Better Weekdays

4 Years of Giving: Arch Grants’ Impact Since 2012

Arch Grants by the Numbers 2016

With a mission to advance economic development in the St. Louis region by attracting and retaining innovative entrepreneurs, Arch Grants started giving away $50,000 in equity-free grants through its Global Startup Competition in 2012.

What’s been the impact since then? Let’s take a look back over the last five years at the impact the organization has had on St. Louis.

$4.7M in equity-free funds have been granted between 2012 and June 2016.

86 startups have been funded to date. Each year, approximately 20 companies are awarded a $50K equity-free grant to build their businesses in St. Louis. Ten more recipients will be announced at the Arch Grants Gala on Nov 4. Each Arch Grants Recipient is required to move to or stay in St. Louis for a minimum of 12-months.

84% of the active companies maintain a presence in St. Louis. Of the 86 companies funded, 85 are still active, and represent nearly 20 different business sectors, from EdTech to Hardware to Logistics and BioTech.

67% of Arch Grants Recipients are led or co-led by a woman, a minority, or an immigrant.

336 jobs have been retained in Missouri. Dheeraj Patri of Label Insight, a 2012 Arch Grants Recipient, has grown his company from a three-person shop inside T-REX to an office inside the Curlee building in Downtown St. Louis. He says, “Arch Grants played a pivotal role in our company. […] and over the last few years, we have grown to 70 employees and raised over $14 million [in capital]”.

53% of the companies awarded grants have been from outside the greater St. Louis region. One of the 2014 companies, Less Annoying CRM, relocated from San Francisco just prior to receiving an Arch Grant. Alex Haimann, a partner at Less Annoying CRM says, “The Arch Grant gave us a perfect cushion of financial support to fund our very first office space [in T-REX Innovation Center]. Before moving to St. Louis, we all worked remotely from our homes.”

13% of Arch Grants Recipient companies originated from outside the United States.

Arch Grants Recipients are seeing revenue growth. Haimann reports, “Our revenue has more than doubled since receiving the Arch Grant thirty months ago.” As of September 30, Arch Grants Recipient companies have raised over $100M in capital and have generated over $48M in revenue.

These numbers are just a few of the highlights that will be shared at the Arch Grants Gala on Nov. 4 at the Hyatt Regency at the Arch. You still have time to purchase tickets to join in on the fun, learn more about Arch Grants and meet the innovators who are helping to grow the St. Louis startup ecosystem. But you need to act fast, as they are likely to sell out soon.

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