Amazon selling platform maker Viral Launch won the Scale-up of the Year award during TechPoint’s 20th annual Mira Awards gala honoring the best of tech in Indiana.

Viral Launch has demonstrated unprecedented growth and an exponential scaling of its business by growing revenue by triple digits and doubling its workforce from 30 to 66 employees in 2018. As of today, the platform has helped more than 8,000 brands launch over 40,000 products using the company’s SaaS platform that automates selling on Amazon.

Viral Launch’s unique, integrated software suite of research, analysis, listing and sales tools makes it possible for small, mid-sized and enterprise merchants to create successful Amazon-specific marketing strategies and execute them. The fast-growing tech company plans to hire 250 employees by the end of 2021.

The Mira Awards judges noted the conscientious growth strategy that Viral Launch has employed and achieved results within just a three year period. That growth strategy is reflected in the leadership team, which is a collection of some of the most successful executives from other high-growth local tech firms like Angie’s List, Salesforce, MOBI, One Bridge, Author Solutions and Brightpoint.

Viral Launch’s proprietary data algorithms and vast industry expertise differentiate Viral Launch from the competition and drives its potential for continued growth. The company recently launched its integrated List Analyzer and Keyword Manager software products and development of the proprietary, first-in-market ASIN Relevance and Conformity Semantics (ARCS™) automation technology that further demonstrates Viral Launch’s market leadership in SaaS market intelligence solutions, specifically for Amazon sellers.

With total 7-digit revenue growth far exceeding and outpacing the competition, the Viral Launch scale-up story is also a bootstrapping story, as the company was dependent upon personal funds before winning the Salesforce Pitch Night Competition and raising nearly $1 million from Salesforce Ventures, Upper90, Greycroft, and others. VIral Launch has helped some of its customers grow as much as $100 million in annual revenue for some brands, and the platform works for big name brands as well as third-party entrepreneurs operating on a laptop out of their kitchen.

The judges were impressed by how Viral Launch has strategically hired and steered software and product development toward the company it wants to be, which is expect to be an unprecedented valuation, reaching $100M at the end of 2019.

Founder and CEO Casey Gauss and President and CEO Mitch Black portrait by Polina Osherov.
(Clockwise from bottom left) CFO Jenny Quinnette, President and COO Mitch Black, VP Talent Matt Henry, and Founder and CEO Casey Gauss team portrait by Polina Osherov.

TechPoint, the nonprofit, industry-led growth accelerator for Indiana’s tech ecosystem, honored the successes and innovation of Indiana people, places, companies and products at the JW Marriott Indianapolis during the 20th annual Mira Awards gala presented by Angie’s List, Infosys, and Salesforce. With a sold-out crowd of 1,400 attendees—up another 100 from last year—this was the largest Mira Awards in the program’s 20-year history.

Only a handful of the 2019 nominees existed as companies 20 years ago, and 82 percent were founded in just the past 10 years. Similar to the rapid adoption of the iPhone starting a decade ago and streaming services today, tech businesses in Indiana have grown from a few pioneers to a fast growing, vibrant industry that is a key driver of job growth and a critical part of the state’s economic success story.

SEE ALL WINNERS

A total of 14 award winners and honorees were chosen from the 109 outstanding people, places companies and products that were selected as nominees for their achievements during the 2018 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 company founders, CEOs and presidents, CTOs, CIOs, and other subject matter experts.

The 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.