2020 TechPoint Mira Award nominations open
INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) – Indiana’s technology initiative has opened nominations for the 21st Annual Mira Awards. TechPoint says the next round of awards honoring the “best in tech” has several updates, including its Rising Entrepreneur Award, which will this year ditch its age requirement and recognize startup founders of all ages and experiences.
The Mira Awards celebrate “Indiana’s cities, companies, entrepreneurs, educators, and other leaders for their tech achievements and innovations.” Applications for the awards are being accepted through January 17.
“Our state’s tech community has produced many successes over the years, and the Mira Awards is in large part about celebrating successes,” said TechPoint Chief Executive Officer Mike Langellier. “However, it’s also the largest gathering of the tech community and an opportunity to remind our community that we are in a global competition for talent, capital, and companies. Let’s use the Mira Awards platform to inspire the pursuit of big bets, major market opportunities, community commitments, rapid growth, and ‘acquirer over acquired’ mentality. We need not be braggarts, but we must be bold.”
Other changes to this year’s awards include the Tech Product of the Year category which will be open to all new technology products that achieved milestones in calendar year 2019, regardless of an official launch date or development timeline. Previously, they were required to be launched products launched during the past 12 months.
The Startup of the Year category eligibility date has been extended to include startups that are two-years-old or newer and both the Tech Education Award and Community Impact Award have been changed to include the contributions of individuals or organizations.
The applications will be evaluated and ranked by 52 judges and the rankings will determine the nominees. The nominees will then deliver presentations and answer questions in-person with one of the independent judging panels. The judges will then deliberate and select the winners.
The 2020 Mira Award categories include:
PEOPLE
- Rising Entrepreneur Award
- Investor of the Year
- Trailblazer Award (chosen by TechPoint Board)
PLACE
- Community Impact Award
- Tech Education Award
- Rising Tech City Award
PRODUCTS
- Tech Product of the Year
- Tech Service of the Year
- Innovation of the Year
COMPANIES
- Exceptional Employer Award
- Startup of the Year
- Scale-up of the Year
- Large Enterprise of the Year