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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


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


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


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%


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


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

*

14 / itenstl.org

st. louis in the eYes of startups. What are entrepreneurs saYinG?

St. Louis: A Startup City


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


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

20 / itenstl.org

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

Download - 2014 startup report (2013 Year in Review)

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