Arch Grants Awards $1.7 Million to 20 Startups
Arch Grants has awarded $1.7 million in non-dilutive grants to 20 startups, constituting the nonprofit’s 2024 Cohort. Over 300 volunteer judges selected from over 550 applicants to Arch Grants’ annual Startup Competition, each awardee has committed to being headquartered in St. Louis for at least one year.
Meet the 2024 Arch Grants Cohort, a diverse array of 20 companies whose innovative products and services will generate in-demand jobs and stimulate growth across St. Louis’ key economic sectors.
Each company will receive $75,000 in non-dilutive grants, and awardees selected from outside Missouri will receive an additional $25,000 in grants to facilitate their relocation to St. Louis. In exchange, the startups pledge to base their businesses in St. Louis for at least one year.
Those companies who successfully demonstrates their ability to grow and expand operations within the St. Louis area will be eligible for up to $100,000 in non-dilutive follow-on funding through its Growth Grants program.
“Our goal is to empower entrepreneurs who are at the forefront of innovation and to help them thrive in St. Louis,” said Gabe Angieri, Executive Director of Arch Grants in a press release. “We believe that by supporting these entrepreneurs, we’re not just investing in individual companies – we’re investing in the future of this city. And with more than 80% of the cohort led by underrepresented founders, we continue to demonstrate inclusive economic growth is our North Star.”
The 2024 Cohort includes companies relocating to Missouri from Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, Virginia and Washington in addition to international transplants from Lagos, Nigeria. The 2024 Cohort companies represent a wide range of industries, including geospatial, agrifoodtech, SaaS, education, medical device, and consumer packaged goods, underscoring Arch Grants’ commitment to fostering diversity in the entrepreneurial ecosystem while driving innovation in established regional industry clusters.
$100,000 Grants Awarded
ASL Aspire (Mona Jawad, CEO & Co-Founder; Ayesha Kazi, COO & Co-Founder; Ethan Gaughan, Chief Innovation Officer & Co-Founder relocating from Champaign, IL) is an EdTech platform that teaches STEM to K-12 deaf students and their teachers in American Sign Language through games.
Avol (Nathan Poon, CEO relocating from Brooklyn, NY) enables medical institutions to deliver blood, kidneys, and lab samples up to 11x faster for the same cost by providing a medical drone delivery service using novel autonomous blended-wing Avol drones and a network of mini droneports (“AvolPorts”).
ExPrimary (Sean Higgins, President & CEO relocating from Rochester, NY) leverages advanced technologies to improve where, when, and why bioanalysis is performed.
Prezerv (Cam Raufi, Founder & CEO is relocating from Boston, MA) from offers a breakthrough AI software technology that automatically creates accurate 3D maps of underground utilities to make infrastructure construction safer, faster, and greener.
Raknida (Anthony Ezeokoye, Co-Founder & Afoma Ezeokoye, Co-Founder relocating from Lagos, Nigeria) is an ArtTech platform that helps art lovers and businesses explore and access diverse artworks from Black, African, and other underrepresented artists through an art marketplace and an art streaming service on smart displays.
Roam (Jonathan Yan, Co-Founder & CEO relocating from Seattle, WA) is an AI-driven management and financial services platform to empower HOA management firms to support the 53 million Americans who live in 20 million professionally managed units with a quality living experience that augments their most significant investment.
Words Liive (Sage Salvo, CEO relocating from Falls Church, VA_ is a futuristic EdTech startup dedicated to achieving a “Moonshot Goal” of reversing the literacy crisis by getting 2/3rds of the nation’s students to or above their grade-level reading proficiency by the year 2045. Words Liive converts real and popular song lyrics into literacy tools for middle and high school students struggling with reading and writing performance.
$75,000 Grants Awarded
AirSeal CardioVascular (Richard Clark, CEO; Stephen Wu, Chief Technology Officer; Mohamed Zayed, Chief Medical Officer from St. Louis, MO) is a medical diagnostic company revolutionizing the diagnosis and management of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and other cardiovascular conditions.
ALLUMIN8 (Alyssa Huffman, CEO from Springfield, MO) is the first company to offer Orthopedic & Spine porous, 3D-printed hardware designed to diagnose, treat, and heal through the hardware to improve the global success rates in spine fusions.
BenefitsBoost (Ally Bergmann, CEO from St. Louis, MO) is revolutionizing the Social Security disability benefits process with its patent-pending, AI-driven platform that simplifies and accelerates the application process for both individuals and law firms. As a female-founded company, they’re setting new standards in efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility in an often-overlooked industry.
Bold Spoon Creamery (Rachel Burns, Founder from Park Hills, MO)is a maker of small-batch, premium ice cream specializing in adult-focused flavors made with farm-fresh ingredients. Bold Spoon is sold in grocery stores in Missouri and Illinois, and in three professional sports stadiums (CITYPARK, Enterprise Center, and The Dome at America’s Center).
DEMIblue (Michelle Robinson, CEO & Founder from St. Louis, MO) is an award-winning clean and vegan nail polish with cruelty-free formulas for breast cancer survivors, vegan nail polish enthusiasts, and health conscious women.
Hire Henry (George Holmes, PhD, CEO & Co-Founder; Keiry Moreno Bonnett, COO & Co-Founder from St. Louis, MO) is developing robotics and AI software for the future of work. Their first commercial product is an industrial robotic lawn mower named “Henry.”
Horizontal Base Studs, LLC (Michael Cox, President from St. Louis, MO) creates patented and innovative products called StepStuds™. These are a new category of metal studs that helps stop damage to drywall from water intrusions and floods. When used, StepStuds™ eliminates mold and mildew growth on walls by raising drywall off the floor, drastically reducing labor repair costs by 75% with a 50% faster room turnaround!
Hypno Loops (Marlin Bonds, Founder from St. Louis, MO) is a mindfulness app that allows users to record and create their own meditations in seconds.
MatchNP (Cecilia Ravas, Founder from St. Louis, MO) is a tech-enabled platform that matches Nurse Practitioner students with healthcare providers based on their unique needs and preferences for clinical placement.
Metablify (Allen Hubbard, Co-Founder & CTO; Ivan Baxter, Co Founder & CSO; Louis Connelly, Co-Founder & Lead Programmer from St. Louis, MO) offers a revolutionary amplification technology for biochemicals, enabling the discovery of new medicines, biomarkers, and precision treatments.
OrgAcuity (Craig Starbuck, CEO; Matt Milunski, CTO from St. Louis, MO) is a B2B SaaS company making advanced people analytics accessible to all organizations. Their platform strategically integrates people analytics and employee listening, translating data into engaging stories and delivering tailored recommendations directly through managers’ everyday channels.
Posie Pots (Kay Wells, Founder from St. Louis, MO) is an innovative agricultural technology concept that revolutionizes plant care. The company provides sustainable self-watering planters through a unique water-once-a-month system.
Real Document Solutions LLC (RDS) (Denise Williams, President from St. Louis, MO) revolutionizes document-intensive due diligence work through an innovative workflow SaaS platform (ERP) that centralizes order, document, and vendor management. RDS Customers have achieved up to a 60% increase in productivity, delivering faster, more accurate results with fewer human touches, driving up profitability and ultimately freeing up resources for revenue generation.
What This Means for St. Louis
With 13 startups originating from St. Louis or Missouri, it’s notable that the 2024 cohort is has a higher proportion of “local startups” than previous years. Retaining startups has always been a stated part of Arch Grants’ mission but, in my experience, their PR strategy typically focused on the “attraction” message.
An excellent article by STLNPR marks the change arguing that, after 13 years, it is a sign that St. Louis startup ecosystem is maturing:
“This year’s competition was rigorous,” said Arch Grants Executive Director Gabe Angieri…Angieri noted there were also more applicants that were local to St. Louis of the more than 550 total that made it to the finalist round this year than in the past. And of the 20 awardees, the majority of them came from the region.
It’s an indicator that the program has been successful in helping to mature the startup ecosystem in St. Louis, he added.
“We will continue to take the best companies from outside of St. Louis, give them funding, give them access to the St. Louis resources they need,” Angieri said. “But we’re increasing that standard and saying you really have to demonstrate why St. Louis is the right place for your company to grow.”
Arch Grants’ offering has significantly matured too, as the Growth Grants program enters it’s fourth year and their new Fellows program enters it’s second year. Both programs empower Arch Grants to double down their grant funding on the companies and strategic attention on the companies that most successfully engage all the startup resources St. Louis has to offer.
Furthermore, the expansion of Arch Grants startup programming, rewards longterm commitment to St. Louis and creates a ladder of opportunity for the companies that imagine the role they could create in the city beyond the initial 12 month grant period. As Mike Fabrizi has frequently argued on EQ, more growing companies calling St. Louis home for longer will help us continue to develop the economic complexity that our region needs for long term growth and success.