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St. Louis Tech Startup Report 2013 in Review
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tech st. louis
2013 Year in review
startupreport
catalYst for tech startups
itenstl.org
created in collaboration with
catalYst for tech startups
St. Louis Tech Startup Report sponsored by:
about this report
The St. Louis Tech Startup Report: 2013 Year in Review is an overview and summary of the tech startup ecosystem in the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area. This is the second annual version of the report, reflecting our best efforts to capture information about the growth, evolution and current state of technology startups in the St. Louis region for the calendar year 2013. The report is based entirely on original data gathered from more than 350 startups that ITEN has tracked since 2008.
About ITENthe catalyst for tech startups in st. louis,
iten provides unique programs for rapid product
development, connections to talent, essential
networking, and access to funding. Designed by
entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, requiring neither
payment nor equity, iten is a unique community
asset building a new culture of innovation. iten
can be found on the web at www.itenstl.org
and @itenstl on twitter.
table of contents
2 Jim Brasunas’ Letter
4 Key Trends Overview
5 The Companies
6 ITEN Top Ten
8 ITEN Fast Ten
10 Rankings
12 The Money
14 Jobs & Hiring
16 St. Louis: A Startup City
18 Quotations
20 St. Louis Tech Startup Ecosystem
itenstl.org / 32 / itenstl.org
BioSTL, BioGenerator and ITEN
collaborated to create a new
Special Interest Group (SIG) for
anyone interested in Healthcare
Tech, and there are a number of
other SIGs formed or in the planning
stages, including App Developers,
Women in STEM, Minorities in
Tech, Big Data, and Gamification.
Innovate St. Louis and the
Economic Development Partnership
collaborated to launch the
AccelerateSTL website, a new
community portal. Along with this
Report, the new portal and other
community initiatives are important
ways that we broadcast to the
world the great renaissance
going on in St. Louis.
There is always more to do,
but we are happy to report
that the St. Louis tech startup
ecosystem is on a roll. The drive
to reinvigorate our region as an
entrepreneurial hotbed of new
ideas and new business ventures
has been years in the making.
Today, with the continuing effort
of so many, we have a vibrant
community of entrepreneurs striving
to hatch the next great company.
Supporting them is an ever-
widening group of investors and
business and community leaders.
There is every reason to believe
that 2014 will be even better
than 2013.
Let’s work together to make
it happen!
Jim Brasunas
executive Director, iten
As demonstrated by the phenomenal growth statistics in this report, the St. Louis tech startup community had a banner year in 2013.
the first out-of-Boston location
for the Cambridge Innovation Center
(CIC), a startup facility that attracts
venture capitalists, entrepreneurs,
entrepreneur support organizations
(ESOs) and corporate offices
from some of the most important
worldwide players, all under the
same roof. It’s hard to measure
the impact that CIC will have on
the St. Louis scene, but if it comes
anywhere close to what it’s done for
Kendall Square in Cambridge,
we are really in for a treat!
Virtually across the street from
CIC, the growth of the BioGenerator
at CET, which is opening up new
lab space, is a big step forward for
bioscience startups.
Out in Creve Coeur, the
County’s new Helix Center is
already nearing capacity with both
bio and IT startups, and includes
a great community meeting space
that ITEN uses on a regular basis
for Mock Angel meetings. The
Helix Center has also hosted
numerous meetings of the Regional
Entrepreneurship Initiative.
In addition to all of these
developments, more new
co-working spaces are set to
open downtown in 2014, and
a new incubator is in the works
for St. Charles.
government, universities,
foundations, startups and the
general public to invest the time
and money needed to begin
turning things around. Creating
and maintaining the infrastructure
that startups need is a great use
of public and private resources.
In St. Louis, it’s meant all the
difference, and in 2013 we had
some remarkably positive
developments.
this past year, we had a great
expansion of physical facilities
for tech startups. from a purely
functional point of view, tech
startups only need access to high-
speed internet, which has become
ubiquitous across the region. But
there’s also a growing appreciation
for collaborative spaces with a
high density of startups.
The continuing success of T-Rex
and the recent announcement of
its purchase of the Lammert building
on Washington Avenue, as well
as the opening of Lab1500 just
down the street, were both great
developments for the downtown
tech startup scene.
A couple of miles away, the renewed
development of the Cortex region is
a tremendous story. Cortex will be
Whether it’s the continuing
growth in Top 10 ventures like
yurbuds, Norse, MulticoreWare
and others, or newer emerging
companies bursting onto the
scene such as Pixel Press, Eateria
or Rovertown, the energy and
enthusiasm of our region’s startup
community is beginning to make
fundamental changes in the way
the region sees itself. This cultural
shift, still in its infancy, represents
the beginnings of an incredible
turnaround for our town, and a
reason to hope for better times
across the region. But it hasn’t
always been this way.
For decades, St. Louis was a
big corporation town, living
off the residual momentum of
ventures created by entrepreneurs
generations ago. As those
corporations progressed through
their lifecycle and inevitably
declined or were acquired by more
aggressive out of town interests,
St. Louis wasn’t doing enough
to encourage and enable high-
growth startups that could replace
them. A generation or two of
entrepreneurship received
little support, and St. Louis
experienced a relative decline
compared to other regions.
We’re fortunate that civic leaders
came forward from industry,
new spaces, new places
of course, the flow of money
is the lifeblood of any startup
community. and for regional
startup funding, there were
quite a few positive developments
in 2013:
Cultivation Capital expanded
in a number of important ways:
co-launching 630 with the
St. Louis Regional Chamber, an
Accelerator program for financial
services startups which invests
$100,000 into each entrant.
Cultivation Capital also developed
a healthcare fund to go along with
its previous focus on IT, nearly
tripling the amount of investments
that it made into local startups.
Over at St. Louis University,
the Billiken Angel network
expanded its reach by removing
the requirement of “SLU DNA” in
the ventures they support; they
are now open to investing in all
local startups.
ITEN’s own Mock Angel program
graduated eight ventures in 2013,
which is well above any previous
year. We also announced a doubling
of the capacity of the program to
meet growing demand in 2014.
Arch Grants expanded its number
of grantees to 20 in 2013, and the
ventures that Arch Grants is bringing
to town from all over the world are
having a great impact on St. Louis.
Another exciting development
was the launch of the iSelect Fund,
a new investment vehicle for
startups. The iSelect Fund is
essentially building a mutual fund
of local startups as an investment
product for wealth managers.
iSelect is just getting out of
the gate, but great things are
expected from the fund, which
takes advantage of some emerging
provisions of the new Jobs Act.
while money and physical
space are important, there are
multiple other intangibles that
go into creating a “support
infrastructure” for tech startups,
and in st. louis, that infrastructure
continues to get better and better.
in 2013, there were a number of
important developments in the
startup ecosystem:
1 Million Cups meets every
Wednesday morning. 1 Million
Cups is held at the NineNetwork
and provides a forum for early stage
scalable ventures to present their
business to the community. The
event is live-streamed on Nine’s
website, and is a first coming-out for
many new ventures. ITEN brought
1 Million Cups, an idea of the Ewing
Marion Kauffman Foundation, to
the St. Louis market as the 4th city
in the country to host these events.
Now there are 1 Million Cups
events in 26 cities nationwide.
ITEN’s new Entrepreneur In
Residence program is expanding.
The EIR program is modeled
on that of other successful tech
regions such as Silicon Valley,
pairing promising startups with
proven veterans who have
previously helped build emerging
ventures. ITEN’s EIR program will
join the successful EIR program at
BioGenerator as an important new
resource for the region’s startups.
a communityon the move
funding
jim bRaSunaS
itenstl.org / 54 / itenstl.org
ITEN saw some compelling trends
in our company analysis of 2013.
Tech entrepreneurs felt encouraged
by the prospect of additional local
funding and widespread support
from multiple Entrepreneur Support
Organizations (ESOs) in the area.
The number of tech companies
tracked by ITEN swelled to over
350, and positive trends in the
ecosystem continued to emerge.
Monthly revenue and funding
into tech startups continue to rise.
Our numbers from ITEN
companies tell us that revenues
and investments continued to
climb from 2012 to 2013. Monthly
combined revenue of active ITEN
companies has increased from
$5.0M to $5.9M in 2013. Companies
seem to be more focused on
product development and customer
cultivation to get to revenue.
The lean startup methodology
of developing a strong business
model, validated by revenue and/
or users, is taking hold with both
entrepreneurs and investors.
If we can achieve a talent influx from
these under-represented groups,
we will bring new opportunities for
growth to our region.
Greater collaboration among
community partners is benefiting
startup companies.
In 2013 many of the ESOs in our
region worked closely together to
share best practices, collaborate
on events, and in many cases
share the work of accelerating
tech startups. The best example
of that may have been the Startup
Connection showcase in the fall
of 2013, a collaboration between
InnovateVMS, Innovate St. Louis,
ITEN, Arch Grants, St. Louis Regional
Chamber, Cultivation Capital and
Six-Thirty. Over $160,000 of prizes
were awarded to early stage
ventures at Startup Connection
in front of the largest attendance
in Startup Connection history.
Additionally, with the work of groups
like VentureSTL, LaunchCode and
the Regional Entrepreneurship
Initiative, the programming and
support of entrepreneurs is more
coordinated than it has ever
been. (See the graphic of the tech
ecosystem at the end of this report.)
Tech Entrepreneurs continue
to break down barriers between
industry sectors.
2013 saw a marked rise in companies
that are creating innovation and
efficiencies in exciting new clusters.
ITEN saw good growth in areas
like Healthcare Tech, Mobile, and
Gamification. Companies in these
subsets are evolving and growing
in unique ways and have prompted
ITEN to create Special Interest
Groups (SIGs) around them in 2014.
Creating the right environment for
each of these types of companies
to flourish will also require the
collaboration of many other investors
and ESOs in the region.
Diversity and inclusion are
critical components for the region
to develop going forward.
While the diversity metrics have
not changed significantly from 2012
to 2013, ITEN echoes the loud and
clear message that the region needs
to foster more inclusion of women
and minorities in the tech startup
community. Other ESOs in the region
have come to the same conclusion.
A diverse and vibrant workforce
helps attract the talent needed by
our startup companies to thrive.
In 2013, the St. Louis tech startup community continued to mature and evolve while taking advantage of unprecedented collaboration across the region.
The startup community begins
and ends with the entrepreneurs
and ventures that are striving
to bring new ideas to market,
reshape industries and markets,
and ultimately create something of
lasting value. The St. Louis region
has numerous emerging companies
that are not just growing, but
thriving. Once again, we rank the
top ventures in our Top Ten, Fast Ten,
and Segment Rankings for 2013.
These lists seek to recognize and
celebrate those early stage tech
ventures that are getting the most
traction, most likely to become a
lasting success, and most likely to
make significant contributions to the
St. Louis region’s economic prosperity
through the growth of well-paying
jobs, and wealth creation for
founders and investors.
For our Fast Ten list, we look
only at companies founded in
2012 or later, and give additional
consideration to the growth in
metrics during calendar year
2013. We think the companies
on the Fast 10 list are ones most
likely to emerge and make an
impact in the next year or two.
A final note: we are limited
in our evaluations by the
willingness of companies to
share with us their proprietary
data. As you can see from this
report and any of our other
reports and publications, ITEN
does not divulge company-
specific data. And while most
ventures are very cooperative,
a few are less forthcoming and
this may have had an impact
on their rankings.
For our Top Ten list and the
industry segment lists in this
report, we focus on the following
key metrics: total funds raised
(from all outside sources including
but not limited to friends and
family, grants, debt and equity),
current monthly revenue, total
employees (including founders
working full time on the venture),
and related factors. Outside
funding, customer revenue,
and employees hired are the
main criteria we use to measure
a venture’s impact on the
community. We also include the
growth in these three primary
metrics over the course of 2013.
By doing so, we give added
weight to the traction that
companies are getting right
now, and reward the ones that
are growing rapidly.
Clearly, innovation and entrepreneurship are key to the St. Louis
region’s future success and economic growth. After laying the groundwork
for years by building business incubators and lab space, connecting mentors,
investors and entrepreneurs, leveraging our research capacity and encouraging
new enterprises, the St. Louis startup community is vibrant and thriving. Missouri’s
technology employment grew at the third-fastest rate in the nation last year.
Under30CEO ranked Kansas City and St. Louis the fourth and fifth best large
cities for young entrepreneurs. St. Louis’ entrepreneurial rebirth and boom over
the past year is very real, and to sustain and grow this momentum will require
constant attention, collaboration and creativity. When it comes to innovation
and entrepreneurship, St. Louis’ best days lie ahead.
JOE REAGANPRESIDENT & CEO, ST. LOUIS REGIONAL CHAMBER
The CompaniesKey Trends Overview
itenstl.org / 76 / itenstl.org
5 lockerDome
lockerdome.com
LockerDome is a social media platform for sports; it is one of the fast-est growing online sports properties in the world. More than twenty million people use LockerDome to consume content and interact with like-minded people around their favorite sports interests.
1 yurbuds
yurbuds.com
yurbuds is the #1 selling sport earphone brand in the country. The company was founded in 2008 by an Ironman Triathlete and a 24-time mar-athoner to solve the athlete’s need for a quality earphone that doesn’t hurt or fall out during active use. yurbuds’ products are ergonomically designed for comfort and exceptional fit, while providing best-in-class audio quality and durability.
2 norse
norse-corp.com
Norse offers proactive, intelligence-based security solutions that enable organi-zations to identify and defend against today’s advanced cyber-threats. Norse’s global platform continuously collects and ana-lyzes “dark intelligence” from where bad actors operate on the Internet to provide unique insight and actionable intelli-gence enabling organizations to defend against today’s ad-vanced threats.
3 MulticoreWare inc.
multicorewareinc.com
MulticoreWare is the leading provider of programmer productivity tools, libraries and application development services for homogenous and heterogeneous multicore CPU and GPU architectures.
4 aisle411 inc.
aisle411.com
Aisle411 collects, organizes, and monetizes product inventory and location data through a mobile engagement platform, bring-ing simplicity to in-store search and navigation.
Honorable mentionsThese dynamic ventures just missed making the Top 10 list (in alphabetical order):BlendicsBuilding Works Inc.Click with Me NowFanzliveFoxtraxGremlnHatchbuckLumateMakabooRespond Well (formerly Respondesign)
6 Mortgage returns
mortgagereturns.com
Mortgage Returns is a database-driven CRM and Automated Marketing Solution designed for the mortgage in-dustry. The company improves profitability of mortgage origi-nators by maximizing customer retention, increasing prospect conversion and driving more business from referral partners. Clients using Mortgage Returns’ CRM and marketing platform average a 1,500% ROI.
7 splice Machine
splicemachine.com
Splice Machine is the only transactional SQL-on-Hadoop database for real-time Big Data applications. Splice Machine provides all the bene-fits of NoSQL databases, such as auto-sharding, scalability, fault tolerance and high availabil-ity, while retaining SQL – the industry standard. It optimizes complex queries to power real-time OLTP and OLAP apps at scale without rewriting existing SQL-based apps and BI tool integrations.
8 busyevent
busyevent.com
BusyEvent Mobile– the app that builds event apps–is a suite of iOS, Android and web tools that make tradeshows and confer-ences easier to manage, more social and engaging and much more profitable to produce. By recording the digital trail of every attendee, BusyEvent Mobile remarkets live event information and generates a Return on Action.℠
9 food essentials
foodessentials.com
FoodEssentials pro-vides grocery retailers and brands with big data-driven information about ingredients and additives in food products, enabling targeted marketing to ingredient-conscious consumers.
10 bonfyre
(off campus Media)
bonfyreapp.com
Bonfyre is a free mobile app that redefines social sharing. It helps plan, capture and share event experiences with people that matter to you and have similar interests and/or affiliations.
TOP TEN
itenstl.org / 98 / itenstl.org
5 achor technologies
achortech.com
Achor Technologies is creating a unique, time saving, smile producing alternative to one of life’s overcomplicated tasks.
1 rovertown
RoverTown.com
RoverTown has developed a student discount mobile app available on both Google Play store and Apple store. The RoverTown Student Discount Program is the mobile provider for 72 college/university student discount programs across the United States.
2 pixel press
projectpixelpress.com
Pixel Press has developed a patent-pending technology enabling users of all ages to turn pencil and paper drawings directly into interactive video games.
3 eateria
www.eateria.co
Eateria has created a digital loyalty-marketing tool. This is a whole new way for restaurants, food and hospitality businesses to connect with customers by utilizing email, social media and mobile marketing.
4 crazyforeducation
crazyforeducation.com
CrazyForEducation provides high quality “flip” online lessons for middle and high school students on a world-wide basis.
6 acutetelecare
acutetelecare.com
AcuteTeleCare has developed a lightweight iPad-based platform to manage acute stroke patients. AcuteTeleCare connects physicians and patients, optimizes workflow, reduces time to treatment and improves outcomes.
7 code red education
coderededucation.com
Code Red Education creates, markets, and distributes a curriculum of computer language and computer coding skills to grade school students.
8 sirenGps
sirengps.com
Siren develops smartphone technology to immediately connect people to emergency services and loved ones – making communities safer.
9 simMachines
simmachines.com
simMachines provides a cloud based data science solution that allows a programmer to make predictions and recognize patterns in a matter of hours. simMachines offers similarity search of any kind of unstructured data, classification, regression and recommendation. simMachines’ tools are powerful building blocks that can be combined to solve a wide array of problems.
10 ben Medica
benmedica.com
BenMedica closes the information gap at the point of care by enabling healthcare payers to succinctly convey benefit coverage to both prescribers and patients through SaaS web-based tools.
FAST TEN
The St. Louis startup scene
is hotter than ever before.
JIM MCKELVEy, CO-FOUNDER, SqUARE GENERAL PARTNER, CULTIVATION CAPITAL
origin
stl 41.7%
Missouri - non stl 12.1%
illinois 11.4%
us (reMaining) 15.9%
europe 1.5%
latin aMerica 5.3%
africa 0.8%
asia 3.0%
other 8.3%
founDers
prior entrepreneurial experience
Yes 70.0%
no 30.0%
ethnicity
african aMerican 12.4%
asian 8.8%
australian/new Zealand 0.9%
caucasian 70.8%
hispanic 4.4%
Multiracial 2.7%
age
under 25 19.0%
26-35 37.0%
36-45 27.0%
50-59 12.0%
60+ 5.0%
college
st. louis 33.8%
Missouri - non stl 15.9%
illinois 14.6%
us (reMaining) 30.6%
europe 1.9%
new Zealand & australia 1.3%
asia, africa, & latin aMerica 0.18%
Gender
Male 81.0%
feMale 19.0%
itenstl.org / 1110 / itenstl.org
RankingscoMpanY status
funded company statusrevenue status outside funding status
seGMent ranKinGs
women owned1. BuildingWorks Inc.
2. Makaboo
3. StoryTrack
4. Saving Memories Forever
5. Muzio
clean/Green tech1. BusyEvent
2. Food Essentials
3. BuildingWorks Inc.
4. Evtron
5. Manufacturers’
Inventory (DIMS)
healthcare it1. DPM United
2. Respond Well
3. BizMed
4. AcuteTeleCare
5. BenMedica
education1. CrazyForEducation
2. MedPreps
3. Code Red Education
financial services1. Click With Me Now
2. BenefitBar
3. BarrelFish
Game Design1. Lumate
2. Pixel Press
3. PlazSoft
security1. Norse
2. SirenGPS
3. Parameter Security
sports1. yurbuds
2. LockerDome
3. FanzLive
minority owned1. MulticoreWare Inc.
2. Eateria
3. DPM United
4. MedPreps
5. Appcropolis
mobile1. Aisle411 Inc.
2. Lumate
3. RoverTown
4. Pixel Press
5. SirenGPS
social media1. LockerDome
2. Bonfyre (Off Campus Media)
3. Gremln
4. Lumate
5. FanzLive
n 27% with revenue
n 73% without revenue
n 41% received outside funding
n 59% no outside funding
n 42% with revenue
n 58% without revenue
The Money
itenstl.org / 1312 / itenstl.org
Battery Ventures, Oak Investment
Partners and Bain Capital.
None of the significant investments
recorded in the survey required the
company to give up operations in
St. Louis, which is welcome
news from the local economic
development perspective.
Explosive growth in St. Louis tech
investing is certainly a great story,
but the better story is that these
numbers were not significantly
skewed by outliers. Rather, they
represented expansion and growth
by several facets of measurement,
proving that the sustained efforts
of the St. Louis startup community
are materializing.
clifforD holekamp
senior lecturer in entrepreneurship
olin Business school,
washinGton universitY in st. louis
General partner,
cultivation capital
well-balanced funding ecosystem
where new concepts were seeded
and promising existing startups
were being supported.
Investing activity saw significant
increases from a variety of
sources. Angel investment was up
significantly including increased
activity from Arch Angels, Billiken
Angels and from family offices and
unaffiliated individuals. The Missouri
Technology Corporation remained
an important contributor of capital
to St. Louis area startups, and
venture capital funding increased
significantly by local firms such as
Cultivation Capital and FTL Capital.
Ironically, one of the benefits
of a growing local investment
community has been increased
attention from out of town investors.
This was the case in 2013 when
significant investments were made
into St. Louis startups by national
venture capital institutions including
Investments in tech startups
more than doubled from $30 million
in 2012 to over $66 million in 2013.
The tech scene in St. Louis is
growing into its adolescence,
and after a thorough exam, it
appears to be an increasingly
healthy ecosystem.
The quantity of startup ventures
receiving investment is up
significantly from years past. The
year over year cumulative growth
isn’t the singular result of any one
outlier company. More St. Louis tech
companies were funded in 2013
than in any year before.
The size of funding rounds
remained well distributed with
greater volume seen in both
smaller seed stage investments
and in larger growth stage
investments. The total numbers
were not particularly skewed by
any single investment stage. The
cumulative figures represent a
We knew that 2013 was a growth year for the St. Louis tech community, but once the numbers were tallied up, we realized just how big a year it was.
amount of funDinG currentlY
souGht BY iten companies:
$53.9M
2013 saw increased
collaboration between
universities, entrepreneurial
support networks such as ITEN,
accelerators, angels, and early
stage venture funds leading to a
record number of venture-backed
companies in both number of
companies invested in as well
as total dollars invested. It is
my belief that 2014 will be
an even bigger year. BRIAN MATTHEWS FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER, CULTIVATION CAPITAL
money invested in iten network companies(cumulative total)
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
17.5
28
40.3
70.6
137.3
monthly combined revenue of iten companies ($m)
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
.819
1.2
3.5
5.0
5.9
*Minor correction to 2012 data
*
Jobs & Hiring
itenstl.org / 15
will be technical in nature,
with companies looking for
programmers, designers
and coders.
2014 should bring interesting
assistance to bridge some of
the talent gap. Efforts such as
LaunchCode, ArchDevAngels,
and the ITEN Talent Finder
will be more fully implemented
by this time next year. As
these efforts mature they will
be tremendous tools in the
region’s ability to attract
and retain talent for this
emerging marketplace.
future success of the company.
Looking forward to 2014, companies
responding to our survey indicate
an increased willingness and need
to hire this year. If properly funded
and able to find the talent, ITEN
companies are looking to add as
many as 259 positions in the first
6 months of 2014 compared to
185 positions in 2013. That number
grows to 539 within the entire
year of 2014 versus a projection
of 425 new hires in 2013.
The needed talents and skills
are not a surprise. Almost 30%
of the positions being offered
Access to talent continues to be
a critical challenge to the startup
community. It is a need that is
shared among large and small
companies in the region. Our
numbers for 2013 show that while
a number of ventures added to
their staffs, overall job growth in the
startup sector remained basically
constant. The loss of employees at
ventures that ceased operations in
2013 offset the increased hiring at
growing ventures.
The need for good talent remains,
as more startups realize how critical
early staff members can be to the
Bridging the Talent Gap
In 2003, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation challenged 30 leading
universities for its Kauffman Campuses Initiative (KCI) and selected
Washington University as one of eight inaugural Kauffman Campuses and recipient
of a multi-year grant to create new models of entrepreneurship education. With
additional generous support from Julie and Robert Skandalaris, Washington
University established in 2003 the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
and made entrepreneurship a campus-wide, interdisciplinary effort. Under the
leadership of Chancellor Mark Wrighton and Ken Harrington, Skandalaris Center
has not only played a pivotal role by contributing resources and creating the
culture of innovation and entrepreneurship at Washington University, but also by
supporting the entire St. Louis region. I have an emotional connection with this
region and it pleases me greatly to see the evolution of a vibrant entrepreneurial
ecosystem in this community. Among the number of fine organizations that have
emerged during the last few years, ITEN is highly regarded for its work in effectively
nurturing entrepreneurship and is a shining example of why St. Louis is now
recognized on the national map as an important region for innovation
and entrepreneurship. SUREN DUTIASENIOR FELLOW, KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION & THE SKANDALARIS CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL STUDIES, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITy IN ST. LOUIS
MTC’s mission includes
economic development
through technology innovation
across the state of Missouri.
Through our IDEA Fund program
for tech startups, and funding of
important initiatives such as
ITEN, we’re committed to the
growth of the tech sector in
St. Louis. Programs like ITEN
are vital to the future health of
the regional economy. JOE BANNISTER
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, MISSOURI
TECHNOLOGy CORPORATION
Number of Employees Companies Expecting to Hire
185 2592013 2014
425 5392013 2014
1st 6 moNtHs of yEar:
fullyEar:
hiring fields
sales 18% marketinG 15%
operations 9%
tech 29%
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
-1002010 2011 2012 2013
455
601
835* 827
n full time employees *Minor correction to 2012 data
full time employees with Growth
*
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st. louis in the eYes of startups. What are entrepreneurs saYinG?
St. Louis: A Startup City
itenstl.org / 1716 / itenstl.org
The Kauffman Foundation
studies entrepreneurial
ecosystems around the world.
Through partnerships like we have
with Washington University in
St. Louis and ITEN, we are exposed
to the many things happening in
places like St. Louis, things with the
potential for replication elsewhere.
The past few years have seen an
impressive growth in the number
and quality of new tech ventures
being launched there, often fostered
and supported by our partners, as
well as by others in the ecosystem.
Because of activities like the ones
we are observing in places like
St. Louis and Kansas City, the future
looks bright for the entire central
region of the country. THOM RUHEVICE PRESIDENT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP, EWING MARION KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION
how Do You ratest. louis as a place for tech startups?
n 29% excellent
n 56% good
n 12% fair
n 3% poor
what st. louis is lacking
n 44% access to more funding
n 9% better talent pool
n 9% more large companies’
involvement with startups
n 16% more mentoring support
n 13% better press coverage
n 9% others
as indicated bY surveY of iten coMpanies
The St. Louis region has a long history of innovation. European trappers, traders and entrepreneurs made their way to St. Louis, making this the Gateway to the West. Subsequent waves of immigrants migrated from the East Coast, the post-Civil War South, central Europe, Asia and Latin America. The result is a diverse population and a culture of innovation.
Rodney cRim
Mosaic Project to attract new
foreign-born citizens to our region.
We are an area accentuated by
world class museums, parks, fine
arts and architecture, as well as
one of the top zoos in the country.
We have great universities and
research facilities, all with a low
cost of living, making this a unique
and outstanding place to work,
live and play.
These are exciting times in St. Louis
and we invite you to be part of it.
With a history of innovation and risk
taking, we’re an active, startup-
friendly city with world-class support.
roDneY crim
presiDent, st. louis economic
Development partnership
initiatives such as ITEN, T-Rex, the
Helix Center Biotech Incubator and
Arch Grants that are leading the
way to support and develop new
ventures. The result is an explosion
of emerging companies in fields
such as Internet security, big data
analytics, social media, mobility,
health care, IT and financial services.
St. Louis supports its startups.
It is home to Cortex, a high-
density innovation hub bordered
by Washington University and
Saint Louis University, and
STLVentureWorks, a system of
small business incubators that is
the country’s largest system of
incubators and one of the best.
St. Louis is home to big ideas,
which is why this past year area
leaders launched the St. Louis
St. Louis has always inspired
people to think about what is next,
what is just beyond the horizon.
The past decade has seen a
renaissance of entrepreneurship
across the region that first began
in the biosciences and has
now spread to areas of
applied technology, advanced
manufacturing, social enterprise
and renewable energy. Much
of this activity is spurred by an
active spirit of public/private
collaboration. Recently, the
Regional Entrepreneurship
Initiative was launched to
support the organizations that
are the foundation of the local
entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Specifically in the area of high tech,
St. Louis has wonderful non-profit
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Fanzlive has made a conscious effort to make St. Louis its home. We have witnessed the explosion of the startup community, and want to help build St. Louis as a place to be, for potential consumers, fun-seekers, and growing businesses. As a company, we owe a lot to the St. Louis startup community for our early success. We have realized firsthand the tremendous support from the locale, and their desire for us to be successful.
TIM MURPHy, PRESIDENT/FOUNDER, FANzLIVE
We have been very impressed with the support we received as we work on making my startup, Saving Memories Forever, a success. We find particular value in the ITEN organization and programs. They have been instrumental in providing a set of courses and a mentor base that has focused my efforts, refined my business plan and honed my investor presentation. The startup environment in the area is excellent. The enthusiasm and energy are growing. We are very happy to have moved Saving Memories Forever to St. Louis.
HARVEy & JANE z. BAKER, FOUNDERS, SAVING MEMORIES FOREVER
The St. Louis startup community is growing fast and making significant headway. The people of St. Louis are among the most welcoming. For the community to reach its great potential and become the next Midwest Silicon Prairie, some hard and significant changes in vision, leadership and network will need to be made. The support from Arch Grants, ITEN and many other kind-hearted St. Louisans is helping Eateria to become a world-class organization. For this we are indebted.
OLA AyENI, PRESIDENT/FOUNDER, EATERIA
Since arriving in St. Louis 18 months ago we’ve grown from four people to 15 full time and 30 part-time. This year we’ll become a profitable company and we’re poised for tremendous growth. A large part of this is due to the support of the community; from grant support, mentor support, financial investment and the general connectivity and enthusiasm of the people and networks here in St. Louis. We’re proud to be a part of it all.
ANTON XAVIER, CO-FOUNDER, FOOD ESSENTIALS
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Tech Startup Ecosystemst. louis
Because of space constraints, this graphic does
not include the many important networking events,
conventions, competitions, conferences, key
service providers, sponsors and other fundamental
elements of our region’s thriving ecosystem.
ITEN continues to
send the St. Louis
Arch Angels a steady stream
of high tech IT companies
through their Mock Angels
program. The applicants have
a defined product, business
plan and are very well
prepared to present to the
investment community. GIL BICKEL, CHAIRMAN,
ST LOUIS ARCH ANGELS