The 2015 Winners of the Chicago Innovation Awards (NuCurrent)
Featured on Crain’s Chicago Business
The Chicago Innovation Awards celebrated two dozen companies for inventive products and services tonight, ranging from establishment giants Abbott Laboratories and Caterpillar to newcomers including Ampy and Tanvas.
This year’s winners were culled from 535 nominations, which were narrowed down by 12 judges to 100 in September and then 10 finalists for the main award and 10 in the Up-and-Comer category, as well as special citations including the 2015 People’s Choice Award. Trophies were presented at the Harris Theater before a crowd of more than 1,000.
Along with this recognition, winners will get a chance for group meetings with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Gov. Bruce Rauner and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and a trip to New York to ring the Nasdaq closing bell.
The 2015 Chicago Innovation Awards winners are:
Snapsheet for its app that lets users upload photos to receive immediate repair quotes after a car accident.
Avant, an online consumer lending platform that uses big data to provide instantaneous credit approval.
Caterpillar for its Hydraulic Hybrid Excavator, an earth-moving machine that harnesses its own kinetic energy.
ExteNet Systems, which provides wireless networks in problem areas like elevators and below ground.
Baxalta for HyQvia, an at-home, single injection, once-a-month treatment for immunodeficiency patients.
Abbott for MitraClip, a tiny heart-valve device that prevents irregular blood flow.
ContextMedia’s Exam Room Tablet, an iPad filled with educational content for patients in doctors’ waiting rooms.
LuminAID, an inflatable, solar-powered lantern ideal for disaster relief efforts and camping; recognized in 2014 in the Up-and-Comer category.
Kapow, an online marketplace where event planners can plan every event detail with a matter of clicks.
Aon’s Active Health Exchange, the industry’s first private exchange built for large corporations.
The Up-and-Comer winners are:
Tanvas, a patented touchscreen that lets users feel what they see on mobile devices.
Ampy, the world’s first wearable motion charger that uses body movement to power mobile devices.
Opternative, an online eye exam that is faster and cheaper than seeing an eye doctor.
Infiniteach, which allows parents and educators to create customized lessons for students with autism.
NuCurrent, whose patented antennas offer faster and more efficient wireless charging capabilities.
Outernet, which provides information via space to developing countries that cannot access the Internet.
King-Devick Test, a quick, accurate and objective sideline concussion test using iPads and eye movement.
Reliefwatch, which provides a inventory system for health clinics in developing countries via cell phones.
First Stop Health, a telemedicine subscription service that provides unlimited access to licensed physicians.
Xaptum, a messaging technology that allows Internet of Things systems to interact with each other.
Other winners are the Cara Program with the Social Innovator Award and Coapt with the Collaboration Award. The People’s Choice Awards, determined by nearly 40,000 votes, went to Growth Equity Group in the private sector and Chicago’s 606 elevated trail in the public sector.
The Chicago Innovations Awards, now in its 14 year, is a nonprofit founded by Tom Kuczmarski, president of consultancy Kuczmarski Innovation and a professor at Northwestern University, and Dan Miller, a former chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission and former editor of Crain’s Chicago Business.