Startup Awards

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The Startup Week Awards & Reception is an annual part of San Diego Startup Week to recognize exemplary community members, champions leaders, and founders! Nominate your favorite startup founder, companies, or community leader for one of our coveted awards!

Nominate a local individual for one of the following award categories:

• INVESTOR OF THE YEAR: We envision San Diego as a thriving and inclusive global hub of innovation, producing meaningful and high-growth companies. A pivotal piece to the puzzle is funding. This award recognizes a mission-aligned local investor who plays an exemplary role in funding our local homegrown companies.
• IMPACT COMPANY OF THE YEAR: Entrepreneurs can change the world. And for some entrepreneurs, that’s their mission. The impact company of the year award recognizes the San Diego startup making the biggest impact on our world by changing lives for the best.
• STARTUP CHAMPION OF THE YEAR: Honoring an individual who values community collaboration and the coalescing of entrepreneurs, academic, research, private capital, government, corporate, and NGOs, to create a frictionless, zero-barrier-to-entry startup environment and has demonstrated it through actions.
• “THINK BIG” LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:  Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. This lifetime achievement award recognizes leaders that have a history of creating and communicating a bold direction that inspires results across public & private sectors and markets. They think differently and have demonstrated a clear vision to look around corners for innovative ways to serve our Startup San Diego community and entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• STARTUP OF THE YEAR AWARD: There are a ton of amazing companies being built in San Diego. The Startup of the Year Award recognizes the San Diego startup that has shown rocketship growth, amazing technology, unparalleled leadership, and is a startup that makes us all proud to be part of the San Diego Startup Community.

Nominations for the Startup Week Awards will commence September 2023.