Venture Asheville announces first awards event on Dec. 6

Press release from Venture Asheville:

The Inaugural Venture 15 and Venture Asheville Honors is a brand-new event on Dec. 6 to honor and celebrate our growing entrepreneurial ecosystem and the people who make it great.

“We have so many growing companies, so many talented people working them, and we are moving at a break-neck pace,” said Jeffrey Kaplan, Director of Entrepreneurship for Venture Asheville. “Let’s take a moment to look back at how much we’ve achieved in such a short time. And let’s have a party while we’re at it!”

Modeled after the Inc 5000, Venture 15 will rank and award the 15 fastest growing startups in our area. In addition to the publishing the rankings, Venture Asheville will also honor: Entrepreneur of the year, Mentor of the Year, Investor of the Year, Resource Partner of the Year, and the Award of Courage. Both applications and nominations are open through Nov. 7 at 12 p.m. Winners will be revealed at a live event on Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. at ISIS Music Hall. More information below, applications, nominations, and tickets are online at www.ventureasheville.com/venture15 

Venture 15

The Venture 15 awards the 15 fastest-growing Asheville-area headquartered startups. This event recognizes the area’s outstanding entrepreneurs, and serves as an elite setting where they can share their talent and wisdom as well as offer inspiration to other companies to be part of this exclusive group. Companies are measured by their Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), using year-end revenues. This is a valuable measurement to view a venture’s growth rate over time, and allows the awards committee to use one metric to compare all ventures.

Venture 15 Eligibility:

• Startups (corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships) must meet both of the following criteria:
  • Have been in business for three years or more as of August 1, 2018, and
  • Have had verifiable annual revenues of $150,000 or more every year since calendar year in 2016, or for the past two full fiscal years.
• Founders or company owners must operate businesses in either Buncombe or Haywood Counties

Venture 15 Required Information:

To identify the 15 fastest growing Asheville-area companies, the Venture 15 will be ranked by compounded annual growth rate (CAGR).

Companies will be asked to provide baseline financial information about their organization via tax returns, or certified CPA reviewed statements, that will enable calculation of its CAGR. To ensure and maintain confidentiality, all financial documents will be submitted to and maintained by our independent accounting partner and Presenting Sponsor, Johnson Price Sprinkle PA.

Revenues and other provided financial information will not be published with the Venture 15 list. The list will include the company’s name, location, leadership and CAGR. 

Venture Asheville Honors

In addition to honoring the 15 fastest growing ventures in our area, Venture Asheville Honors will be awarded to:

• Mentor of the Year
• Investor of the Year
• Entrepreneur of the Year
• Resource of the Year
• and the Courage Award (to honor a tenacious and resilient entrepreneur in the community)

These awards will be determined by open nomination and committee selection. Individual and The nomination form may be found online at https://goo.gl/forms/HHc96mp0oKiXzkLo1.

Sponsorships are available. For more information, contact:

Jeffrey Kaplan
Director of Entrepreneurship, Venture Asheville
36 Montford Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801
C: 954.205.1352 |O: 828.258.6137