Authenticx, Tenon Software among 2024 Mira Awards winners
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Indianapolis-based tech firms Authenticx Inc. and Tenon Software Inc. and Microsoft Corp. executive Kate Maxwell were among the winners announced Friday at TechPoint’s 2024 Mira Awards gala, held at downtown’s Old National Centre for the first time.
The awards program, which honors achievements in Indiana’s tech industry, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. This year’s program honored 18 winners from around the state, including nine from the Indianapolis area. The winners were selected from among 101 nominees.
Authenticx, whose software platform helps health care and life sciences customers identify and respond to customer sentiment, was named Tech Company of the Year. Founded by Amy Brown in 2018, Authenticx was named to IBJ’s Fast 25 list of fastest-growing privately held companies in 2023, with reported revenue of $5.85 million in 2022.
Judges cited Authenticx’s growth, its technology, Brown’s journey as a founder and industry expertise as reasons they selected the company for the award.
Tenon, which launched out of Indianapolis-based venture studio High Alpha, was named Startup of the Year. Tenon launched in stealth mode in December 2022 and had its public launch in April 2023. From the stage Friday night, the company announced it closed on an $8 million round of Series A funding earlier in the day.
Mira judges said they see “huge promise” in Tenon, which helps enterprise-scale marketing teams collaborate and execute campaigns.
Maxwell, who is a partner and general manager at Microsoft Worldwide Education, was named Trailblazer of the Year. Maxwell also does public speaking around the world on topics including inclusivity and belonging, mental health, workplace culture, bravery and elevating women.
Mira judges lauded Maxwell for being aware of her privilege and her platform, and for using those as forces for good.
The night’s other winners:
West Lafayette-based Skyepack Inc. won the Talent Impact Award. Skyepack’s education and workforce development program has reached 15,110 students in a seven-county area. Judges praised the company’s “comprehensive, people-centric and innovative approach to talent impact, coupled with its sustainability and scalability strategies.”
Fishers-based Pierce Aerospace was named Tech Innovation Team of the Year, and judges described the company as “a prime example of how a small Hoosier team can make a national impact.”
Pierce Aerospace has developed remote identification beacons that it calls “license plates for drones.” The company tested its beacons during the 2023 Super Bowl by attaching its devices to all the federal and commercial aircraft protecting the stadium’s airspace during the event.
Indiana University sophomore Matt Gacek was named Student Entrepreneur of the Year. Gacek created an app called Theia, AI Therapy & Growth, which he sold in December for an undisclosed amount.
Mira judges said they admired Gacek’s success, describing him as a humble person who is not afraid of making tough decisions and who quickly learns from mistakes and failures.
Julia Regan, co-founder of New Albany-based RxLightning Inc., earned the Rising Entrepreneur award. Regan and her co-founder, Brad Allen, founded RxLightning in 2020. The company helps health care providers more quickly connect their patients with specialty medications, reducing the wait time from weeks or months down to days or hours.
RxLightning itself is the winner of multiple Mira Awards, earning Disruptor of the Year and Product Launch of the Year awards in 2023 and Startup of the Year and Tech Product of the year awards in 2022.
Luke Zhang of Indianapolis earned the TechPoint Reslilience Award. Zhang moved to the U.S. from China in 2010, when he was 16. He graduated from a private high school in Florida, earned multiple bachelor’s degrees from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and a master’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, in 2021, IBJ named Zhang as one of its 20 in their Twenties honorees.
Mira judges cited Zhang’s perseverance and accomplishments despite facing many challenges.
West Lafayette-based Wabash Heartland Innovative Network, or WHIN, earned the Digital Transformation Award. WHIN helps promote technology adoption among farmers, manufacturers, and others in its 10-county service area in north-central Indiana.
WHIN is a small not-for-profit, and Mira judges said they were impressed by the organization’s “outsized impact” in bringing groups together to work on common goals.
Indianapolis-based Compact Medical Inc. earned the Tech Innovation of the Year award for its Butterfly BVM device, an updated piece of equipment that helps first responders deliver the correct amount of air volume and pressure to patients during cardiac pulmonary resuscitation.
“This team has innovated in a space no one is touching, and they are touching every population,” Mira judges said of Compact Medical.
Ivy Tech Community College’s Ivy+ IT Academy earned the Community Impact Award. Ivy+, which launched last year, offers free instruction for students who want to earn Google career certificates, preparing them for jobs in areas such as cybersecurity, data analytics and IT support. To date, thousands of people have enrolled in the program, 71% of whom are women and 55% of whom identify as Asian, Black or Latino.
Mira judges said they were impressed with the potential economic impact of the program, its career support for graduates and its emphasis on reaching underserved demographic groups.
Westfield-based software development firm SEP was named Innovation Service Partner of the Year.
Mira judges said they liked SEP’s customer-centric approach, and they said the company’s humble approach during its Mira presentation represents true “Hoosier culture.”
Evansville-based Heliponix LLC, which does business as Anu, received the AgriNovus Indiana HungerTech Challenge Award. Anu, which allows customers to grow fresh produce at home, was co-founded by Ivan Ball and Scott Massey.
New Paris-based Smoker Craft Inc. earned the Conexus Indiana Manufacturing Innovation Award. Smoker Craft, which specializes in the production of aluminum boats, adopted a robotic tube welding system to automate its entire pontoon assembly process.
Brian Belch, who teaches at Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis, earned the Nextech K-12 Computer Science Teacher of the Year award. Belch, who has taught for 26 years, began his career as an English teacher. He now teaches computer science, English and history.
Antonia “Toni” Munguia, director of recruitment, retention and diversity at Purdue Polytechnic Institute in West Lafayette, earned the TechPoint Foundation for Youth Bridge Builder Award. Munguia joined Purdue Polytechnic in 2015. Since then, the school has increased its overall enrollment by 53%, its enrollment of under-represented minority students by 69% and its female enrollment by 110%.
Markle-based Sortera Technologies Inc. earned the Deal of the Year award for the $30.5 million Series C investment it landed in 2023, which TechPoint said was the Indiana tech sector’s largest capital raise last year.
The city of South Bend’s Department of Innovation and Technology was named Mission41K Exceptional Employer. Mission 41K is a TechPoint workforce development initiative, and Mira judges gave South Bend high marks for its use of tech internships and apprenticeships, its skills-based hiring approach and its emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The department, which started with two interns in 2016, now has nearly 50 full-time employees.