Interactive Intelligence Wins Again
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAn Indianapolis software provider has been named the state's technology company of the year for the second consecutive year. Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) claimed the honor Saturday at the 15th annual TechPoint Mira Awards. It follows last week's $28 million expansion announcement involving plans to add 430 jobs. Other winners include Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing Dean Bobby Schnabel, who is this year's Trailblazer in Technology. Inside INdiana Business and TechPoint will feature all winners this week in a special e-newsletter and on Inside INdiana Business Television. May 4, 2014
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (May 3, 2014) – TechPoint, Indiana’s technology growth initiative, honored Indiana’s best companies, entrepreneurs and educators for their technology excellence and innovation at the 15th annual Mira Awards gala presented by BKD CPAs & Advisors at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis. Among those taking home top honors were Interactive Intelligence (Tech Company of the Year), LumenCache (Tech Innovation of the Year), Ticketracker (Emerging Tech Company of the Year), DoubleMap (Tech Startup of the Year) and Bobby Schnabel, Dean of Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing (Trailblazer in Technology).
“The Mira Awards continues to be the premiere event for the tech sector in Indiana with a record 170 applications for awards this year, a 40 percent increase over last year’s prior record,” said TechPoint CEO Mike Langellier. “The caliber of companies continues to be impressive and the growth of these companies in revenue and jobs year over year not only shows the strength in the sector but also the ability to develop these types of tech companies in Indiana.”
Forty-eight independent, volunteer judges spent more than 700 collective hours reviewing the applications, interviewing the nominees and choosing the 14 winners. Judges were primarily subject matter experts and experienced company executives.
Typical growth rates for established computer software companies are between eight and 11 percent, according to analysis by the Stern School of Business at New York University (using data up to January 2014). The median growth rate for Mira Award nominees is significantly higher: 25 percent for Tech Company of the Year, 60 percent for Emerging Tech Company of the Year (100 employees or less), and 100 percent median growth for Tech Startup of the Year nominees.
“Half of the applicants this year didn’t even exist five years ago and few have been around more than a decade,” added Langellier. “The Mira Awards bring important visibility to these companies and the tech sector, which helps them win customers, investment capital and workforce talent; the critical inputs required to accelerate revenue and job growth.”
Full List of the 2014 TechPoint Mira Award winners:
(Detailed descriptions on why the companies or individuals were chosen are below)
• Tech Company of the Year: Interactive Intelligence
• Tech Innovation of the Year: LumenCache
• Emerging Tech Company of the Year: Ticketracker
• Tech Startup of the Year: DoubleMap
Honorable Mentions:
o BlueBridge Digital
o SteadyServ Technologies
• Trailblazer in Technology Award: Bobby Schnabel, Dean of Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing
• Mobile Tech Award: DoubleMap
• Marketing Tech Award: PERQ
• Tech Sales and Marketing Award: Teradata Corporation
• Health Tech Award: PolicyStat
• Tech Services Award (IT in Support of the Business): One.IU Development Team
• Tech Services Award (IT in Support of Go-to-Market): The Schneider Corporation
• Education Tech Award: Social Net Watcher
Honorable Mention:
o Standard for Success
• Tech Educator of the Year Award: Jonathan Blake Huer, director of emerging technologies, Ball State University
• TechPoint Rising Star Award: Chris Palmer, founder and CEO, BoxFox
• TechPoint Foundation for Youth Bridge Builder Award: Robert L. Kizer, president and CEO, Starfish Initiative
Tech Company of the Year (Interactive Intelligence): This is the second straight year that Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) has won this award. The company is a global provider of contact center, unified communications and business process automation software and services designed to improve the customer experience. The Indianapolis-based company added 183 jobs in 2013, grew its revenue by 34 percent and its stock price by 100 percent. The company has achieved double-digit annual growth for seven of the last eight years. Additionally, the value of the company’s average deal has tripled during that same time period, all while shifting its business to the cloud, going from only 5 percent in 2009 to 50 percent cloud-based today.
Tech Innovation of the Year (LumenCache): McCordsville-based LumenCache offers a safer, more reliable and efficient energy grid and intelligent automation for the last 1,000 feet of power distribution. The LumenCache platform is more appropriate to the low power needs and digital capabilities of electronic devices including LED lights, and thereby replaces the old 110 Volt AC power system. LumenCache is fundamentally improving power delivery for an infrastructure that hasn’t changed much since the days of Thomas Edison, and improving the lives of people by bringing affordable, sustainable power distribution where there was none. LumenCache has received one U.S. patent with another pending, and the company reported mid-six figures in sales in 2013 with a 200 percent increase projected for 2014.Emerging Tech Company of the Year (Ticketracker): Anderson-based Ticketracker is a software solution which offers schools around the country the opportunity to increase revenue, improve efficiency and increase accountability for all payment transactions. Schools can replace high-risk cash and paper-ticket transactions that often rely on the “honor system,” with secure, online credit card payments for any fees, registrations and events. Ticketracker, which represents schools in all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, not only found a problem and solved it, but they are dominating in an underserved niche market.
Tech Startup of the Year (DoubleMap): Indianapolis-based DoubleMap provides an online bus-tracking application that delivers real-time information for both riders and transit authorities, allowing communities to get the most out of their public transit system. Riders are able to track the exact location of a bus in real-time, eliminating time wasted waiting at a bus stop. Through an ingenious student government sales channel and quickly developing a second generation product that supports riders with disabilities, DoubleMap has already achieved significant nationwide market penetration with 1.2 million daily users in 10 U.S. cities and 40 college campuses.
• Honorable Mentions:
o BlueBridge Digital: The Indianapolis-based company was created to provide an easier, smarter way for businesses to harness the power of the mobile revolution. Founded by Santiago Jaramillo in his dorm room, BlueBridge Digital is a pioneer in the field of Mobile Apps as a Service. They create customized, affordable, full-featured mobile apps that help organizations like universities, convention and visitors bureaus, churches and more connect with their customers on a daily basis.
o SteadyServ Technologies: Carmel-based SteadyServ Technologies’ iKeg system is a distributive solution for the beer industry. The system is a mobile, SaaS-based inventory and order management system that gives retailers the power to know which beers are selling best and what is popular nearby, giving them a competitive advantage.
Trailblazer in Technology Award (Bobby Schnabel, Dean, Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing): Since Bobby Schnabel became dean in 2007, the IU School of Informatics and Computing has tripled undergraduate enrollme