Since 2012, Arch Grants has awarded over $9 million in cash grants to attract or retain more than 170 early-stage businesses in St. Louis, invigorating the city’s startup scene with new talent and ideas and helping to shape the future of the St. Louis economy. Through Arch Grants’ program activities and connections throughout the region, these companies have gone on to create over 1,900 jobs, generate over $390 million in revenue, and attract over $290 million in follow-on capital.

During the event, Dr. Donald M. Suggs, Publisher & Executive Editor of the St. Louis American Newspaper, was honored with Arch Grants’ Entrepreneur Award.

In addition to their Global Startup Competition, Arch Grants also redirected a portion of funds in March 2020 to provide short-term grants to past Arch Grants Companies to help them weather the storm, pivot and/or quickly scale in the first weeks of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The Arch Grants Relief Fund awarded over $140,000 to 16 companies to help them retain employees, offset costs from payment delays
and/or scale to meet demand in March and April.

In September, Arch Grants also announced a new program through which it will award non-dilutive Growth Grants to past Arch Grants Companies that are entering their next stage of growth and need additional capital to scale. The announcement was paired with the unveiling of Arch Grants’ updated branding and website, which proudly proclaims to “Champion the Bold.”

On the meaning of the new tagline, Emily Lohse-Busch said in a press release, “Championing the Bold isn’t just what we’re doing at Arch Grants; it’s a call to action for our entire region to support extraordinary entrepreneurs by getting involved with our program, working with startups on their first pilot, and making crucial early investments to help founders scale. We invite the entire St. Louis community to join us.”