Tech Trailblazers Awards launches $1 million prize fund for pioneering enterprise tech startups

All entrants win something: Prizes for winners include CTO and VC/IPO boot camp and mentoring, plus products and services worth tens of thousands of dollars

London, UK – June 19th 2012 – Today the Tech Trailblazers Awards (www.techtrailblazers.com) were officially launched to champion innovative tech startups from around the world.

The Tech Trailblazers Awards, open for entries July 18th, represent a new concept in enterprise IT awards. Designed explicitly for enterprise tech startups that are less than five years old and at C-series funding or below, the awards not only recognize startup innovation, but also proactively help startups grow their businesses with exclusive coaching, mentoring and development services worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Unlike some other awards, the Tech Trailblazers are not tied to a particular event or publication, instead it is completely independent and global. The awards are focused on the key enterprise IT sectors of cloud, infosecurity, mobile, networking, storage and virtualization. In addition, there is a sustainable IT category and an emerging markets category.

Stephen O’Donnell, chairman of the Tech Trailblazers judging panel, former CIO, author, and consultant and blogger at www.TheHotAisle.com, said, “TechTrailblazers offers a forum for game-changing new technologies and amazing young companies to showcase their products and services. We have assembled a world-class team of judges on the panel commensurate with the quality of entries we expect. The prizes and publicity for winning entries will ensure an exciting contest.”

All entrants to the Tech Trailblazers Awards will win a prize of commercial value, even if they do not place in the awards. The growing prize fund, worth an estimated $1 million+, is supported by industry vendors, analysts, venture capitalists, government bodies, the media, event partners and other industry-specific services.

The extensive judging panel includes the IT industry’s leading figures from around the world, giving little-known startups the opportunity to present their products and services to eminent influencers.   

Sponsors to date include MIT/Stanford Venture Lab, the Cloud Security Alliance, Prezi, RealWire, Mynewsdesk, and ExecEvent. To inquire about sponsorship, please email innovate@techtrailblazers.com.

To be notified as soon as the Tech Trailblazers Awards opens for entries, or to subscribe to the mailing list to receive information on early bird submission savings and the “Meet the Judges” webinar series, please email innovate@techtrailblazers.com.

(ends)

Notes to editors
Stephen O’Donnell, chairman of the Tech Trailblazers Awards judging panel, former CIO, author, and consultant and blogger at www.TheHotAisle.com, is available to comment. Please contact Olivia Shannon at Omarketing for more information (contact details below).

At present the judging panel includes:

• Mohit Agrawal, Founder and Editor, Telecom Circle (Twitter: @telecomcircle)
• Cynthia Artin, President, Artin Arts (@cynthiaartin)
• Joe Baguley, Chief Cloud Technologist, VMware (@joebaguley)
• Frank J. Bernhard, Strategy and Operations Director, Deloitte Consulting (@FrankJBernhard)
• Steve Broadhead, Founder and Director, Broadband-Testing Labs (@steve_broadhead)
• Rebel Brown, Author and Startup Veteran (@RebelBrown)
• Mike Burkitt, CTO, Launchpad Europe (@launchpadeurope)
• Teresa Cottam, Founder and Chief Analyst, Telesperience (@teresacottam)
• Chris Evans, Consultant and Blogger, TheStorageArchitect.com (@chrismevans)
• Marty Foltyn, Hands-On Lab Program, SNIA (@MartyFoltyn)
• Ian French, Channel Guru, Mentor and Entrepreneur (@siceo)
• Edward P. Gibson, Director, Forensic Technology Solutions, Pricewaterhousecoopers (@EdwardPGibson)
• Martin Glassborow, Blogger, Storagebod (@storagebod)
• Brian Honan, CEO, BH Consulting (@brianhonan)
• Elise Huang, Partner, WestSummit Capital
• Sam Johnston, Director, Cloud & IT Services, Equinix (@samj)
• Ben Kepes, Principal, Diversity Limited (@benkepes)
• Justin Lodge, Infrastructure Architect, National Australia Bank (@justin_lodge)
• Chris Mellor, Storage Editor, The Register (@chris_mellor)
• Steve O’Donnell, Consultant, Advisor and Author, TheHotAisle.com (@stephenodonnell)
• W. Curtis Preston, CEO, TruthInIT (@wcpreston)
• Simon Robinson, Research Vice President, 451 Research (@simonrob451)
• Kai Roer, Senior Partner, The Roer Group (@kairoer)
• Raj Samani, EMEA Strategy Advisor, Cloud Security Alliance (@raj_samani)
• Andrew Seldon, Editor, Hi-Tech Security Solutions, TechNews (@andrewseldon)
• Sarb Sembhi, Director, Consultancy Services, Incoming Thought (@sarbsembhi)
• Enrico Signoretti, Senior Consultant, Juku Consulting SRL (@esignoretti)
• Harkeeret Singh, Global Head of Energy & Sustainable IT, Thomson Reuters (@harqs)
• Jennifer Steffens, CEO, IOactive (@securesun)
• Jon Toigo, CEO, Toigo Partners International  (@jontoigo)
• Matthew Yeager, Chief Technologist, Colt Technology Services (@mpyeager)
• Monica Zlotogorski, Editor, Inside Latin America, TM Forum (@MonicaCZN)

Media Contact
Olivia Shannon
Omarketing
UK: +44 (0)208 255 5225
US: +1 781 519 0275
olivia@omarketing.co.uk
www.twitter.com/Olivia_at_O

About the Tech Trailblazers Awards
Tech Trailblazers is a new concept in awards, designed explicitly for smaller businesses and startups that are less than five years old and at C-series funding or below. The awards have low barriers to entry and prizes that not only recognize startup innovation, but also proactively help startups grow their businesses with exclusive coaching, mentoring and development from VCs and leading CTOs as well as an estimated prize fund worth in excess of $1m. The awards seek to recognize true innovators in the following enterprise technology and other areas:

• Cloud Trailblazers
• Emerging Markets Trailblazers
• Mobile Technology Trailblazers
• Networking Trailblazers
• Security Trailblazers
• Storage Trailblazers
• Sustainable IT Trailblazers
• Virtualization Trailblazers

Entries open on July 18th – register your interest by emailing us, following us on twitter @Techtrailblaze or follow the conversation via the hashtag – #TTAwards.