St. Louis Regional Chamber Awards Arcus Awards to St. Louis Innovators

The St. Louis Regional Chamber honored 11 organizations at the 4thΒ Annual Arcus Awards on Thursday, February 23 2017 in Downtown St. Louis. Over 850 business leaders attended the event, which honored the achievements of companies and organizations that are inspiring a greater St. Louis.

Hundreds of nominations were narrowed down to 56 finalists. A panel of business scholars and executives selected the 11 award winners based on their accomplishments reflecting the Chamber’s One Plan for regional prosperity.

Of the 56 nominees, almost a dozen were tech startups and entrepreneur support organizations. Although there is a category dedicated to Entrepreneurship & Innovation, many of the finalists were contenders for other awards, from Inclusion & Talent Attraction (for which BioSTL was a finalist) to Financial Services (where FinTech startup PromisePay went up against Thomson Reuters and other established firms).

Two Winners in the Innovation Sector

Innovation industry companies took home two of the awards.

The Arcus Award for Achievement in Biosciences went to Tioma Therapeutics. Tioma has generated a portfolio of antibodies that have the potential to overcome multiple checkpoints by which cancer evades the immune system. Tioma raised $86 million in Series A funding last year.

Varsity Tutors received the Arcus Award for Achievement in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Founded at Washington University in St. Louis 10 years ago, Varsity Tutors made headlines when it closed a $50 million Series B funding round led by Technology Crossover Ventures and Adam Levine, frontman for Maroon 5 and judge on The Voice, as well as education executive Stuart Udell. The platform connects students and professionals with in-person tutors in 84 U.S. cities and online tutors nationwide.

Other Awards Tied to the Innovation Community

Two other awards went to organizations closely connected to the innovation community.

The Arcus Award for Achievement in Health went to Advanced ICU Care (AICU), a company founded by Mary Jo Gorman, now Managing Partner of Prosper Women Entrepreneurs and the PWE Startup Accelerator, an accelerator for women-led companies.

AccentureΒ won the Corporate Citizenship Award, acknowledged for its global citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, where the organization dedicates one week per month to volunteer work. The company has a partnership with LaunchCode, helping future coders at LaunchCoderGirl and Mentor Center events.

The finalists by category are listed here.

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