INDIANAPOLIS (December 10, 2020) — TechPoint is challenging Hoosiers to “BE BOLD.” and enter the 21st annual Mira Awards, Indiana’s largest, best known and most prestigious technology awards program. People are encouraged to apply for awards in more than a dozen categories, or they can nominate others for their achievements.

This year’s theme is “BE BOLD.”

“Our state’s tech community has produced many successes over the years, and the Mira Awards is in large part about celebrating successes,” said TechPoint CEO Mike Langellier. “However, it’s also the largest gathering of the tech community and an opportunity to remind our community that we are in a global competition for talent, capital, and companies. Let’s use the Mira Awards platform to inspire the pursuit of big bets, major market opportunities, community commitments, rapid growth, and ‘acquirer over acquired’ mentality. We need not be braggarts, but we must be bold.”

TechPoint created the awards program in 1999, to recognize tech-related achievements and innovation statewide, and ultimately to stimulate future tech growth and entrepreneurship. Mira Award winners include ExactTarget and Interactive Intelligence, the state’s most significant tech company successes; trailblazers including Angie Hicks and Mark Hill; community champions; inspiring educators; startups, scale-ups and tech-enabled companies; and many others. Each year, nominees and winners reap millions of dollars in value from promotion and often venture capital investment, hiring success, and connections as a result of the visibility.

Any company, startup, scale-up, city, school, team or individual may apply for a “Best of Tech” Mira Award. It is not necessary to be nominated by someone else to apply. The Categories & Criteria Guide and the online application form are available at www.techpoint.org/mira, and the application submission deadline is Friday, Jan. 17, 2020.

Fifty-two independent subject matter experts, who serve as judges, evaluate and rank the applications. The rankings determine which applicants become nominees. Next, nominees deliver presentations and answer questions in-person with one of the independent judging panels, and the judges deliberate and select the winners. The process culminates to the state’s largest tech community event, the Mira Awards gala, which will be held at the JW Marriott Indianapolis on Saturday, April 18, 2020. Last year’s Mira Awards was attended by a sold out crowd of 1,400 people.

Several categories have been changed this year to loosen restrictions that may have prevented some people from entering in the past. For example, the Rising Entrepreneur Award no longer has an age restriction and will recognize promising startup founders of all ages and experiences.

The Tech Product of the Year category is also no longer restricted to products launched during the past 12 months, but is open to all new technology products that achieved significant milestones in calendar year 2019, regardless of an official launch date or development timeline.

The Startup of the Year category eligibility date has been extended to include startups that are two-years-old or newer (founded after January 1, 2017), and both the Tech Education Award and Community Impact Award have been changed to include the contributions of individuals or organizations.

The 2020 TechPoint Mira Award categories include:

PEOPLE

  • Rising Entrepreneur Award
  • Investor of the Year
  • Trailblazer Award (chosen by TechPoint Board)

PLACE

  • Community Impact Award
  • Tech Education Award
  • Rising Tech City Award

PRODUCTS

  • Tech Product of the Year
  • Tech Service of the Year
  • Innovation of the Year

COMPANIES

  • Exceptional Employer Award
  • Startup of the Year
  • Scale-up of the Year
  • Large Enterprise of the Year

Follow the conversation online with the hashtag #MiraAwards. Photos of past Mira Award winners and 2020 Mira Awards logos are available upon request.

Sponsorship opportunities that include group tickets, are also available by contacting Lauren Petersen at lauren@techpoint.org. We encourage securing tickets and sponsorships early, as the gala has sold out weeks in advance for the past five years.

About TechPoint

TechPoint is the nonprofit, industry-led growth accelerator for Indiana’s technology companies and overall tech ecosystem. The team is focused on attracting talent, accelerating scale-up companies, activating the community and amplifying stories of success. TechPoint is an economic development initiative sponsored by the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) to advance the mission of our region’s continued prosperity and growth. For more information, please visit www.techpoint.org.