St. Louis Inno is currently accepting nominations for its inaugural Fire Awards and the 2022 Startup Exit Awards.
Nominations for the awards programs, both of which will celebrate the region’s top startups and innovators, are being accepted until May 20.
The Fire Awards are St. Louis Inno’s premier recognition program and will honor the companies and organizations setting the local innovation economy ablaze. After reviewing inbound nominations, the Inno team and St. Louis Business Journal editorial staff will select the honorees, grouped into categories. Later, one winner per category will be selected by judges, and crowned the “Blazer Winner.”
Honorees for the Fire Awards will be selected in five categories: geotech, software/innovation, agtech, biotech/health tech, catalyst/investors and fire starters/community builders. You can learn more about each category and submit nominations for the Fire Awards here.
Some things we look for in selecting the Fire Award honorees are: new funding, adding headcount, social and community impact, product launches, company pivots, company growth, and amazing stories of innovators reshaping the ecosystem. Fire honorees can include later-stage tech pillars, growth-stage startups, accelerators, venture firms, meetup groups, non-profits, etc. Self-nominations are accepted.
St. Louis Inno's Startup Exit Awards celebrate St. Louis' later-stage startup ecosystem and the individuals who have made huge contributions to the startup industry. We’re seeking nominations in two categories: exits of the year/top equity funding transaction and lifetime achievement award. You can submit nominations for the exits of the year/top equity funding transaction here and for the life achievement award at this link.
All honorees for both awards programs must be based in the St. Louis area, which includes the city of St. Louis and St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln and Warren counties in Missouri, as well as Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties in Illinois.
We will celebrate the honorees of our Fire Awards and 2022 Startup Exit Awards at an in-person event scheduled for July 26.
For questions about these awards programs and the nomination process, contact Reporter Nathan Rubbelke at nrubbelke@bizjournals.com.
