On Thursday, September 28, Tech In Motion is hosting its second annual Timmy Awards, recognizing the best and brightest in LA tech. After receiving dozens of submissions, a panel of judges (full disclosure: I participated in judging) and members of the local tech ecosystem have weighed in. Take a look below at the finalists for the 2017 Timmy Awards.
Category: Best Tech Startup
10 startups made the cut for the award of Best Tech Startup this year. Included in this group are Sherman Oaks-based FloQast, Santa Monica-based on-demand doctor startup Heal, mobile advertising company MomentFeed, and Culver City-based VR gaming outfit Survios. Joining the other finalists is Tuition.io, a company that helps employers offer student loan payments as an employee benefit and AppliedVR, a company integrating VR with healthcare to make patients' experiences much more enjoyable. Rounding out the finalists for Best Tech Startup are VR/AR gaming startup Well Played Studios, Beverly Hills-based Channel Factory and edtech startup MentorMint.
2016 winner: Dollar Shave Club
Best Tech Work Culture
The category of Best Tech Work Culture features both well-established tech companies and startups alike. Joining repeat finalist Belkin International are two LA originals: Cornerstone OnDemand and Boingo Wireless. Also making the cut is recently crowned unicorn, Crowdstrike and customer relationship platform FUEL CYCLE. Rounding out the list of finalists is El Segundo-based cloud software developer Velocify, IT consultants Microdesk and T2 Tech Group and Rapid7, a cybersecurity company.
2016 winner: Cater2.me
Category: Best Tech Manager
A number of exemplary tech managers were submitted for the award of Best Tech Manager, but only eight became finalists. Among those nominated are AI adtech startup GumGum director of engineering Cambron Carter and .xyz founder and CEO Daniel Negari. VideoAmp CTO and co-founder Dave Gullo also made the list, as did clean energy brand Noribachi CEO Farzad Dibachi. Tala group product manager Quang Tran also received a nod, as well as Belkin International's Steven Malony and RapportBoost.AI's CEO and co-founder Tony Medrano.
2016 winner: Jen-Ban Ho, CTO of InviteManager.
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