Entrepreneurship is the lifeblood of St. Louis' regional economy. And it goes well beyond business success – it's about fostering innovation, creating jobs, and revitalizing our communities. In our fast-growing and increasingly vibrant startup ecosystem, founders are acting as catalysts for change, propelling this city into a dynamic and exciting future of limitless potential. At the forefront of this entrepreneurial renaissance is Arch Grants.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, our mission is simple yet impactful: to build a new, more inclusive, and equitable economy by attracting and retaining extraordinary entrepreneurs to St. Louis. To that end, and by virtue of the humbling generosity of our local philanthropic community, we have awarded over $16 million in non-dilutive funding to 252 startups since 2012. Arch Grants’ only requirement is that every awarded company must headquarter their business in St. Louis for a minimum of one year, and our “return on investment” is the economic impact and innovation our portfolio companies generate in our community.
As a new cohort of 20-25 startups are selected for award each year by a team of more than 400 volunteer judges, we work tirelessly to provide them access to mentors, growth capital, talent, prospective customers, pro bono professional services, and whatever else they need to grow and scale in our region. We know the clock is ticking, and every second counts.
Our sense of urgency comes as no surprise to the startup founders we support, who are even more attuned to the concept of “runway,” and the importance of growing, and even failing, fast. And that sense of urgency is paying off in a big way: Arch Grants’ portfolio companies, 70% of which are led by Founders from traditionally underrepresented groups, have created 3,598 jobs and paid over $158 million in St. Louis-based wages alone. They've raised over $696 million in capital and generated more than $742 million in revenue. They have erased any doubt that this model is still in the “test phase.” We are primed, charged, and with mounting research pointing to the significant economic impact driven through startups, we know that each dollar that’s donated to Arch Grants recirculates back into this community, creating jobs, driving innovation, and spurring even more economic impact.
But our role, pivotal as it may be, only thrives through the support of organizations, foundations, and individuals who stand with us at this nexus of innovation and community development. Generous funding partners like Bank of America, NISA Charitable Fund, William T. Kemper Foundation, and many others provide the critical annual funding we need to continue this work, enabling Arch Grants to engage an expansive network of programmatic partners in our region and around the country.
Partnerships with Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis University, UMSL, and Harris-Stowe State University ensure that our companies have access to high-quality talent and, in turn, can engage with up-and-coming entrepreneurs to help guide them in launching their own ventures. We partner with CIC, Spark, TechArtista and T-REX to connect our Founders with creative spaces fostering innovative environments. We engage St. Louis Arch Angels, Cultivation Capital, Capital Innovators, and dozens of other venture capital groups and accelerators outside our region to help recruit applicants and to put our more recently awarded startups on their collective investment radars.
Our impact extends well beyond the metrics we’ve diligently tracked since day one. It's embodied in the passion of our Founders and the tangible changes they affect in communities – yes, in St. Louis, but increasingly around the country and internationally as well.
It's visible on the shelves of national grocery chains where Big Heart Tea, Honeymoon Chocolates, Halo + Cleaver, and Seoul Juice’s products are on display. It’s in TCARE’s new headquarters rising in The Grove just steps away from Bold Xchange’s distribution center, Rebundle’s expanded operations in Maryland Heights, and Intramotev’s move to a long abandoned manufacturing plant in North St. Louis. It’s in hospital operating rooms where SentiAR’s holographic visualization technology is leveraged to improve surgical outcomes, and in the game-changing gastrointestinal diagnostic testing tools Geneoscopy is commercializing. And those are just nine of the more than 150 active Arch Grants companies that continue to operate in St. Louis.
Looking forward, the transformative power of entrepreneurship becomes ever more crucial to shaping our region's narrative. St. Louis’ future, I firmly believe, is limited only by our collective imagination and the will to innovate and evolve. Our startups, embodying the city's resilience and determination, teach us a vital lesson: Strength lies not in never failing, but in not being defined by our failures. This is a mindset we all should embrace. As we shed the narrow perspectives of the past, a clear vision of our goals will emerge, and with an ever-growing multitude of passionate and innovative entrepreneurs, a brighter future is not just a hope; it’s a certainty.
Arch Grants’ journey has only just begun, and I know the best is yet to come. I invite you to join our movement.
Arch Grants disrupted the status quo in 2012 with a mission to transform the St. Louis economy by attracting and retaining extraordinary entrepreneurs. Through their annual Startup Competition model, they award $75,000 - $100,000 in equity-free grants and access to an ecosystem of resources to 20-25 early-stage startups each year.
Gabe Angieri is the executive director of Arch Grants and has worked within the organization for eight years. His steadfast commitment to its mission has helped propel Arch Grants’ growth and establish it as a leader in the local innovation sector as well as a national model for economic development through entrepreneurship.
