Gabe Angieri, Executive Director, Arch Grants, St. Louis, MO

1. Ignite St. Louis: Fostering an
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in
America’s Heartland
Presented by Gabe Angieri, Executive Director, Arch Grants
April 12, 2023

2. History
2
Arch Grants was founded in 2011 as a 501(c)(3) in a strategic
effort to reverse decades of economic decline in the City of
St. Louis
The founders of Arch Grants recognized the availability of
capital investment was critical above all other factors in
growing successful early-stage companies

3. Vision
3
Attract & retain
extraordinary
entrepreneurs to St.
Louis
Support & connect
Founders to help
them to grow and
scale companies in
St. Louis and
enhance the
Regional
ecosystem
Create a vibrant,
growing culture locally
that embraces and
accelerates innovation
and entrepreneurship
Arch Grants attracts
and retains
extraordinary
entrepreneurs to
build the future
economy in St. Louis
and change our
culture for the better

4. We accomplish this by
funding startups that:
• have validated ideas to pre-Series A growth stage
• offer tech-enabled products & services
• have scalable business models that might have a national or
international impact
• are led by diverse founders/founding teams eager to be engaged
and additive in the St. Louis startup ecosystem
4

5. Ignite St. Louis: Project Overview
2020 - 2022
5

6. Enhancements to Existing
Program
• Refined Startup Competition outreach strategy to maximize diverse, quality applicants and
awardees
• Established a baseline for diversity metrics for applicants and recipients participating in the annual Startup
Competition.
• In 2020, developed and executed a targeted outreach strategy focused on creating partnerships with
nationwide accelerators, incubators, chambers of commerce, and entrepreneur groups working with
underrepresented founders.
• In 2021, refined targeted outreach strategy by focusing on seven U.S. cities; Atlanta, Chicago, Houston,
Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Tampa. These cities were selected based on the high
number of under-represented entrepreneurs that operate in each.
• In 2022, the targeted outreach strategy focused on previously identified U.S. cities continued. In addition,
new marketing videos were created, and data aggregation processes were improved using Survey Monkey
Apply and Salesforce.
6

7. Year Black
or
African
Americ
an
White
or
Caucasi
an
Multi-
racial
Asian Hispani
c/Latinx
Native
Hawaiia
n or
Pacific
Islander
Prefer
not to
answer
Arab or
Middle
Eastern
Other
(Please
specify)
2020 96 178 26 47 14 1 21 7 8
2021 155 153 26 51 11 2 12 2 --
2022 194 151 36 54 24 1 23 10 8
Applicants by Race
Year Male Female Non-
Binary/Other
Prefer not
to answer
2020 273 114 3 6
2021 263 148 No data 4
2022 300 189 7 5
Applicants by Gender
Identity
Initiative Outcomes:

8. 8
+102%
+38%
+71%
0
50
100
150
200
250
2020 2021 2022
Diversifying Applicant Pool
Black or African American White or Caucasian Multi-racial
Asian Hispanic/Latinx Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
Prefer not to answer Arab or Middle Eastern Other (Please specify)

9. 9
+10%
+66%
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
2020 2021 2022
Diversifying Applicant Pool
Male Female Non-Binary/Other Prefer not to answer

10. Enhancements to Existing
Program
• Better integrate Arch Grants Recipients into St. Louis civic/cultural activities and institutions
• Launched Arch Grants Ambassadors, a partnership program focused on connecting our Founders with St.
Louis’ diverse array of world-class arts and cultural institutions
• First Year (2022): partnered with St. Louis’ Contemporary Art Museum & Forest Park Forever to host Founder-focused
social events in the summer and fall.
• Second Year (2023): partnering with St. Louis Art Museum & Opera Theater St. Louis;
• Developing a cultural “passport” program to provide Arch Grants Founders with complimentary access to shows,
exhibitions and special events with all Ambassador partner organizations.
• Now closely track civic and community engagement across during semi-annual data collection surveys, and proactively
seek to connect Founders with opportunities of interest.
10

11. New Initiatives in Support of Ignite
St. Louis’ Evolution
• New framework/structure by which all Recipients have increased access to follow-on
investments/grants.
• 2020-2022 Arch Grants hosted four virtual Investor Summits on Thumbraise, a St. Louis-based investor
matching app.
• In 2021, Arch Grants piloted the Growth Grants Program to award follow-up funding to high-performing
portfolio companies in St. Louis through a competitive process. Non-dilutive awards must be matched by
equity investments 2:1.
• Since 2021, Arch Grants has awarded $1.1M in funding and awarded companies have subsequently raised
over $32M in growth capital.
• We will continue offering a spring and fall Growth Grants cycle moving forward.
11

12. New Initiatives in Support of Ignite
St. Louis’ Evolution
• Help Recipients cultivate a potential customer pipeline and opportunities for pilots
• In July 2021, Arch Grants launched its Corporate Advisory Council with the initial goal of engaging top St.
Louis corporations in a collaborative capacity.
• Developing an Angel Customer program remains an objective of this group, and they continue to meet
quarterly.
• Partnering with Greater St. Louis Inc. as it develops SupplySTL, a potentially transformative procurement
program aimed at increasing opportunities for St. Louis-based small businesses and startups to work with
large corporations.
12

13. Current Program Benefits:
• $75,000 non-dilutive funding + $25,000 in relocation grants
• Access to network for professional services, business development,
fundraising, and talent acquisition
• Concierge support, including access to the EIR program subject
matter experts in sales, fundraising, operations, and more
• An opportunity to apply for an additional $100K non-dilutive Growth
Grants grant to expand operations in St. Louis
• Access to pooled healthcare insurance options, subsidized air travel,
and exclusive membership opportunities with partner organizations
13

14. Companies by the Numbers
14
Companies awarded since
2012 ($14.1M)
Active companies operating
in STL
Companies led by a
traditionally under-
represented Founder
230
85%
69%
Companies still active
Community leaders help
choose winners each year
70%
250+
33% Women-led/co-led
35% BIPOC-led/co-led
19% Immigrant-led/co-led
5% Veteran-led/co-led

15. Portfolio Companies: Key Metrics
15

16. What Our Founders Say
16

17. Thank You
17

18. Appendix

19. Applicants
• For-profit entities
• Early-stage companies (validated idea
through pre-Series A)
• All industries
• Innovative, tech-enabled products, services,
or solutions
• Scalable business models with the potential
to make a national or international impact
• Interest in growing and scaling business in
St. Louis
• Special focus on geospatial, AgriFoodTech,
Veterans and DEI
Najjuwah Walden
Founder, Balancetopia
2022 Cohort

20. The Program Year
• $75,000 equity-free grant (or $100,000
for those relocating)
• Professional support services – legal,
accounting & business service
• Access to paid EIR’s
• Monthly Founder Circle
• Monthly Founder Socials
• Access to the Arch Grants Network
• Eligible for Growth Grants after your
Cohort year is complete
Brittany Dwyer
Founder, Disco!
2022 Cohort

21. Preparing for your
Application
• Attend Workshops (or view recordings online)
• Watch recorded 2022 Info Session
• Check AG website’s resources:
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Previous Application PDF’s
• 2022 Pt 1 | 2022 Part 2
• Resources Page
• Study Previous Awardees (Websites, Interviews,
Press Coverage)
• Pre-draft Executive Summary, Pitch Deck
Kwamane Liddell
Founder, Nutrible
2022 Cohort

22. 2023 Competition
Timeline
• Applications Open: Feb 21 - Mar 31
• Preliminary Judge Round: May 1 - 12
• Semi-Finalist Round: late May - June
• Finalist Pitch Day: Aug 1
• Finalists Notified if Awarded: mid-August
• Cohort Year Begins: early Oct
Matthew Barnard
Founder, Upgrade Energy
2022 Cohort

23. Grant Application Workshops
Three-part series in which AG staff and guest
speakers provide tips and tricks so that you're
armed with the tools to provide stronger
applications and pitches that better reflect your
business without losing your unique voice.
• Recording now available for Terminology 101
workshop
• Feb. 9 (virtual): Supplementary Documents
• March 9 (3:30 – 5:30 PM @ The Listening Room
@ High Low Kranzberg Arts Foundation): Arch
Grants awardee led small group work

24. Organizational Structure
24
Board of Directors
Up to 17 Member Board
Part-time Contract
Bookkeeper
Director of
Portfolio
Entrepreneur
Support Manager
Contract CPA
Director of
Communications
Entrepreneur Support
Associate
Development Ops.
Manager
Contract
Entrepreneur/Expert-
In-Residences
Dir. of Entrepreneur
Recruitment
Director of
Development
Executive Assistant
Executive Director

25. Activity Benefits/Outcome/Impacts
Startup Competition-
Enhance Existing
Increased diversity of applicants through targeted and intentional
outreach focused on under-represented groups in startup space.
(Project 1)
 In December 2019, Arch Grants established a baseline for diversity metrics for applicants and recipients participating in the annual Startup Competition.
 In 2020, Arch Grants developed and executed a targeted outreach strategy focused on creating partnerships with nationwide diverse accelerators, incubators, chambers of commerce, and entrepreneur groups.
 In December 2020, data analysis of Startup Competition applications showed that the percentage of women, immigrant, and Veteran led/co-led companies increased.
 In 2021, Arch Grants refined its targeted outreach strategy by placing a keyfocus on seven U.S. cities; Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Tampa. These cities were selected
based on the high number of under-represented entrepreneurs that operate in each.
 In December 2021, data analysis of Startup Competition applications showed that the percentage of women, immigrant, BIPOC, and Veteran led/co-led companies increased.
 In 2022, Arch Grants continued the targeted outreach strategy focused onkey U.S. cities. In addition, new marketing videos were created and data aggregation processes were improved using Survey Monkey Apply
and Salesforce.
Startup Competition- Enhance Existing
Ongoing empirical data review that determines key “success
indicators” for Recipients to target industries, stages & geographic
areas to maximize retention and growth. (Project 2)
 In May 2020, Arch Grants established a baseline for annual portfolio data collection and began utilizing PowerBi for analysis. High-level KPIs tracked: Active Companies, Active in MO, HQ in MO & St. Louis, Revenue
Generated, Outside Capital Raised, Jobs Created/Retained, Patents Applied for/Granted, and Commercialized Products.
 In December 2020, data collection categories/designations were updated to provide more accurate self-reporting from portfolio companies.
 December 2020-2022 data analysis concluded the following learnings:
o BioTech companies have the highest rate of inactivity after being awarded
o Over 70% of the jobs created were from businesses in the tech sector
o Over 74% of the outside capital raised was completed by companies originating outside of the Greater St. Louis region.
o Arch Grants applied the learnings to future annual Startup Competition outreach and reevaluated program year offerings to better support portfolio companies
Startup Competition- Enhance Existing
A diverse and better segmented bench of Competition judges to
increase inclusive and effective evaluation. (Project 3)
 In January 2020, Arch Grants established a baseline for age, gender, and
ethnicity of annual Startup Competition Judges. Data determined a majority of judges identified as male and white.
 In 2020, Arch Grants became a member of the St. Louis Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In addition, staff leveraged existing relationships to build a new pipeline of judges with a goal of increasing diversity by 10%.

26. Entrepreneur Support- Enhance Existing
Expanded and diversified Arch Grants’ network to better serve Recipients
and create meaningful connections. (Project 4)
 In January 2020, Arch Grants established a baseline and set up data collection processes in Salesforce for more accurate tracking.
 In January 2021, the Corporate Advisory Council was founded- a group comprised of 10-15 local corporate leaders who convene quarterly to
engage with peers around pre-determined topics related to corporate innovation strategies and working with startups.
 In 2021, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program was launched with the goal to provide direct business development support to portfolio companies.
 In 2022, the Arch Grants Ambassadors series was launched to create meaningful community-driven engagement while expanding Arch Grants’ network.
Entrepreneur Support- New Initiative
Technological solution to facilitate Recipient connection progress, either by
creating or purchasing a platform/app. (Project 5)
 In 2020, Arch Grants began preliminary discussions with several technical platforms. Thumbraise was selected to facilitate investor connections and Heartbeat to facilitate Founder-to-Founder communications.
 Arch Grants hosted four virtual Investor Summits on Thumbraise from 2020-2022.
 The 2020 and 2021 Cohort program offerings and communications were hosted on Heartbeat.
 In 2022, Arch Grants determined the technological adoption of Heartbeat to be suboptimal and pivoted to Slack for Founder-to-Founder communications.
Entrepreneur Support- Enhance Existing
More well-defined and formalized angel vendor program and contract
and positive satisfaction survey response to maximize impact for
Recipients and community professional service firms.
 In December 2019, Arch Grants surveyed legal and accounting firm partners for feedback on the angel vendor program.
 In 2020, Arch Grants engaged a third-party perspective on the program and decided to transition the program from guaranteed partnerships to adhoc/need based.
Entrepreneur Support- New Initiative
Recipient talent acquisition support framework developed to better connect
Recipients with top talent. (Project 7)
 In 2020, Arch Grants completed preliminary research on talent recruitment and job board options.
 In May 2021, Arch Grants launched a self-hosted job board on archgrants.org.
 In July 2021, Arch Grants hired a Marketing & Communications Manager.
The new Manager facilitated a partnership with the American INNO- a news platform that reports on all things innovation in local startup ecosystems including a job board. Arch Grants portfolio companies were provided
free upgraded featured career postings and newsletter placement.

27. Entrepreneur Support- New Initiative
New framework/structure by which all Recipients have increased access
to follow-on investments/grants. (Project 8)
 2020-2022 Arch Grants hosted four virtual Investor Summits on Thumbraise.
 In 2021, Arch Grants piloted the Growth Grants Program to provide follow-
on funding to high-performing portfolio companies in St. Louis. Since 2021, Arch Grants has awarded over $1M in funding.
 Arch Grants will continue offering a spring and fall Growth Grants cycle.
Entrepreneur Support- New Initiative
Mechanism developed to provide healthcare options and/or increased
healthcare coverage support for Recipient companies’ employees.
(Project 9)
 In 2020, Arch Grants began offering one-year memberships to the St. Louis Regional Chamber (now Greater STL Inc.). The membership benefits include access to a multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA)
that is administrated by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
 Arch Grants continues to provide support for portfolio companies looking to utilize the MEWA plan.
Entrepreneur Support- New Initiative
Airfare discounts/subsidies for Recipients. (Project 10)
 In 2022, Arch Grants formally partnered with Southwest Airlines. The airline provided 60 one-way vouchers that will provide 2022 portfolio companies an opportunity to pursue business ventures while
focusing resources on scaling their businesses while based in St. Louis.
Entrepreneur Support- New Initiative
Angel Customer program that would allow donors/supporters to commit
to pilot programs with Recipients. (Project 11)
 In July 2021, Arch Grants convened the Corporate Advisory Council with an initial goal of engaging top St. Louis corporations in a collaborative capacity. Developing an Angel Customer program remains an objective
of this group, and they continue to meet quarterly.
Community Engagement & Partnerships- Enhance Existing
Increase in events, meetings, meet-and- greets between established
businesspeople and Recipients. (Project 12)
 In January 2020, Arch Grants established a baseline and set up data collection processes in Salesforce for more accurate tracking.
 Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Arch Grants transitioned the majority of the 2020 Cohort programming to a virtual setting in 2020 and 2021.
 In 2022, Arch Grants offered hybrid events and began transitioning back to in-person programming.

28. Community Engagement & Partnerships- Enhance Existing
Increase in presence of Recipients in civic/cultural activities and
institutions. (Project 13)
 Arch Grants conducted annual surveys of cohort companies to gauge interest and engagement for civic/cultural activities.
 Arch Grants developed and hosted resources for potential community engagement on Heartbeat.chat.
 In 2022, the Arch Grants Ambassadors series was launched to create
meaningful community-driven engagement while expanding Arch Grants’ network.
Year Cumulative Arch
Grants Funding
Cumulative Revenue
Generated
Cumulative Follow-
on Capital Attracted
Cumulative Jobs
Created in Missouri
2019 $8.2M $393M $299M 1,952
2020 $9.2M $451M $355M 2,306
2021 $11.6M $517M $623M 2,644
2022 $14M $544M $636M 2,750
*Data based on 1/1/2022-6/30/2022 period