Hottest Tech Companies
One of the coveted tickets every year is NVTC's Hot Ticket awards, held last night at the McLean home of NVTC CEO Bobbie Kilberg. Tech companies are recognized for everything from raising funding to their interesting company cultures.
Nextgen Angels founder Dan Mindus took the "friend of the entrepreneur" award for his support of startups in the DC region. His angel group for investors under 40 (that's when it all starts to go downhill, right?) has plans to expand across the country. Avizia's Luke Leininger and Mike Baird took home the prize for "hottest bootstrap." The telemedicine company connects patients and doctors in real time. (Mike was also on our 40 Under 40 list.)
The "hottest startup" award went to DC-based TrackMaven. CMO Ian Walsh (center) and chief revenue officer Tim Koubek (far right) accepted on behalf of the competitive intelligence company. Awards were doled out by Bobbie, BDO partner Mark Andersen, Cooley biz dev VP Katherine Ferguson and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who came in, and left by, helicopter to attend two more events in Richmond.
Social Tables CEO Dan Berger took home the "hottest culture" award. (He's with MAVA deputy executive director Kim Weir, who was leaving for Paris after the event.) Social Tables provides its events and meetings software to large companies, but more importantly its employees receive a pair of pink Converse when they reach their one-year anniversary. (Dan was also on our 40 Under 40 list.)
Despite opposing party affiliations, Bobbie and the governor are "good friends." Gov. McAuliffe said his team has completed over 400 economic development initiatives since taking office and created over 32,600 jobs. He's also working on positioning Virginia as a cybersecurity hub. Other hot ticket awardees included Booz Allen (hall of fame); WeddingWire (company culture); and Optoro (VC deal).
This year's event drew over 400 people, including iCore Networks' Samantha Coston, executive search guru Paul Unger, and Kseniia Donska and Kathy Penny from Canvas. Canvas was a finalist for the "company culture" award.
To see more pics from last night's event, click here.