Startup Atlanta Announces 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients

All three recipients of this year's Startup Atlanta Lifetime Achievement Award have quite literally left their mark on the City of Atlanta.

Jay Bailey, Bill Conners, and David Cummings have all been created new startup and innovation hubs across Metro Atlanta, and have served at the heads of Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs, Comcast NBCUniversal The Farm, and Atlanta Tech Village, respectively.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor presented by Startup Atlanta, a non-profit organization dedicated to growing and promoting the Metro Atlanta Startup Ecosystem. Evan Jarecki, Co-Founder of Gimme and Board Chair at Startup Atlanta, said that the three honorees "highlight Atlanta’s collaborative approach to its local startup ecosystem, drawing on the support of entrepreneurs, investors, ecosystem builders, and corporations.”

Bailey, Conners, and Cummings will receive their award on October 5th during the annual Startup Atlanta Awards ceremony. The three join an impressive list of previous Lifetime Achievement winners. Previous recipients include Ben Chestnut (Co-Founder of Mailchimp) and Civil Rights legend, former US Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor, Andrew J. Young (former US Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor and co-founder of fintech startup Greenwood), Bernie Dixon (Atlanta Technology Angels (ATA) and LaunchPad2x), startup investor Charlie Paparelli, and Grace Fricks (Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs Inc.).

Who else will be honored that evening?

Startup Atlanta also announced today its 2023 Atlanta Startup Awards Finalists who will compete for the top prize in nine categories. Take a look at who is up for the awards!

Art of the Pivot Metric MatePlayerZeroPressoYANY Beauty

Best B2B StartupAsk Me Your MD, Inc. Art PharmacyCarpool LogisticsPorterLogic

Best B2C StartupAny DistanceKoope Roots Investment Community ServeScape

Best Female-Founded Startup IlloominusMy PandaSoloPulseTravelsist

Best Growth Stage Startup CloverlyGrayscale Labs, Inc. SemiCab, Inc The Labz.

Best Social Impact Startup Ambitious LabsHealthcare Equity Solutions MapHabitRetaaza

Community Builder
Justin McLeod
Raioni Madison
Rohit Malhotra

Equity Champion
Aarti Sahgal
Kristin Slink
Recha Reid

Scrappiest Startup
ArtzyBella
Esco Eats
Vaila Shoes
WORKOPTI by Content Economy Co.

Winners will be announced on October 5th, 2023 at Lee + White’s Monday Night Garage. Congrats to all those nominated!