The Pandemic Pivot of the Year (Small-Medium Businesses) award recognizes tech employers who responded in remarkable ways to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As vaccines roll out and we collectively navigate towards this “new normal” everyone keeps talking about, we want to stop and take a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come. Striving and surviving in the wake of a global pandemic certainly isn’t easy, and we think it’s incredible how so many people showed up and prevailing despite the chaos—specifically in Indy’s tech sector.

While the tech industry is well-known for its creativity and adaptability, the COVID-19 pandemic presented plenty of complications for us to grapple with. The Pandemic Pivot of the Year award recognizes those tech employers who shifted their focus to:

  1. Serve societal or customer pandemic-induced needs.
  2. Market opportunities created by the pandemic-induced market demand shifts.
  3. Survive in light of immense pandemic-induced challenges.

2020 will forever be known as the year of disruption. Despite all the unknown rules and changes we were faced with, the Indiana tech sector quickly and drastically began to adapt. While everyone knew change would be necessary and inevitable, none of us had a blueprint on what to expect. Our 2021 nominees for Pandemic Pivot of the Year (less than 200 employees) kept pushing forward and growing in a way that could only lead to success.

None of us will ever forget the feelings that washed over us when the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic. While many industries worldwide were greatly impacted by the set of obstacles the virus presented, Indiana’s tech industry defied all odds. Several Hoosier tech companies used their talent and determination to push through and serve their communities during a time of global need.

This year’s nominees include:

  • 120Water (Zionsville, Ind.) — 120Water is a digital water company that helps water utilities and facilities streamline and modernize their most complex drinking water and wastewater initiatives.
  • 1st Maker Space (Fishers, Ind.) — 1st Maker Space designs, builds, and sustains makerspaces to bring learning to life.
  • Baker Hill (Carmel, Ind.) — Baker Hill is the expert solution for loan origination, portfolio risk and relationship management, as well as CECL and analytics for financial institutions in the United States.
  • ConverSight.ai – myLIBRO (Carmel, Ind.) — myLIBRO is an all-in-one app that streamlines patrons’ access to contactless library services, including curbside pickup layered with an intuitive management portal for library staff.
  • hc1 (Indianapolis, Ind.) — As the leader in precision health, hc1’s platform organizes volumes of live data to deliver solutions that ensure that the right patient gets the right test and the right prescription.
  • Markey’s Rental & Staging – Markey’s Virtual Presence (Indianapolis, Ind.) — As the live event industry crashed due to the pandemic, Markey’s fast, bold, and united pivot made a lasting impression.
  • OneCause (Indianapolis, Ind.) — OneCause is driving the future of fundraising with easy-to-use solutions that help nonprofits engage more donors and raise more money for their missions.
  • Playlister (Indianapolis, Ind.) —Playlister allows ministry leaders to build and send video playlists to anyone.
  • Socio (Indianapolis, Ind.) — Socio helps over 1200 SMBs, enterprises, associations, higher education institutions, and governments power event success for their virtual, in-person, and hybrid events in over 80 countries.
  • Vibenomics (Fishers, Ind.) — Vibenomics enables brands to talk to shoppers directly at the point-of-sale inside thousands of retail locations through Audio Out-of-Home™ (AOOH) advertising, impacting immediate purchase decisions.

The 2021 Mira Award winners will be announced live during a special broadcast of the 22nd annual gala on Thursday, April 22, with presenting sponsor Salesforce.