The St. Louis Tech Startup Report: 2014 Year in Review is an overview and summary of the tech startup ecosystem in the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area. This report reflects our best efforts to capture information about the growth, evolution and current state of technology startups in the St. Louis region for the calendar year 2014. The report is based entirely on original data gathered from more than 310 active startups in the St. Louis region.

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The St. Louis Tech Startup Report: 2014 Year in Review is an
overview and summary of the tech startup ecosystem in the Greater
St. Louis Metropolitan Area. This report reflects our best efforts to
capture information about the growth, evolution and current state
of technology startups in the St. Louis region for the calendar year
2014. The report is based entirely on original data gathered from
more than 310 active startups in the St. Louis region.
We would also like to give special thanks to these following
organizations, who have given us tremendous help and support in
the creation of this report:
The catalyst for tech startups in St. Louis, ITEN provides unique programs for rapid
product development, connections to talent, essential networking, and access to
funding. Designed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, requiring neither payment
nor equity, ITEN is a unique community asset building a new culture of innovation.
ITEN can be found on the web at www.itenstl.org and @itenstl on Twitter.
2 Introduction
3 Key Trends
4 The Money
6 Jobs & Hiring
9 Inclusion Initiative
11 The Companies
12 ITEN Top Ten
14 ITEN Fast Ten
16 Segment Rankings
17 St. Louis: Hub of Innovation
19 Letter from Our Chairman
20 St. Louis Tech Startup Ecosystem
2014 Year in Review
ITEN has got to be the best resource
for tech entrepreneurs in St. Louis. Our
business has benefited beyond what
we could have anticipated. The one-on-
one mentorship with Chuck Vallurupalli
has helped me grow as person and an
entrepreneur. The hard work preparing,
giving, and redoing our presentation
for Mock Angels was worth the long
hours. Because of the mentorship, training,
and programs offered by ITEN we are not
only well-established and plugged into the
tech ecosystem in St. Louis we also have
raised over $175K only a few months after
the Mock Angel program. Great team at
ITEN with real wisdom!
About ITEN
JIM KOETTING
FOUNDER & CEO,
PFITR
About this
Report

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on expanding innovation to include all
populations and technology clusters.
These efforts included the BioSTL-led
inclusion initiative and the development
of new accelerators to spur this trend
along. Prosper Capital was established
to help fund and support emerging
companies with female leadership.
The Yield Lab was developed as an
accelerator to focus on opportunities in
the AgTech space. These accelerators
along with Captial Innovators, SixThirty,
Arch Grants, the St. Louis Arch Angels,
the Billiken Angel Network, and
Cultivation Capital continue to attract and
keep funded companies in our region.
2014 proved to be an historic and
expansive year for ITEN as well. ITEN
graduated 13 companies from our Mock
Angel program up from our total of 8 in
2013. We grew our staff to 5 FTEs and
6 Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs).
Our EIRs continue to give direction and
insight to our programming that has only
gotten better since their involvement. We
moved our monthly 2nd Thursday event
to Venture Café, enabling us to greatly
expand our programming and networking
opportunities for the tech community.
We approach 2015 with hopeful
optimism for more successful exits
for our region’s entrepreneurs and
In this report we look at the year that
was, point out some key trends and
statistics from the region’s tech startup
companies, as well as highlight our Top
Ten and Fast Ten companies for 2014.
This year there are lots of changes
on both of those lists. We have a new
#1 in our Top Ten list as Yurbuds, last
year’s #1, was acquired by Harman
International Industries. ITEN’s ever
popular startup community map is in the
Report as well---new and improved to
reflect some of the expanded offerings
to entrepreneurs in 2014.
There was certainly a lot to celebrate
in 2014. More companies received
funding than ever and the total dollars
invested continues to rise, with over
$155.1M invested into our tech startups
in 2014. In addition to Yurbuds, another
homegrown company-Answers.com, was
acquired by Apax Partners in a huge
deal. Innovation and entrepreneurship
became mainstream parts of the St.
Louis economy and beyond. Corporate
partners in the region such as Anheuser-
Busch, Boeing, and Purina highlighted
their innovation programs, in some
cases even locating their innovation
teams inside incubators like T-REX or CIC
in the Cortex district.
In 2014, a strong emphasis was placed
01 Entrepreneurs are
getting smarter.
02 Entrepreneurship has gone
mainstream.
03 Inclusion is Mandatory.
04 IT is the key to a progressive
future.
Regional development requires that all ideas and viewpoints have a legitimate, respected
place at the table. Assuming this exists automatically can really hold back a region’s success.
The St. Louis region has finally seen a dramatic increase in intentional efforts focused on equal
access to knowledge, networking and opportunities within the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Inclusion is key to retaining and attracting the diversity essential for long-term success.
In this technology-driven world we live in, it is not an understatement to say that all industries
require computer and IT skills, and demand for expertise in this area is only going to increase.
Strong STEM educational priorities and enlightened immigration policy are the bookends
for a ready and robust workforce. Our region must be focused like a laser on attracting and
developing the best programmers, developers and IT management talent. Can we lead in
Cybersecurity, Healthcare IT, Ag Tech, Internet of Things, and Financial Tech? Let’s go for it!
The good news is that there’s more money available to tech startups in St. Louis than ever
before. And with the announcement of new funds being created, that good news is getting
even better. Still, the reality is there is not enough money to support all of the good deals,
and those that do get support often won’t get enough. For many entrepreneurs the choices
will be to die on the vine, move to where the money is, or find new ways to do more with less.
Our new ventures are often competing with inferior, but better-funded, solutions from the
coasts. How are we going to solve this conundrum?
05 Undercapitalization:
Get used to it!
Regional corporations are recognizing the tech startup community as a source of business
solutions, talent, and new innovations. We need to unlock this potential, and there are
definite signs it could kick into high gear in 2015. B2B startups need to find their first
customers. Here’s a prediction: The day is coming when local corporations will line up to
review new solutions arising from our own tech startups.
06 Corporations are coming to
the party.
Most cities of any size now have entrepreneurial activity, some more than others, but you’d
be hard-pressed to find a city with nothing going on. When we compare statistics with
other cities, some will show St. Louis is doing well and occasionally some won’t. At ITEN we
measure ourselves against ourselves: how we’re progressing from year to year and driving
innovation ever deeper into our regional culture. What makes St. Louis special, and what has
led more than anything else to the dramatic rise of entrepreneurship in our city is the spirit
of all for one and one for all that permeates the tech ecosystem. For-profits and not-for-
profits working hand in hand; individuals seeking to “give first” and trust that the future will
be brighter for all. This is the Spirit of St. Louis at its best, and it will carry us far as we work
together, honoring the efforts of each individual and each organization.
07 Collaboration is
our differentiator.
JIM BRASUNAS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ITEN
No question about it. Since we started ITEN seven years ago, the understanding of the typical
first-time entrepreneur about the challenges that lie ahead, while far from complete, has
increased significantly. It’s because there’s so much more information available to wannabe
entrepreneurs, coupled with the work that universities, ITEN, and other support organizations
have done over the years. Because of this, the quality of deals is also on the rise.
It’s become a common area of focus across the country, and in many places around the world.
Many cities and large corporations have recently established or expanded programs focused
on fostering entrepreneurship and innovation. The 1 Million Cups program has expanded
to over 50 cities with over 2500 entrepreneurs taking part each week at sites all around
the country. And check out the long list of cities from around the world that have a Startup
Digest edition: that publication is adding one or two cities a week. Regions are realizing that
economic development will increasingly come from innovation and entrepreneurship, and
what better place to find both of those than in their local startup community?
Introduction Key Trends
investors. We look forward to playing an
essential role in making St. Louis a hub
of innovative startup activity for years
to come.
Enjoy the 2014 Tech Startup Report!
FRANCIS CHMELIR
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, ITEN
Welcome to the 2014 St. Louis Tech Startup Report! ITEN is
pleased to present this year in review, highlighting the exciting growth
and activity in our region.

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The St. Louis tech scene continued to
gain momentum in 2014. According
to CB Insights, St. Louis was the fastest
growing area for funding in 2014 and,
to quote Tech Cocktail’s recent report,
“St. Louis’s tech ecosystem has not
just grown over the past few years –
it actually blew up”. This is amazing
considering where we were just a few
years ago.
Funding for tech companies more
than doubled between 2013 and 2014,
increasing from $66 million to over
$155 million, and experienced nearly a
5x growth over the last two years. The
total number of companies being funded
continues to grow, too. In all, at least 77
tech startups were funded in 2014, with
17 receiving $1 million or more and 26
receiving at least $500,000.
For an ecosystem to continue to
develop, it must have exits and create
additional funding sources. Both
happened in 2014. The two biggest
exits in 2014 were the Answers.com
acquisition by Apax and the Yurbuds
acquisition by Harmon Industries. From
a capital perspective, Cultivation Capital
announced its second fund of $40
million and I anticipate other funds to
be announced in early 2015. St. Louis
companies once again attracted outside
venture capital from premier firms
such as Bessemer Venture Partners,
Interwest Partners, Mohr Davidow
Venture Partners, and LightSpeed
Venture Partners making investments.
Angel investing groups and the Missouri
Technology Corporation (MTC) continued
their funding pace, maintaining the
records set in 2013.
Momentum continues on the
accelerator and seed investment front
as well. Two new startup accelerators,
Prosper and Yield Labs, announced that
their first cohorts will begin in 2015.
With the addition of those accelerators,
along with SixThirty, Capital Innovators
and Arch Grants, 60 companies will
receive between $50,000 and $100,000
in funding from those programs in
2015. St. Louis has led the way in the
state with Missouri now ranking fourth
in number of accelerators, trailing only
California, New York and Texas.
As indicated by the 2014 numbers, St.
Louis continues to provide tremendous
opportunity for startup tech companies.
It is growing at a pace that few
envisioned. National press and the
increased interest by outside venture
capital groups confirms that St. Louis
is one of the premiere places to start a
high-growth business in the Midwest, if
not in the nation.
HAL GENTRY
GENERAL PARTNER AT
SIXTHIRTY FINTECH,
PROSPER, AND
CAPITAL INNOVATORS
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
1.2
3.5
5.0
5.9
7.5
The Money
Combined Monthly Revenue of ITEN Network Companies ($M)
Money Invested in St. Louis Tech Startup Companies (Current Year’s Increase in Red) ($M)
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
28 28
30.3
40.3
66.7
70.6
292.4
155.1
137.3
Interesting Trend
Amount of Self-
Funding in ITEN
Companies
2014: $3.5M
2013: $3.8M
2012: $4.1M
5

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This was the year of momentum in
the St. Louis region! We saw so many
of our most promising startups take
off and new ones pour into
the region.
As I walked the floor of a recent startup
event next to a local venture capitalist,
he remarked, “I don’t know a single
company in here and I love it.”
The growth of tech entrepreneurship
is one of the strongest economic
drivers in the St. Louis region. Tech
workers command high salaries and
as a result many other businesses
thrive when new IT professionals
move to St. Louis. These workers also
bring an enhanced vibrancy to the
neighborhoods where they reside.
This past year we saw Boeing relocate an
entire IT division to St. Louis and some
of our fastest growing tech startups
such as LockerDome, Aisle 411 and Pixel
Press hiring. We are proud of the work
ITEN is doing to make St. Louis a national
leader in technology jobs. Smart people
find a great quality of life in this region.
That is a winning combination.
Supporting the tech community is a
top priority. This past year we helped
connect local tech CEOs to the leaders
of Southwest Airlines. They wanted
a non-stop flight to San Francisco to
increase fundraising and recruiting. Not
only did they get it, but through the St.
Louis Regional Chamber, Southwest
invited a group of top startups on the
inaugural St. Louis to San Francisco flight
to celebrate the new route.
It’s also why our economic development
team has increased our commitment to
Accelerate STL. This platform showcases
the robust startup activity in our region.
It’s giving people around the world an
idea of what it means to start and grow a
business in St. Louis.
This is just a fraction of what is ahead for
the tech sector in St. Louis. CNBC just
named St. Louis a top tech hub to watch.
We agree and look forward to much
success in the future.
DENNY COLEMAN, CECD, FM, HLM
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
ST. LOUIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
PARTNERSHIP
Jobs & Hiring
2%
2%
3%
3%
5%
7%
7%
7%
8%
14%
16%
26%
Hiring Fields
1ST 6 MONTHS OF YEAR:
2013: 185
2014: 259
2015: 429
FULL YEAR
2013: 425
2014: 539
2015: 878
“2014 has been a very
good year for the tech
community in St. Louis.
St. Louisans have realized
exits at companies like
Answers, Yurbuds and
ShipWorks, and venture-
backed companies have
been very successful at
raising additional rounds
of financing at increased
valuations.”
CLIFFORD HOLEKAMP
SENIOR LECTURER IN
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
DIRECTOR OF THE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PLATFORM
OLIN BUSINESS
SCHOOL
WASHINGTON UNIVER-
SITY IN ST. LOUIS
Number of Employees Tech
Startups Expect to Hire

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9
“The entrepreneur
ecosystem in St.
Louis is incredible.
HealthyMe wouldn’t
be where it is
today without
the support and
mentorship of key
programs like ITEN,
BioGenerator and
Capital Innovators.
In fact, HealhyMe’s
ITEN mentor is now
our CEO. Can’t
beat that for an
endorsement.”
As one of many activities to help
address this need, BioSTL developed
and launched the Bioscience &
Entrepreneurial Inclusion initiative in
2008, and began programing efforts
in 2014. The goal of this program is to
introduce the St. Louis entrepreneurial
ecosystem to high potential women and
underrepresented minorities interested
in starting or expanding a high growth
business in the biosciences and tech
industries. Through a strategic pathway
and strong collaborations with partners
including ITEN, our programming
provided opportunities for engagement,
training and access to various resources
for participants.
The inaugural event: “Creating
Opportunities in Bioscience: Business &
Networking Forum”, was a huge success,
attracting more than 200 attendees. We
hosted two additional events during the
summer with the intended goals of
raising awareness about the
overall bioscience industry
highlighting entrepreneurs
currently building high growth
businesses
exposing participants to our
region’s entrepreneur resources
and organizations
The St. Louis startup ecosystem’s
commitment to becoming more inclusive
was demonstrated by the fact that more
than 30 vendors and Entrepreneur
Support Organizations (ESO) participated
in these two events.
During a seminar in August, we hosted
55 attendees for a more in-depth look at
building a bioscience startup. The seminar
led many of our meeting participants
to apply for Cortex’s new Square One
program; a 10-week business “boot
camp” designed to support first-time
entrepreneurs here in our region.
We are thrilled to report that out
of the 33 participants selected for
this inaugural boot camp class, one-
third participated in our Bioscience &
Entrepreneurial Inclusion programming.
The Square One program offered three
tracks for those selected to participate:
bioscience, IT, and consumer/advanced
manufacturing. Square One provided
free formal instruction, hands-on
learning, expert assistance, and
networking in a supportive environment
for budding entrepreneurs.
It was clear through the diversity of
ideas and technologies represented
in the Square One program that
there is a strong connection between
the biosciences and IT. Examples of
companies that cross both industries
include: Square Fruit Labs—a company
developing an advanced biotissue and
bioplastics 3D printing and material-
handling robot for industrial and
biomedical applications; and RXplain—a
mobile app designed to assist patients
with medicine adherence.
In 2015, we look to continue
our inclusion efforts and bring
additional programing to women and
underrepresented minorities. We are
already working more closely with ITEN
to plan a wide range of activities for the
year. As bioscience and IT fields become
increasingly linked, we find these
collaborations extremely valuable. We
must work together to develop highly
talented professionals and support their
entrepreneurial endeavors to create
high growth ventures that ultimately
will increase the level of innovation and
opportunities in our region. If everyone
in the startup community is able to
work together to achieve that goal, St.
Louis will remain on track to be one of
America’s top innovation hubs.
DR. CHERYL WATKINS-MOORE
DIRECTOR, BIOSCIENCE &
ENTREPRENEURIAL INCLUSION
BIOSTL
Inclusion
Initiative
For a long time St. Louis has been home to universities and
corporations of international stature. However, St. Louis has lacked
the required infrastructure, entrepreneurial culture and ecosystem
to fully capitalize on its potential as a multi-dimensional, thriving
business community.
DANA FOWLER
FOUNDER &
PRESIDENT,
HEALTHYME
MOBILE
SOLUTIONS
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2011 2012 2013 2014
Total Full Time Employees of ITEN Network Companies
601
835 827
1073
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2011 2012 2013 2014
Total Part Time Employees of ITEN Network Companies
57
109
252
386
350
400

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ITEN COMPANIES
22% MINORITY-OWNED
20% WOMEN-OWNED
8% IMMIGRANT-OWNED
5% VETERAN-OWNED
LAUNCHCODE PARTICIPANTS
42% PREVIOUSLY UNEMPLOYED
30% MINORITY
23% WOMEN
SQUAREONE PARTICIPANTS
36% UNDERREPRESENTED
POPULATIONS
PROSPER WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
31 MASTERMIND GROUP
PARTICIPANTS
60 YOUTH & COLLEGIATE
#PROSPERNEXT EVENTS PAR-
TICIPANTS
70 ENTREPRENEUR RESOURCE
EVENTS PARTICIPANTS
Note: The data above is not mutually exclusive.
“Our region will grow by
finding and encouraging
entrepreneurs from all parts
of the community. As we seek
out immigrant and other
minority entrepreneurs, we
bring them into the network
of entrepreneurial resources
to encourage their success.
Inclusion initiatives like
the one that ITEN helps
lead, are so important for
creating the entry funnel
of new opportunities, both
for the region and for those
individuals themselves. St.
Louis Mosaic Project provides
inclusion initiatives so that our
region benefits from the many
immigrant entrepreneurs in
our community.”
BETSY COHEN
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ST.
LOUIS MOSAIC PROJECT
The most vital ingredients in a startup
community are the entrepreneurs and
ventures that are bringing new ideas
to market, reshaping industries, and
ultimately creating something of lasting
value. The St. Louis region is blessed with
numerous emerging companies that are
not just growing, but thriving. Once again
we honor these great ventures in our Top
Ten, Fast Ten, and Segment Rankings for
2014.
These lists recognize and celebrate the
tech ventures that are getting the most
traction, most likely to become lasting
successes, and most likely to make
significant contributions to the St. Louis
region’s economic prosperity.
For our Top Ten list and the industry
segment lists in this report, we focus
on the following key metrics: total
funds raised (from all outside sources
including but not limited to friends and
family, grants, debt and equity), current
monthly revenue, and total employees
(including founders working full time on
the venture). These three factors are
the main criteria we use to measure
a venture’s impact on the community.
We give additional weight to the growth
in these three primary metrics during
2014. Thus we assign more importance
in our ratings to the traction that
companies are getting right now.
There are great tech ventures in St.
Louis that didn’t make this list. That in
no way means that they aren’t destined
for great success. The bar is being
raised every year by the rapid growth
of our top companies, and the honor of
being mentioned as one of St. Louis’ Top
Ten startup tech ventures means more
this year than ever before.
For our Fast Ten list, we look only at
companies founded in 2013 or later, and
look particularly to their growth during
2014. We believe that some of the
companies on the Fast Ten list are likely
to emerge and make a major impact in
coming years.
“Due to the
diligent work of
ITEN and other
supporters of the
ecosystem, Stone
Carlie enjoyed
a large increase
in start-up
companies that
we serve during
2014 and expect
a similar increase
in 2015.”
The
Companies
Note: Due to the proprietary nature of most of the data used in our
rankings, we rely heavily on the companies to provide that information to
ITEN on a confidential basis. Therefore, limited or absent data may affect
a company’s inclusion or ranking in the list.
MARIE CARLIE, CPA
SENIOR MEMBER,
STONE CARLIE

8. 12
13
Norse
www.norse-corp.com
Norse is the global leader in live attack intelligence.
Norse delivers continuously updated and unique
Internet and darknet intel that helps organizations
detect and block attacks that other systems miss.
The Norse DarkMatter™ platform detects new
threats and tags nascent hazards long before
they are spotted by traditional threat intelligence
tools. Norse’s globally distributed distant early
warning grid of millions of dark sensors, honeypots,
crawlers, and agents deliver unique visibility into the
Internet - especially the darknets, where bad actors
operate. The Norse DarkMatter™ network processes
hundreds of terabytes daily and computes over
1,500 distinct risk factors, live, for millions of IP
addresses and URLs every day.
Fun Facts
Norse has employees in 5 countries and 13 states.
Norse’s Global Infrastructure is attacked by
adversaries on average 6,000 times per second.
Norse’s engineering team received 7 exotic sports
car rentals as year-end bonuses, resulting in a pow-
erful recruiting video.
Splice Machine
www.splicemachine.com
Splice Machine provides the only Hadoop RDBMS.
It is designed to scale real-time applications using
commodity hardware without application rewrites,
providing companies with a high-performance,
massively scalable database for applications that
don’t require compromising SQL support, secondary
indexes, joins, and transactions.
Fun Facts
Splice Machine is featured in Datamation’s top 20
Big Data Companies list.
Splice Machine raised $18M in 2014.
Splice Machine has offices in both St. Louis and
San Francisco.
MulticoreWare Inc.
www.multicorewareinc.com
MulticoreWare is the leading provider of programmer
productivity tools, libraries and application
development services for homogenous and
heterogeneous multicore CPU and GPU architectures.
Fun Facts
MulticoreWare launched a very successful HEVC
encoder product.
MulticoreWare is featured in 2014 Inc. 500 list,
ranked at 110th.
MulticoreWare was selected by EE Times for the hot-
test startups list.
LockerDome
www.lockerdome.com
LockerDome helps you personalize the web.
Through lockerdome.com and LockerDome-
powered widgets, more than 75 million people per
month use the platform to discover, collect, and
engage around things they like.
Fun Facts
LockerDome has users in more than 100 countries.
LockerDome employees once slept in the office for
81 days straight to finish a release.
LockerDome raised $10M in 2014.
FoodEssentials
www.foodessentials.com
FoodEssentials’ LabelINSIGHT is the food
industry’s most powerful and innovative product
insight exchange, providing manufacturers
and retailers a live view into the grocery
marketplace. LabelINSIGHT provides retailers
and suppliers with gold standard consumer-facing
product data, a transparent view in to the data for
the entire organization, and custom integration into
existing systems, taxonomies, and use cases.
Fun Facts
FoodEssentials founders all grew up together in
Hong Kong.
FoodEssentials has a presence in Australia, Hong
Kong, France, Chicago, and St. Louis.
Over one weekend, FoodEssentials collected over
10,000 new products for a client.
Hatchbuck
www.hatchbuck.com
Hatchbuck is simple sales and marketing software
for small business that automates sales and market-
ing efforts overnight. Turn emails into conversations,
website visitors into handshakes, and customers
into raving fans with our all-in-one sales & marketing
platform. It’s time to grow.
Fun Facts
The Hatchbuck team grew 112% in 2014.
Hatchbuck grew their base of customers and in-
creased revenue by 300% in 2014.
Hatchbuck is its own customer. The Hatchbuck team
uses Hatchbuck sales and marketing software to at-
tract, capture, nurture and convert prospects
into customers.
These dynamic ventures just missed making
the Top 10 (in alphabetical order):
Blendics
Bonfyre
BusyEvent
Gremln
Juristat
Kingdom Scene
Rovertown
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
Aisle411
www.aisle411.com
Aisle411 is the leading local and indoor location
platform powering over 13,000 retail stores with
indoor mapping, search, location and analytics
solutions that help retailers and brands drive
store visits, in-store shopper engagement, and
merchandising insights.
Fun Facts
2.3 million products are found in Aisle411’s product
search engine.
30% of Aisle411 employees are female.
Aisle411 was officially founded in a Panera Bread
restaurant (locally-known as St. Louis Bread Co.) due
to free Wi-Fi access and great food, a true St. Louis
start-up incubator.
TruQC
www.truqcapp.com
TruQC is a quality control and process
documentation app built for the iPad. Originally
designed for industrial painters, TruQC is now
bringing QC and reporting tasks into the digital age
for customers in an array of industries.
Fun Facts
St. Louis hockey legend Barret Jackman is an inves-
tor in TruQC.
TruQC has been downloaded in 67 countries.
TruQC’s app is now available in Spanish.
08
09
Click With Me Now
www.clickwithmenow.com
Re-humanizing the online channel with the easiest
& safest way to share the web! With products like:
REALTIME, REPLAY & RECORD - all based on patent-
pending Collaborative Customer Interface Platform
– Click With Me Now is changing the way people
connect online.
Fun Facts
Click With Me Now raised $2.45 million in 2014.
Click With Me Now has developed a second product
on its collaboration platform.
Click With Me Now has grown to 12 employees all
committed to “humanizing online communications”.
Observable Networks
www.observable.net
10Observable Networks delivers critical threat defense
services based on dynamic endpoint modeling to
understand the behavior of all network devices
and identify early stage and hidden indicators of
compromise.
Fun Facts
Observable Networks was listed as one of the “10
security startups to watch” by Network World.
Observable performs nearly 2 billion device inspec-
tions per day for its current customers.
Observable Networks grew over 50% in employee
count in 2014.
Honorable
Mentions

9. 14
15
TopOpps
www.topopps.com
TopOPPS uses advanced analytics and automation
to optimize the sales process. It helps define, align,
and enhance the sales process - while ensuring that
everyone is following it. Sales management benefits
from the clearer visibility and real time updates
while sales people benefit from the intelligent
mobile coaching and simplified updates. As a result
of the sales process optimization and streamlining,
deals close faster, win rates increase, and forecasts
are more accurate.
Fun Facts
TopOPPS moved twice in 2015 - first to Downtown
T-REX and then next door to the Curlee Building
TopOPPS is the second venture together for
founders Jim Eberlin and Ted Stann. They previously
founded Gainsight.
The song “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift is the
TopOPPS’ sales team’s theme song.
Pushup Social
www.Pushup.com
Pushup Social is a technology that allows a brand or
organization to create their own online community
on their existing website in a matter of minutes.
With Pushup, brands and organizations see a
higher return on the investments they are making
in building loyal fan bases, clients or supporters,
by engaging their community members directly on
their own website. Site owners can engage their
community, access analytics, moderate content,
improve SEO, and increase the overall stickiness
and relevance of their website. Additionally,
community members can now share photos, posts
and much more as they interact on the website of
the brand or organization they are passionate about.
Fun Facts
Pushup Social is undefeated in Ping Pong
tournaments, having defeated such powerhouses as
Elasticity and LaunchCode in head-to-head match-
ups.
Two of the three founders are foreign-born, from
Nigeria and Denmark.
Pushup Social will be featured in the upcoming first
episode of AT&T’s new web series, “3:00 Inspiration
Break”, hosted by small business expert Susan
Solovic.
Pixel Press
www.projectpixelpress.com
Pixel Press is a technology company focused on
building creative and fun mobile gaming experiences
for audiences of all ages that leverage both the
analytical & creative sides of the brain.
Fun Facts
Pixel Press users have created over 100k games and
published 13k games to the arcade.
The final boss, “The Doodle Wizard” of Pixel Press’
new game in partnership with Cartoon Network is
voiced by “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Pixel Press’ newest developer, Mark has long blonde
hair and rides his skateboard to work. If you see him
downtown on his way in say hello!
PFITR
www.pfitr.com
PFITR is a cloud-based software that helps public
treasurers across the country by improving
transparency, reducing risk, and improving cash
flow. Public treasurers are attracted to this new
technology because the streamlined iPad and
mobile application increases productivity and elimi-
nates the need to print so many reports.
Fun Facts
PFITR has employees and contractors from all over
the world.
PFITR is the only start-up company that has gone
through two start-up accelerator programs simulta-
neously: Capital Innovators and SixThirty.
The only pictures in PFITR’s offices are underwater
scenes, mostly ship wrecks.
Marketvolt
www.Marketvolt.com
MarketVolt helps B-to-B, B-to-C, and nonprofit
businesses attract leads, engage prospects, convert
sales, and maximize customer relationships, using
email marketing and other interactive technologies.
Businesses in the St. Louis region and across
the globe choose MarketVolt’s email software
because it gives them a powerful, easy-to-use
and affordable way to create, deliver, track and
automate marketing campaigns. They also can rely
on MarketVolt’s marketing experts to assist with
planning and execution of email campaigns, web site
development, social media, and offline marketing.
Fun Facts:
MarketVolt was first established in 2001 as
a product and service of Foundry Software
Development Company before spinning out as an
independent startup in 2013.
MarketVolt can integrate seamlessly (without
customized code) with more than 300 applications,
including Salesforce, Dynamics, Zoho, other popular
CRMs and many event management, e-commerce,
accounting and social media management tools.
MarketVolt has delivered nearly one billion emails
on behalf of its clients.
01
02
03
04
05
06
xooker
www.xooker.com
Xooker is the next generation ad delivery platform:
mobile, location aware, personalized, and
fun. Game changing analytics overlay engagement
tools (messaging, deals, automatic check-in, games
and rewards) in a unique way that enables local and
national merchants to get new clients, and keep
them as profitable repeat customers. Consumers
get valuable, personalized real-time information
about items and offers at their favorite merchants,
and have fun while they do.
Fun Facts:
Xooker will launch to 2.5 million opt-in mobile
subscribers and 3,500 Merchants.
Consumer choice rules with Xooker. Individual
consumers get targeted messages at times they
can best use them, for products, services, and
merchants they select.
With Xooker, a store or restaurant of any size can
have a branded game.
07
HealthyApp HealthyLife Studio
www.healthyapphealthylife.com
HealthyApp is designed to break the smartphone
habit cycle, preventing overuse of target apps while
creating new rewards that reinforce the user’s
self-control. The main goal is to help users reduce
their smartphone dependency by monitoring app
usage on their smart devices, and identify potential
areas for improvement. HealthyApp is targeting
user groups such as parents who want to monitor
their kids, doctors who want to help their patients,
employers who need to manage their employees,
and self-motivated individuals who want to set up
goals on a phone diet. It’s a secure and effective way
to spend less time on one’s smart devices, and more
time on one’s life.
Fun Facts
All founders are foreign-born from China.
HealthyApp has offices in St. Louis and Beijing
All founders are successful business owners, one
of them is ex-CTO of Alibaba Software and Yahoo
China.
08
Prattle Analytics
www.prattle-analytics.com
Prattle Analytics was founded by Evan A. Schnidman
Ph.D. and William D. MacMillan Ph.D. to develop
and sell unique data products to the financial
services industry. Prattle’s core data product utilizes
proprietary text analysis methods to generate
quantitative data based on the sentiment of central
bank communications. This data presents better
than 70% correlations with fixed income, equity and
currency markets allowing portfolio managers to
predict asset price movements and make informed
investment decisions. Prattle Analytics central bank
sentiment data is currently used by some of the
largest hedge funds in the world.
Fun Facts
Both Prattle Analytics’ founders are recovering
academics.
As recovering academics, Evan and Bill have
benefited greatly from hiring their former students
to aid in their data development process.
One of Prattle’s data developers is a top NFL
prospect.
09
MeterGenius
www.metergenius.com
MeterGenius is a customer engagement and
analytics platform that enables electricity suppliers
to provide residential customers tools and
incentives to engage with and lower their electricity
usage. MeterGenius gives homeowners the ability
to track electricity consumption, create reminders
to help them change their behavior, set goals and
track their progress, compare themselves to similar
neighbors, and earn points that can be redeemed
for smart and energy efficient appliances.
Fun Facts
In their first pilot in Texas, MeterGenius increased
customer retention by 27% and reduced
consumption by 6%.
All co-founders were Northwestern University
graduate students.
MeterGenius won $135,000 in business plan
competitions in 2014.
10iChurch Phone Apps
www.ichurchphoneapps.com
iChurch enables leadership at small to medium-
sized churches to efficiently and effectively manage
and engage volunteer staff in real-time. iChurch is a
mobile app that helps churches realize a reduction
in costs and better forecasting/utilization of volun-
teer staff through the utilization of custom reports
and analysis via mobile app.
Fun Facts
Recent Washington University PMBA graduate
partners with an MIT Alum to design the UI/UX for
the iChurch Volunteer Management App.
iChurch is 100% owned by an African-American,
raised in the St. Louis region
Keith Turner, the founder, previously founded an
award winning company in the area TurnGroup
Technologies.
Campaign Manager

10. 16
17
Minority-Owned
01 MulticoreWare Inc.
02 FoodEssentials
03 PushUp Social
Women-Owned
01 SparoLabs
02 EDIS Solutions
03 HealthyMe Mobile
Solutions Security
01 Norse
02 Observable Networks
03 Parameter Security
Mobile App
01 Aisle411
02 TruQC
03 TopOpps
It was maybe four years ago when CIC
began seriously considering expansion
outside of Massachusetts. Initially we
started with the obvious places, where
startups and innovation are seemingly
evergreen: San Francisco, Silicon Valley,
New York City. Exploring these markets
left us hungry for expansion but the
complexities and costs that would have
come with opening up a space in one
of those cities kept us from jumping in.
Also, part of the fun of CIC in Cambridge
comes from the satisfaction knowing
that we added to the current “innovation
ecosystem” in real, meaningful ways.
Once we started to look at new markets
from that perspective, things started to
get really interesting. We began to look
at cities that we hadn’t ever considered.
Cities on the rise, but ones with a lot
left to prove. We traveled to a number
of cities including Baltimore, Winston-
Salem, Philadelphia, Miami - and St.
Louis.
I’ll skip the number crunching parts of
our exploratory phase, but suffice to
say that St. Louis set itself apart from
other cities because the local, grass root
projects here were further developed
and producing measurable results.
There was also real money behind
these projects - and a supportive city
government and very active universities.
This signaled to us that there was a
long term plan in place. But what left
us most enthusiastic were the people
who were (and are) most directly behind
the startup growth initiatives. St. Louis
appeared to us like a bootstrapped
startup, run by people bullish about the
city and determined to build something
big and important. From Arch Grants
and T-REX to Cortex and BioGenerator,
there was a lot of amazing stuff going
on, and the energy and enthusiasm felt
quite familiar to what we’d experienced
in Cambridge.
The opening months of our entry into
St. Louis have been nothing short
of amazing. They’ve exceeded our
expectations in just about every way.
The clients and people who work in
our spaces are some of the most
talented entrepreneurs in the city and
the community energy has created
buzz that’s reverberating even back to
Cambridge and Boston. Our @4240
space is filling with a wonderful mix of
clients ranging from Arch Grants alumni
and Washington University spinouts
to investor groups and corporates.
LaunchCode is now doing its important
work from within CIC. Some of our
client companies have come from far off
places like Israel. We’ve even got people
driving in from Chesterfield! All this stuff
really matters.
Three years ago, choosing St. Louis
as our first expansion city seemed
counterintuitive to many of us. Now,
we’re just grateful to be here and excited
for everything to come. 2015 will no
doubt be an uphill slog every single day
of the year. But what joy it is to be a
part of this incredible city.
DOUGAN SHERWOOD
CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR,
CIC ST. LOUIS
St. Louis:
Hub of Innovation
CIC St. Louis opened its doors to its new facility at @4240 Duncan
Avenue last October. The launch was the culmination of a journey
for CIC into St. Louis that began almost three years ago. So many
people have asked, “Why did CIC choose St. Louis?”, Here’s some of the
backstory that has led us to where we are today.
Segment Rankings
Financial Services
01 Gremln
02 PFITR
03 Prattle Analytics
Sales/Marketing
01 Hatchbuck
02 TopOpps
03 Less Annoying CRM
Social Media
01 LockerDome
02 Gremln
03 Bonfyre
Game Design
01 Kingdom Scene
02 Pixel Press
03 Xooker
“The dialogue around
startups in St. Louis is
changing. Our larger
clients are looking for
guidance on how to
partner with startups
to more quickly drive
business value. By
fostering conversation
and collaboration,
we are helping with
job creation and the
bolstering of our local
economy. Investing in
startups is investing in
the future of our city.”
Outside Funding Status
54% 46%
63% 37%
WithoutOutsideFund
ing
WithOutsideFundin
g
WithoutReven
ue
WithRevenue
Funded Company Status
73%
27%
WithoutRevenue
W
ith
Revenue
Revenue Status
RON DAUGHERTY
FOUNDER,
DAUGHERTY
BUSINESS
SOLUTIONS
ITEN Company Status

11. 18
19
STL Metro
Missouri - Non STL
Illinois - Non STL
US (Remaining)
Europe
Africa
Asia, New Zealand & Australia
Latin America
Middle East
5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45
%
0%
30%
39%
15%
13%
12%
12%
35%
23%
4%
4%
0.4%
1%
2%
2%
1%
4%
1%
2%
“St. Louis startups made great strides in 2014
on several fronts. A lot of money was invested
in local startup companies, new accelerators
focused on women and agtech companies were
formed, and large corporations continued to buy
in to the startup storyline. But perhaps even more
importantly, several tech companies saw significant
exits, thus putting money into the hands of local
investors/entrepreneurs. Exits included Answers
Corp., yurbuds and ShipWorks. What investors in
those companies do now will be a major narrative
for 2015. Following the Answers exit, a group of
Answers executives raised nearly $40 million for a
new fund. It would be a tremendous positive if a
good chunk of that money was reinvested into St.
Louis companies. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least
if a few high-profile startup companies also made
big exits in 2015.”
BRIAN FELDT
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER,
ST. LOUIS BUSINESS JOURNAL
“To see innovation and entrepreneurship drive change is remarkably exciting. The St. Louis region has the
perfect mix for a growing startup hub: premier universities like Washington University and Saint Louis University,
internationally recognized innovation hubs, support organizations, mentorship programs, capital efficiency, an
educated workforce, competitive cost of living, and affordable real estate, among others. As we shared recently
with a group of investors in New York, these strengths, combined with our region’s leading role in fields such as
plant and life science; financial services; information technology; aviation and renewable energy, make St. Louis
a place where big ideas grow.”
JOE REAGAN
PRESIDENT & CEO, ST. LOUIS REGIONAL CHAMBER
This past year has been an exciting one
for the tech startup community in St.
Louis, and for ITEN. We were able to
accomplish so much, as you can see
demonstrated in this report.
The rapid growth in tech entrepreneurship
can play an essential role in crafting a
positive narrative for the future of the
region, and is the foundation for the
innovation economy that is essential for
a prosperous future. Now operating as
an independent organization, ITEN has
the flexibility to be an effective leader
in creating that future and overcoming
the many challenges faced by the
entrepreneurial community.
Founded in 2008 to be the catalyst
of the St. Louis IT startup ecosystem,
ITEN has received tremendous support
along the way as an operating entity of
Innovate St. Louis. During the past 7
years, we have been at the forefront of
the development of the St. Louis tech
startup ecosystem. We are grateful for
Innovate’s support and are very proud
that we are now ready to take on new
challenges on our own. We are very
encouraged by the growing community
support. Without all of you we would
not be where we are today. Your support
inspires us!
Letter from Our Chairman
ITEN will sharpen our focused mission
to accelerate individual startups. Each
venture is unique, and we will continue
to improve our programs and tools to
help them overcome barriers and find
their individual pathway to success.
With new initiatives in the pipeline for
2015: Tech Inclusion Initiative, expansion
of our Entrepreneur in Residence
program, the new STLTechJobs website,
an innovative startup/corporate
engagement program, and the possibility
of launching a new tech fund, ITEN is
committed to serve the critical needs of
the startups, the innovation ecosystem,
and the wider community.
We look forward to the next 12 months
with a great deal of passion and
enthusiasm as we continue to build on
the considerable momentum among the
ecosystem that ITEN has helped
to create.
Our motto: “Entrepreneurs Helping
Entrepreneurs” sums up our core value.
We’re excited to see where it’s going to
lead us this year!
JEAN ROBERSON
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, ITEN
IP Issue
Finding a
Cofounder
Startup Biggest Challenge
23%
1%
3%
5%
5%
6%
7%
9%
12%
14%
15%
Time
Management
Forming Strategic
Partnerships
Sales
Develop Prototype
Finding Mentors
Customer Aquisition
Marketing/Advertising
Talent
Funding
Prior Entrepreneurial Experience of Founders
Yes
No
Under 25
26-35
36-45
46-55
56+
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Age of Founders
Founders’ college and origin
Founders’ college Founders’ origin
67%
33%

12. 20
21
“In 2014 Arch Grants and ITEN
deepened their collaboration
by making ITEN the venture
development partner for tech
focused Arch Grant recipients.
This partnership ensures Arch
Grants funded companies take full
advantage of ITEN’s outstanding
offerings including its Mock Angel,
Business Model Validation, and
Development programs. This type
of collaboration is of tremendous
benefit to the participating
entrepreneurs, and to the broader
community as both organizations
leverage their respective strengths
to ensure entrepreneurs can access
the resources they need to make
their businesses successful.”
GINGER IMSTER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ARCH GRANTS
“The start-up environment in St.
Louis is exciting and very energized
with professionals and innovative
ideas. I have found ITEN to be a
good resource for information,
support, and talent. Particularly,
ITEN’s Entrepreneurs-in-Residence
are invaluable advisors with a
great willingness to share their
experiences.”
A.KEITH TURNER
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, iCHURCH PHONE
APPS
“This is an extremely exciting
time to be involved in innovation
and technology in St. Louis. The
region is on a meteoric rise as a
hub for entrepreneurism and St.
Louis’s culture of partnership and
collaboration is strong and unique
draw. Being an integral part of the
regional entrepreneurial community
not only strengthens our own
research at Washington University,
but creates a dynamic, high-energy,
creative spirit that is so important
for encouraging start-up activity.
St. Louis is realizing its full potential
of being world-class leader in
innovation. From large undertakings
like Cortex to smaller in-the-lab
experiences, Washington University
is proud to be part of the effort.”
HOLDEN THORP
PROVOST AND EXECUTIVE VICE
CHANCELLOR FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI DISTINGUISHED
UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST LOUIS
St. Louis
Tech Startup Ecosystem
MVF
SIUE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PROGRAM
HARRIS-STOWE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PROGRAM
WEBSTER
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PROGRAM
UMSL
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PROGRAM
WASHINGTON
UNIVERSITY’S
SKANDALAIRIS CENTER
CAPITAL INNOVATORS
BILLIKEN ANGELS
THINKBIG
FTL CAPITAL
iSELECT FUND
MTC IDEA FUND
ARCH GRANTS
REGIONAL GROWTH CAPTAL
ARCH ANGELS
HELIX FUND
LAB 1500
CLAIM
NEBULA
ARCHREACTOR
ITE
TECH SHOP CIC
CIC@CET
TECHARTISTA
STL
VENTURE
WORKS
T-REX
LAUNCH CODE
ENSTITUTE
TALENT FINDERSIGS
BUSINESS MODEL
VALIDATION
GVMS
MOCK
ANGELS
BIOGENERATOR
CULTIVATION
CAPITAL
SIXTHIRTY
SLU CENTER FOR
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
HIVE44
OPO
CHAMBER
ST.LOUIS MOSAIC PROJECT
IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM
STLTECHJOBS
THE YIELD LAB
PROSPER WOMEN
ENTREPRENEURS
PIPELINE
LINDBERGH TECHNOLOGY FUND
CORPORATE
ENGAGEMENT
TALENT FUNDER
CODE WORLD ORDER
VENTURE FOR AMERICA
ST. LOUIS MAKES
LEWIS AND CLARK FUND
INDUSTRIOUS
REGIONAL
VENTURE CAFÉ
THE MISSION CENTER L3C
SLEDP