TechPoint Announces 2019 Mira Nominees

Tuesday, February 12, 2019 10:19 AM EDT Updated: Tuesday, February 12, 2019 02:26 PM EDT
By Andy Ober
TechPoint Announces 2019 Mira Nominees (photo courtesy of TechPoint)

Indiana’s technology initiative has released the nominees for the 20th annual Mira Awards. TechPoint says the winners, to be selected from a list of 109 companies, organizations and individuals, will be announced April 13 in front of a sellout crowd of 1,300 at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis.

A group of 48 independent subject matter experts selected the nominees. Later this month, judging panels will interview the nominees before selecting the winners. The organization will announce the winner of the TechPoint Trailblazer Award ahead of the April 13 award ceremony.

Indianapolis-based Viral Launch is nominated for two Mira Awards and its chief executive officer Casey Gauss is nominated for the Rising Entrepreneur Award. In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Gauss talked about what the nominations mean for him and his company.

"TechPoint does a great job of calling attention to some of the great things that are happening in Indianapolis tech and so to be recognized as part of that is really cool," said Gauss. "We’ve had some amazing growth; last year we grew 150 percent and more than double our team. So, amidst all of the craziness that comes with that kind of scaling, it’s really cool to be recognized in the areas that we have been."

TechPoint says this year’s nominees reflect Indiana’s growing tech ecosystem. The organization says 82 percent of this year’s selections were founded in the last 10 years.

The 2019 TechPoint Mira Award nominees are:

New Tech Product of the Year (Highly innovative and ground-breaking tech products that burst onto the scene and took it by storm in just the last year)

  • 120WaterAudit
  • AfterSchool HQ
  • Baker Hill NexGen
  • FlexePark
  • Greenlight Guru
  • hc1.com
  • Pattern89
  • Perceivant, Guided Learning Platform
  • SIMBA Chain
  • Springbuk
  • Viral Launch

Tech Service of the Year (The year’s best solution, including delivery of technology products and professional services to solve a particular problem)

  • Ascend Indiana
  • Carbonite
  • DemandJump
  • Greenlight Guru
  • Mobile reCell
  • Peoplocity
  • PFL
  • Pondurance
  • Raytheon, Topography Optimization
  • Synovia Solutions
  • WorkHere

Innovation of the Year (A brand new way of doing things that revolutionizes, advances, or creates new tech industries and fields)

  • 3Oe Scientific
  • Anvl Workforce
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana; Counterpart; Crafted
  • Codelicious
  • Cummins
  • Equian
  • FreightRover
  • Innovative Neurological Devices
  • Raytheon, Troposcatter
  • ScholarTrack, Indiana Commission for Higher Education
  • Sharpen Technologies
  • The Bee Corp

Rising Entrepreneur Award (A class of young, passionate and creative leaders thriving in Indiana’s growing tech community)

  • Everett Berry, Founder and CEO, Perceive
  • Nick Birch, Co-founder and CEO, PropelUp
  • Casey Gauss, CEO, Viral Launch
  • Scott Massey, Co-Founder and CEO, Heliponix
  • Jeremy Miller, VP of Marketing, STARTedUP
  • Aaron Pierce, CEO, Pierce Aerospace
  • Ashley G. Scott, Founder & CEO of CurlyInCollege
  • Hunter Stone, Technical Project Manager, Codelicious; Co-Founder, STARTedUP
  • Nick Tippmann, VP of Marketing, Greenlight Guru
  • Nick Turner, Founder & CEO, DeliverEnd
  • Wesley Virt, COO & Founder, Explore Interactive

Tech Educator of the Year (Those patient individuals adopting, demonstrating, and encouraging the use of technology in classrooms across Indiana)

  • Ariel Crawley, Ivy Works Director, Ivy Tech Community College
  • Andy Harris, Senior Lecturer, IUPUI Science
  • Kalvin Jones, Founder, Code Black Indy
  • Pete Just, CTO, Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township
  • Nextech.org
  • Jennifer Palilonis, Professor and Director of the Center for EMDD at Ball State University
  • Justin Smith, Business & IT Teacher, Pike High School
  • Kirsten Smith, Associate Director, Center for Information and Communication Sciences, Ball State University
  • Student Connections: WhichWay® Financial Literacy Team
  • Gloria Childress Townsend, Ph.D., Computer Science Department Chair, DePauw University
  • Collin Yust, 3rd Grade Teacher, Lowell Elementary, MSD Warren Township

Investor of the Year (The venture firms or angel investors who bring money plus outstanding connections, advice and attention to Indiana companies)

  • Allos Ventures
  • Elevate Ventures
  • Indiana University Philanthropic Venture Fund
  • Revolution’s "Rise of the Rest" Fund
  • VisionTech-Partners

Community Champion of the Year (Individuals who have gone above and beyond to support the advancement of Indiana’s tech community, even though they may not even work in the industry)

  • Katie Birge, Executive Director, Launch Indy at Union 525
  • Scott Fadness, Mayor of Fishers
  • Indiana Management Performance Hub
  • Chelsea Linder, Director of gBeta
  • John McDonald, CEO, ClearObject
  • Six Feet Up

Rising Tech City Award (Cities, towns, regions or communities in Indiana, celebrating the projects and people behind them who have championed the location’s advancement with particular emphasis on tech friendliness)

  • City of Fishers
  • City of Indianapolis
  • City of South Bend – Digital Inclusion Working Group
  • Fort Ben / City of Lawrence
  • The Mill, on behalf of Bloomington, Ind.

Exceptional Employer Award (Tech companies that are doing an exceptional job of hiring and developing talent, cultivating workspaces and workplace culture, and deliberately increasing diversity)

  • Angie’s List
  • BLASTmedia
  • Envisage Technologies
  • GEICO
  • Kronos Incorporated
  • Renaissance Electronic Services
  • Roche Diagnostics
  • Salesforce
  • SEP
  • TCC
  • Viral Launch

New Tech Startup of the Year (Startups with great potential that demonstrate the creative, strategic and innovative entrepreneurial spirit of Indiana’s technology industry)

  • Anvl
  • DeliverEnd
  • Encamp
  • Lucidia iT
  • Prime Movement Healthcare
  • Quillo
  • Selfless.ly
  • Socio Labs
  • Synapse Sitters
  • Woven

Scale-up of the Year (High-growth, innovation-driven companies that provide technology products or services, are gaining traction and could be Indiana’s next big success stories)

  • 120WaterAudit
  • Copper Mountain Technologies
  • DemandJump
  • Jobvite
  • Kinney Group
  • Lev
  • OneCause
  • OurHealth
  • Passageways
  • PERQ Software
  • Probo MedicalScale Computing
  • Viral Launch

Large Enterprise of the Year (Companies with exceptional innovation and market position that are helping Indiana to become a recognized technology leader, putting Indiana on the map in the technology world)

  • Cummins
  • KAR Auction Services
  • Sallie Mae
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