The votes are in — and it's time to announce the winners of the inaugural InnovationMap Awards, presented by Techwave.
The event, held September 8 at The Cannon, honored all 28 finalists, spanning innovative Houston companies and founders, as well as our first-ever Trailblazer Award recipient, Barbara Burger. Click here to read about all the finalists.
Eight judges evaluated over 100 applications across eight categories for the 2021 InnovationMap Awards presented by Techwave. This year's judges included: Juliana Garaizar, head of the Houston incubator and vice president of innovation at Greentown Labs; Alex Gras, managing director at The Cannon; Rajasekhar Gummadapu, co-founder and CEO of Techwave; Natalie Harms, editor of InnovationMap; Serafina Lalany, interim president at Houston Exponential; Jon Nordby, managing director at MassChallenge; Emily Reiser, senior manager of innovation community engagement at the Texas Medical Center; and Grace Rodriguez, CEO and executive director of Impact Hub Houston.
Want to watch the event in full? Click here.
Without further adieu, here are our 2021 InnovationMap Award winners.
Hello Alice is a small business owner's passport through entrepreneurship that helps with networking, raising capital, and accessing growth tools. The company was also nominated for the People's Choice: Startup of the Year Award and the Female-Founded Business categories.
Topl is an impact monetization engine that enables digital and sustainable transformation across value chains and empowers the monetization of impact verified on the Topl Blockchain. The company was also nominated for the People's Choice: Startup of the Year Award.
Saranas is the creator of the Early Bird, the first and only FDA-approved bleed detection system for endovascular procedures.
Nanotech is a material science company with a mission to fireproof the world and reduce energy consumption. Nanotech was also a finalist for the People's Choice category.
Mainline is an esports tournament management system, tournament organizer, and event production company.
Cemvita Factory — engineering microbes that eat CO2 and produce valuable chemicals. The company was also a finalist in the Energy Transition Business category.
Kim Roxie of LAMIK Beauty — a tech-enabled clean color cosmetics company focusing on women of all diverse backgrounds. LAMIK was also a finalist in the BIPOC-Founded Business category,
The inaugural InnovationMap Awards event, which is about three weeks away, was created to honor the best of Houston innovation. The Trailblazer Award in particular was established to honor a Houston innovation leader and advocate who's making a lasting impact on the Houston innovation community.
Barbara Burger, vice president of innovation at Chevron and president of Chevron Technology Ventures, was selected to receive the 2021 Trailblazer Award at the InnovationMap Awards presented by Techwave. Burger was nominated and approved by this year's judges. Click here to read more about the Trailblazer Award.
And the winner is.... Cheers Health, which is creating products that are designed to support your liver and help you feel better after consuming alcohol.