Legendary Indiana investor and filmmaker will receive award at TechPoint Mira Awards Gala event May 15

TechPoint is pleased to announce that legendary investor and innovator  Robert Compton is its 2010 Trailblazer Award recipient for significant and lasting contributions to Indiana’s high-tech economy. The Trailblazer Award is part of TechPoint’s annual Mira Awards program recognizing Indiana’s technology success stories in various categories for industry, institutions and individuals.

Thirty years ago, Robert Compton chose to forsake the security of a systems engineering career with IBM and venture in a new direction as an entrepreneur and investor.  For Indiana’s technology sector, the rest is history – Compton has built an unparalleled record of investing in and supporting firms that became the foundation of the state’s high-tech industry, spawning successive generations of new companies (many of which Compton also became involved in).

Compton’s track record is truly a Hoosier high-tech ‘who’s who’ – firms like Software Artistry, Aprimo, Exact Target, Interactive Intelligence, Vontoo, IndianMathOnline, Compendium Blogware, Compression Engineering, Mezzia, Sci-Tech Ventures, Veregon and Warsaw Orthopedic (which went on to become Sofamor Danek, the world’s largest spinal medical device company, with Compton as its President). In all, he has been active in more than 40 businesses in software, telecommunications, healthcare, medical devices, and education.

“When you try to chart the progress of Indiana’s technology sector over the last two decades, most roads seem to lead back to Bob Compton,” said Jim Jay, TechPoint’s President & CEO.  “He has been a catalyst for bringing so many new innovations to market, for making Indiana a hotbed for online measured marketing – the list of achievements goes on and on. 

“This award only confirms what every Indiana technology entrepreneur knows to be true – Bob Compton certainly blazed a path that all of us continue to follow.”
 

Compton’s involvement in entrepreneurship doesn’t end with his direct involvement in for-profit ventures.  He also serves as a Trustee of the Kauffman Foundation, a $1.8 billion institute dedicated to accelerating entrepreneurial activity.  His recent exploits as a filmmaker – most notably the documentary “2 Million Minutes” – has explored the critical role of education to success in an entrepreneurial, knowledge-based economy, taking a look at the differing approaches employed by the U.S., China, and India.

“Bob is a venture capitalist in two senses of the phrase – he invests both intellectual and financial capital in companies and causes that he cares about,” added Mark Hill, Chairman of TechPoint and managing partner of Collina Ventures. “Indiana’s tech community has certainly been a beneficiary of his work, and this Trailblazer in Technology recognition is a well-deserved and long-overdue expression of our appreciation.”

For the last decade, TechPoint’s annual Mira Awards have put a spotlight on Indiana’s high-tech all-stars, understanding that celebrating success is one way to create more of it. The Mira Awards are Indiana’s largest and most visible technology awards program; learn more at https://techpoint.org/Mira/.  This year’s Mira Gala awards ceremony will be held on May 15th at the Westin – Downtown Indianapolis. Tickets are available for purchase through the website.

About TechPoint
TechPoint is Indiana’s only statewide technology initiative, representing industry stakeholders including publicly-traded companies, private businesses, colleges and research universities, and local economic development organizations. The group’s mission is to accelerate Indiana’s emerging and vibrant information technology sector by: promoting the successes of information technology companies and professionals; supporting the formation, expansion, and attraction of IT companies; and advocating appropriate public policy.  TechPoint is an initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. Visit techpoint.org. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MIRA AWARDS GALA
LEARM MORE ABOUT BOB COMPTON