{"id":1128,"date":"2015-05-29T21:05:58","date_gmt":"2015-05-29T21:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/?p=1128"},"modified":"2015-06-25T03:19:14","modified_gmt":"2015-06-25T03:19:14","slug":"itel-is-a-semifinalist-in-the-spring-2015-arizona-innovation-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/?p=1128","title":{"rendered":"iTel is a Semifinalist in the Spring 2015 Arizona Innovation Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/AZ_INNOVATION_CHALLENGE_vertical-2014-crop.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"  wp-image-1200 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/AZ_INNOVATION_CHALLENGE_vertical-2014-crop.jpg\" alt=\"AZ_INNOVATION_CHALLENGE_vertical-2014-crop\" width=\"249\" height=\"237\" \/><\/a>PHOENIX (May 11, 2015) \u2013<\/strong> The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) today announced 25 semifinalists in its Spring 2015 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.azcommerce.com\/news-events\/press-releases\/arizona-commerce-authority-announces-semifinalists-in-the-spring-2015-arizona-innovation-challenge\" target=\"_blank\">Arizona Innovation Challenge<\/a> (AIC), a bi-annual business plan competition awarding $3 million annually to talented entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p>Each year, the ACA awards \u2013 $1.5 million in the spring and $1.5 million in the fall \u2013 to the most qualified, innovative startups and early-stage companies. Recipients receive up to $250,000 in capital to grow their businesses, advancing innovation and technology commercialization opportunities in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>Arizona&#8217;s engagement with early-stage companies through its suite of targeted programs continues to spur growth, technology commercialization and capital investment within the state&#8217;s innovation ecosystem. With more than 1,400 applications received for the AIC since 2011, the program continues to be among the many opportunities available to innovators which have made Arizona a top hub for entrepreneurial activity and startup success.<\/p>\n<p>A panel of expert judges evaluated 138 applications from the Spring 2015 AIC submitted by companies based in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Texas and Wisconsin. The judges assessed each application on a set of criteria including technology potential, marketing strategy, quality of management team and economic impact. These companies represent high-value industry sectors that include IT software, IT hardware, bio and life sciences, cleantech\/renewable energy, advanced materials, advanced manufacturing, and aerospace and defense.<\/p>\n<p>Every applying company that meets the AIC\u2019s eligibility requirements will receive constructive feedback generated from the rigorous online evaluation and scoring process.\u00a0All semifinalists also will be considered for participation in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.azcommerce.com\/programs\/venture-ready\">Venture Ready<\/a>, the ACA\u2019s mentor program that connects early stage companies with high-level CEOs to further refine business plans and investor pitches.<\/p>\n<p>The ACA will name its Spring 2015 Arizona Innovation Challenge finalists in June and the winners later that same month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PHOENIX (May 11, 2015) \u2013 The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) today announced 25 semifinalists in its Spring 2015 Arizona Innovation Challenge (AIC), a bi-annual business plan competition awarding $3 million annually to talented entrepreneurs. Each year, the ACA awards \u2013 $1.5 million in the spring and $1.5 million in the fall \u2013 to the most [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1128"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1201,"href":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions\/1201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uat.itelcompanies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}