grants startup investment program after 10 years. For more, go here.
Since its first startup competition in 2012, Arch Grants has funded 207 companies with $50,000 grants, including a record-high 34 companies in its 2021 class. Of those firms, 165 are still in business or have been acquired, with 87% of those active companies having operations in St. Louis.
In the graphic below, the Business Journal broke down those figures year by year, excluding the 2021 program, which is ongoing. Additionally, we've highlighted details from a few prominent Arch Grants recipients.
2012 spotlight startup: Observable Networks
Founded in 2011 by Patrick Crowley, Arch Grants winner Observable Networks rapidly went from a bootstrapped team to catching the eye of a technology giant. The firm, which developed cloud-based network security, in July 2017 was acquired by Cisco Systems Inc., marking one of the most prominent exits by an Arch Grants company.
2013 spotlight startup: KnowInk
Since winning its Arch Grant, Downtown West-based election technology startup KnowInk has turned into one of St. Louis’ biggest startup successes. The 140-person company in 2020 was the region's fastest-growing private company, based on Business Journal research. It had 2019 revenue of $53.7 million, up from $10.2 million in 2017. KnowInk’s flagship product is the Poll Pad, which allows election jurisdictions to replace the paper-based voter check-in and verification process with an electronic alternative.
2014 spotlight startup: Prattle
Arch Grants winner Prattle, which developed predictive analytics on public companies and central banks, marked an exit in June 2019 when it was acquired by New York-based investment network Liquidnet. The startup created a natural language processing and machine learning system designed to provide automated research tools for financial professionals, including portfolio managers and research analysts.
2015 spotlight startup: The Normal Brand
The Normal Brand, the St. Louis-based clothing line run by three of the Sansone brothers, has expanded its reach since winning an Arch Grant. The lifestyle brand, which opened its first retail store in Clayton in 2019, last year expanded with a second brick-and-mortar location in Nashville.
2016 spotlight startup: Radiologics
St. Louis startup Radiologics, which provides software and services for imaging-based clinical trial workflows, joined forces earlier this year with a fast-growing company in the Twin Cities. In September, it was acquired by Minneapolis-based Flywheel. Radiologic’s 17 employees joined Flywheel through the deal.
2017 spotlight startup: Lean Media
Chesterfield-based Lean Media, which provides online advertising services for companies in agribusiness, has had its headcount and revenue expand since snagging its Arch Grant. Lean Media, led by founder and CEO Beth Handrigan, has earned a spot on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest-growing private companies in each of the past two years. It had revenue of $3.8 million in 2020, up from $2.5 million in 2019 and $1.4 million in 2018.
2018 spotlight startup: Balto
Launched in 2017 by three co-founders in their 20s, software firm Balto has emerged as one of St. Louis’ most prominent startups. The Downtown West firm has raised $52 million since its launch and has roughly 110 employees. Balto’s technology is designed to provide real-time guidance and coaching for customer service agents and sales representatives while they are on calls.
2019 spotlight startup: Adalo
The St. Louis app-making startup has raised $9.7 million since its launch, closing a Series A round earlier this year that was led by prominent investor Tiger Global Management. Founded in 2018, Adalo operates in the so-called “no-code” sector, having developed software that allows users without any coding expertise to create mobile and web apps.
2020 spotlight startup: Mission Control
Recent milestones by the esports software startup Mission Control include securing fresh funding and inking key partnerships. Mission Control, founded by two Saint Louis University graduates, in 2020 closed a $1.75 million seed financing. Earlier this year, Plano, Texas-based Cinemark Holdings (NYSE: CNK) tapped the local startup to manage its online esports leagues.
