A
Accelerator
Year Founded: 2003 Background: To date, BioSTL has invested $11 million to grow and launch biotech companies, including NeuroLutions, which engineers brain-computer technology, and YourBevCo, which has developed a way to remove allergenic beverage ingredients. Success Stories: BioSTL is helping attract large, established international companies to town, including Israeli biotech firm NRGene.
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Year Founded: 2010 Background: Founder Judy Sindecuse wanted to support St. Louis’ existing tech talent pool. Capital Innovators provides $50,000 in seed money, mentorships, and help with locating angel investors. Success Stories: You’ve undoubtedly heard of Dabble, LockerDome, and Pixel Press. LockerDome—along with Systematic Revenue, Aisle411, and Bonfyre—has been cited as one of the city’s top startups.
B
Biomed
Two of St. Louis’ biggest biomedical organizations are also the region’s oldest: The Center for Emerging Technologies (see the letter I) and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center were both launched in 1998. CET, the centerpiece of the Cortex district, incubated successful startups Sterotaxis, Orion Genomics, and BacterioScan. And in 2009, the Danforth Center opened the Bio-Research & Development Growth Park; its focus is creating the perfect ecosystem for up-and-coming biomed companies by giving them the opportunity to mix with academic scientists in a high-tech environment.
C
CROWDFUNDING
Flat craft beer is the worst. SYNEK offers you the ability to tap it—and keep it fizzy—right from your kitchen counter. Solving this beer tragedy earned the startup $650,000 in support.
D
Dennis Lower
E
Events
When: Monthly
Where: Lammert Building, T-Rex
When: June 4
When: September 15–17
Where: Peabody Opera House
When: October 21–23
Where: Chaifetz Arena
F
Funding
One of the biggest hurdles for St. Louis’ startup scene has been scaling up—turning venture capital investments in the thousands to those in the millions, the kind of money needed to build a business that can compete on the coasts. One of the first organizations here to come up with that kind of cash was Cultivation Capital. Here’s a look at its impact, by the numbers.
$31 million: Total invested by Cultivation Capital since 2012
37: Companies receiving that funding
230: Investors who contribute to Cultivation Capital
1,150: People employed by companies in CC’s portfolio
G
GRANTS
This year marks the fifth in which nonprofit Arch Grants—which has garnered buzz from Forbes, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal—has given startups $50,000 in exchange for moving to St. Louis. Here’s a look at what some of those entrepreneurs have been up to since their year in the program.
Companion Pharma (2012)
Harry Arader’s company didn’t succeed, but he’s since become a leader in the local startup scene, founding entrepreneur development program BioSTL Fundamentals.
H
Hype
Lately, the national media has been fawning over the St. Louis startup scene (see letter Q for a few examples). All of the attention made us wonder: Does St. Louis live up to the hype? Or is it more sizzle than substance? We asked those questions of people who should know—entrepreneurs who’ve worked both here and in more traditional tech hubs.
Roberto Garcia moved from Austin to St. Louis and launched Listo, an app that would let you listen to movies in any language. In Austin’s more crowded startup community, a company had to be pretty successful before anyone noticed. Here, Garcia found that someone with just an idea could find help. “In St. Louis, you really feel the wind at your back and the community support,” he says.
Jan Christian Andersen co-founded Pushup Social, which builds social media hubs for websites. The company started in St. Louis before expanding to Silicon Valley. Andersen says sometimes St. Louis can be too supportive, wasting scarce resources on companies that should be allowed to die. “Sometimes we are afraid to walk our baby out back and put it down,” he says. St. Louis is full of smart businesspeople, but they don’t always understand tech. It takes Andersen 30 seconds to explain his concept in San Francisco, compared with 30 minutes here. “It’s like having to explain to my mom how Facebook works.” Of course the amount of capital in play here pales in comparison to that in Silicon Valley. But St. Louis has an advantage when it comes to costs. Office space and talent are cheaper here, making a startup’s funding go further. “For early-stage companies, there are a number of reasons to be in St. Louis.”
So what does Andersen think of our original question: Is St. Louis overhyped? “I don’t know that we’re overhyped—just, my personal philosophy is to not get too caught up in the hype. We have to be proud of our success, but we have to also understand that there is a lot of work left to be done.”
I
INCUBATORS
The terms incubator and accelerator (see letter A) are sometimes used interchangeably, but there are key differences: Whereas accelerators give established companies quick hits of cash and guidance in exchange for equity, incubators work with earlier-stage entrepreneurs, turning ideas into businesses by providing mentorship, office space, and even legal services.
J
Jack & Jim
You can’t talk tech in St. Louis (or anywhere on earth, really) without mentioning Jack and Jim—Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Square, Jim McKelvey of Square and LaunchCode. Square recently opened an office here, in the pair’s hometown, and plans to hire 200 employees. The CWE office is the company’s fourth location.
K
KNOWiNK
KNOWiNK’s Poll Pad is an iPad-based system for digital voter check-in, eliminating the need for alphabetical lines and poll workers hunting for paper records. Managing director Scott Leiendecker spent six years as the city of St. Louis’ election director before developing the company, which received an Arch Grant in May 2013.
L
LAUNCHCODE
Square co-founder Jim McKelvey also helped co-found LaunchCode, which helps address the nationwide tech talent shortage by connecting those who don’t necessarily have a traditional education with mentors.
M
Mentorships
Though Arch Grants doesn’t have a formal mentorship program, its work has fostered plenty of relationships among awardees. Here are just three examples.
N
NETWORKING
MONDAY
Jurassic Perks: On June 6, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., T-Rex members can catch up over carby goodness on the fifth floor.
TUESDAY
StartLouis: On the second Tuesday of every month, enterprising minds gather at StartLouis, an evening meetup with adult beverages and rotating topics hosted at the T-Rex–Lammert Building, located at 911 Washington.
WEDNESDAY
1 Million Cups: Entrepreneurs network every Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Nine Network of Public Media, located at 3655 Olive in Grand Center.
O
Orion Genomics
Housed in the Center for Emerging Technologies, Orion uses DNA for diagnostic and risk testing. In recent years, the company found a gene in the palm oil tree—whose products most of us use every day—that will increase each plant’s output, lessening pressure on rainforests.
P
Prosper
Several years ago, after seeing St. Louis dismally ranked for female entrepreneurship, a group of local leaders founded Prosper Women Entrepreneurs. Its institute trains and mentors women, and its accelerator increases female entrepreneurs’ access to growth capital. Among its portfolio:
Q
Q Score
The growth of our startup scene isn’t so secret anymore.
June 2013: The Wall Street Journal notes, “St. Louis is in the early stages of an entrepreneurial boom. The city’s experience may carry lessons for the country as a whole.”
November 2014: In an article titled “The Next Silicon Valley,” venture capital database CB Insights ranks St. Louis No. 1 in total funding growth from 2013 to 2014.
January 2015: CNBC names St. Louis one of five under-the-radar U.S. tech hubs.
February 2015: Popular Mechanics ranks St. Louis No. 1 among its “14 Best Startup Cities in America.”
January 2016: Business Insider ranks St. Louis’ startup scene the fastest-growing in the nation.
R
RISING STARS
St. Louis startups to watch
Taptl: With offices in Miami and St. Louis, this two-person company “brings science fiction into reality” by way of custom transparent touchscreen monitors.
Better Weekdays: This five-year-old firm appeals to career centers, job-seekers, and employers in an effort to smooth the job search and recruiting process.
S
Stadia Ventures
What better place for an accelerator focused on sports-themed startups than the Cardinals’ hometown? Founded by Art Chou and Tim Hayden, Stadia awards startups as much as $100,000 in exchange for an equity stake. Participants come to St. Louis but aren’t required to stay. As Stadia’s website jokes, “If you’re a Cubs fan, we may even invite you to leave before the program ends.”
T
T-Rex
T-Rex (short for Technology Regional Entrepreneur Exchange) houses more than 100 startups, accelerator programs, and entrepreneurial support organizations within its 160,000-square-foot downtown location. That density is the source of its appeal. “You can kind of get everything you need here,” says community director Kathleen Bauer, “private offices, community spaces, events, and a tech ecosystem that’s really blossoming.”
Eighth Floor: Achieve Communications , Active Capital , Asteris ,Case Coolie , Cultivation Capital , Drug Design Methodologies ,Hatchbuck , IMPACT , Janus Choice , LawnMowingOnline.com ,Prosper , ProUknow , Pulse Therapeutics , SafeT , Sitting Duck Advertising , SixThirty , Small Business Empowerment Center , Sparo Labs , STL Fashion Fund , Swizzle , Tunespeak , Veritacit
Seventh Floor: Analome , Better Weekdays , Condition HUB ,Displays That Pay , EQ: Entrepreneur Quarterly , Fluent , FocalCast ,GeoNumerics Solutions , HealthyMe Mobile Solutionsv Hey Let’s Train, IT Entrepreneur Network (ITEN) , Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) , SafeTrek , Utility In Field , Sytech-IS LLC
Sixth Floor: CFF Ventures, Full Circle, Global Hack, Greetabl,GremIn, , PFITR, Scoville & Company, SharpField Films, Stadia Ventures, St. Lou Fringe, Throwboy, Traffic Council
Fifth Floor: This floor houses the co-working space, where around 90 startups operate at a cost of $50 per month per person. You can also find T-Rex’s administrative offices and their Innovation Conference Center—which includes a board room, event space, classroom, and bar/café area.
Fourth Floor: Artifox, Babyation, Freight Grid, Jobsite Unite, OPER,Tallyfy
Third Floor Undergoing renovation
Second Floor: Lori Coulter, PAI, KWS Law, Best Pocket Square Holder
First Floor Need Fixed Parts
Lower Level Elyse Theo Design Studio , Red Latina
U
Universities
A look at just a few startups launched at local universities
Harris-Stowe State University: Senior Timothy Moore planted the seeds of his branding-development company, T. Moore Media, even before beginning his studies at Harris-Stowe. Several years later, his one-man shop’s completed projects for K-Swiss, Disney, and Wells Fargo, among others.
V
VENTURE CAFE
Every Thursday evening, the startup scene flocks to Cortex’s @4240 building for happy hour. Visitors can mingle while sipping complimentary beers, then attend educational sessions. Beyond the weekly meetups, the Venture Café Foundation organizes programs like an entrepreneurial boot camp for high school students and a fellowship that gives public school teachers real-world experience in startups and corporate innovation teams.
W
Workplaces
Budding businesses have a host of co-working space options—and they’re not all located in the city.
X
X-FACTOR
In January 2014, Need/Want CEO Marshall Haas wrote about moving his business from San Francisco to St. Louis. Among the reasons: cheap rent, a flourishing tech scene, and cultural attractions. If you move to St. Louis, he wrote, “you’re not giving up living in a cool city.”
Y
Yummy Apps
During St. Louis’ 250th birthday, the stl250 mobile app helped point people toward the fiberglass cakes located around the city. The startup behind the St. Louis–centric app? Candy Lab, which specializes in augmented-reality marketing products.
Z
ZIMIN HANG
While studying at Washington University, Zimin Hang dreamed up the idea of Chrona, the techy pillow that uses sound and Fitbit-like tracking software to help users “sleep smarter.” The pillow is expected to be available for purchase in early 2017.
