Finalists Announced in 17th Annual Utah Innovation Awards

SALT LAKE CITY — This October, 25 innovations and the Utah companies that nurtured them will be honored at the 17th annual Utah Innovation Awards, presented by Stoel Rives LLP and Silicon Slopes. Winners will be announced and finalists, honorable mentions and early-stage innovation recipients will be celebrated at a special awards presentation on Thursday, October 10, 2019, at the Rose Wagner Theater. 

The statewide program, the first of its kind, is designed to recognize innovations and the pioneering Utah companies that develop them. The program is sponsored by Xact Data Discovery, Kiln., USTAR, Zions Bank, BioUtah, and BoomStartUp.

A committee of more than 80 experts from Utah’s private industry, government and academic communities voted on winners and finalists in each of the program’s eight categories: Clean Technology and Energy; Computer Hardware/Electrical Devices; Consumer Software; Enterprise Software, Cloud and Big Data; Life Science – Biotech; Life Science – Medical Device; Community Innovation and Professional Services; and Outdoor and Consumer Products.

In addition to choosing finalists, the selection committee also identified innovations worthy of honorable mention or that are an early-stage innovation. Below is a complete list of the finalists and honorable-mention recipients listed alphabetically by category:

Clean Technology and Energy

• New Materials for Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Battery Applications by Utah State University
• Robust and Efficient Battery Management System by Utah State University

Honorable Mention

• Titan Natural Gas Treating by Sustainable Energy Solutions

Community Innovation

• Evolve by Vant4ge
• Pulse by Pulse For Good

Computer Hardware / Electrical Devices

• HotDrop by Vutiliti

Consumer Software (Including Social Media and Mobile Apps)

• Blerp by Blerp, Inc.
• Leash Pet Manager by Leash

Enterprise Software, Cloud and Big Data

• EyeDetect for Investigations by Converus, Inc.
• Kraken by Big Squid

Honorable Mention

• Xvoyant Sales Performance Improvement Platform by Xvoyant

Life Science – BioTech

• LPCN 1144 by Lipocine, Inc
• Enhanced NanoShield Delivery™ by Aqua-Yield
• SkinTE^® by PolarityTE

Early-Stage Innovation

• ARF6 Inhibitors for Multi-Drug Resistant Bacterial Infections by A6 Pharmaceuticals, LLC
• Targeting Myelofibrosis with TP-3654, a Novel PIM1 Kinase Inhibitor by Tolero Pharmaceuticals

Life Science – Medical Device

• Coronet Tendon Fixation System by CoNextions Medical, Inc.
• Cue Needle Tracking System by Becton Dickinson-Vascular Access Devices
• mfiVerse by Mulitfunctional Imaging
• Smart-C by Turner Imaging Systems

Early-Stage Innovation

• HEMOPTIX Technology by Majelco Medical Inc.

Outdoor and Consumer Products

• Hand Out Gloves + Mittens by Hand Out Gloves
• Rag (snapless romper) by Rags Apparel LLC

Professional Services

• Corporate Massage Booking Application by Incorporate Massage
• Hen House Ventures’ Software Incubation Program by Hen House Ventures

The October 10th awards program begins at 4:30 p.m. with honorees showcasing their innovations. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. 

The program is supported by the Association of Corporate Growth, Manufacturing Extension Partnership, MountainWest Capital Network, VentureCapital.org, and the Women Technology Council.

About Silicon Slopes: Silicon Slopes is the voice, hub, and heart of Utah’s startup and tech community. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization empowering Utah’s startup and tech community to learn, connect, and serve in an effort to make entrepreneurship and opportunity in Silicon Slopes open and accessible to all. For more information, visit https://siliconslopes.com/.