Qualifi CEO and Co-founder Darrian Mikell won the Rising Entrepreneur Mira Award during TechPoint’s 23rd annual Mira Awards gala honoring the best of tech in Indiana. 

A Noblesville resident, Mikell is the co-founder and CEO of Qualifi, a SaaS platform that powers the fastest phone interview experience in the world and helps recruiting teams hire great candidates faster than ever.

Before earning success with Qualifi, Mikell flipped watches on eBay, launched a T-shirt business with a friend, sold a variety of products on Amazon, and was laid off from a company he co-founded after growing it to 70 employees and earning millions in revenue.

Watch the Gerry Dick, Inside Indiana Business interview with Darrian Mikell, co-founder and CEO of Qualifi.

Next, Mikell co-founded Qualifi with his brother, Devyn Mikell (COO), DeSean Prentice (VP of Engineering) and Keenan Jaenicke (VP of Product) in March 2019, but didn’t draw a salary for six months. Outside funding proved elusive for the disruptive new concept but in 2021, Qualifi signed key customers and secured solid funding and now employs more than 20 people.

The Mira Awards Judges were impressed with Mikell’s hard-won success and the velocity of growth Qualifi has generated, securing $3.3 million from venture capital firms, notable funds and angels. They admired his intentional focus on building a diverse workforce and recognize Qualifi as one of the most diverse tech employers in Indianapolis, built from the ground up.

Browse Photos from the 2022 Mira Awards Gala.
Watch Acceptance Speeches from the Award Winners.
Watch Winner Interviews with Gerry Dick of Inside Indiana Business.
See All Award Winners from the 2022 Mira Awards Gala.

TechPoint, the nonprofit, industry-led growth accelerator for Indiana’s tech ecosystem, honored the successes and innovation of Indiana people, companies and products during the 23rd annual Mira Awards gala with presenting sponsor Salesforce.

A total of 16 award winners and honorees were chosen from the 125 outstanding people, companies and products that were selected as nominees for their achievements during the 2021 calendar year. 

Fifty-two independent, volunteer judges spent more than 850 total hours evaluating applications, interviewing nominees, and selecting this year’s winners. Judges included an impressive roster of company founders, CEOs and presidents, CTOs, CIOs, engineers and other industry professionals. 

TechPoint’s Mira Awards are named after the first of the brilliant variable stars to be discovered—the Mira Star. It is also the Latin root meaning “worthy of admiration, wonderful, marvelous.” The awards represent the best of tech in Indiana each year.

EDITOR’S NOTE: TechPoint and Mira Awards-related logos, badges, images, videos and photos are available for use by awards program participants only. All other uses are upon request.