THE EAST BAY INNOVATION AWARDS

The East Bay Innovation Awards returns to the Oakland Scottish Rite Center on March 27, 2025. Tickets are on sale now. Our 2025 Finalists and Legacy Awardees have been announced. See key dates and explore sponsorship opportunities below!

2025 EAST BAY INNOVATION AWARDS

The East Bay Innovation Awards ceremony returns to the Oakland Scottish Rite Center on March 27, 2025. Join us for a fun-filled evening presented by PG&E where the awardees will be revealed. We are thrilled to welcome back Emmy Award-winning journalist, NBC Bay Area news anchor and reporter, Gia Vang as event host for the 2025 award ceremony.

The East Bay is a world-class leader when it comes to innovation and entrepreneurship. Often referred to as the “Academy Awards of the East Bay,” the East Bay Innovation Awards is the premier program of its kind that celebrates and honors the extraordinary companies and organizations that contribute to the East Bay’s legacy of innovation. The annual awards ceremony showcases outstanding organizations that embrace innovation in their manufacturing, products, services, design, and information. Tickets are on sale now! Use promo code: 25earlybird through January 31 for $50 off tickets.

For more information, read our FAQs or email iawards@eastbayeda.org. Sponsorship opportunities are at the link below.

LATEST NEWS

KEY DATE & DEADLINES

Nomination Deadline
November 4, 2024

Judging Process
December 2024

Finalists Announced
January 2025

Awards Ceremony
March 27, 2025

2025 Sponsors & Partners

PRESENTING

DIAMOND

Nominations

The nomination period for the 2025 East Bay Innovation Awards will open on October 1 and will close on November 4, 2024 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. Here are a few simple instructions to help you with your nominations: 

  • If you are an external party nominating a company/organization, the person whose email you provided will automatically receive a notification to complete a brief application about their company and innovation. More importantly, a personal nudge informing them of their nomination (including checking their spam/junk folder)  can significantly help ensure they complete the application process!
  • We encourage company representatives to self-nominate. Please ensure that only one application is submitted for your company.   

Eligibility Criteria 

In order to be eligible for award consideration, nominees must: 

  • Be a company or organization headquartered or operating in Alameda or Contra Costa counties. 
  • Be available to take part in filming and interviews leading up to the event 
  • Support and amplify pre-and post-event promotional marketing, including social media 
  • Have high-level leadership attend the in-person awards ceremony on March 27, 2025 at the Scottish Rite Center in Oakland 
  • Have achieved an innovation in the following categories: 

Categories

Awardees will be recognized in the following competitive categories: 

 

  • Catalyst: Companies and organizations driving change within an industry through transformative leadership, organizational culture, groundbreaking initiatives and programs. Examples include business accelerators, incubators, venture capital firms, and others supporting the innovation ecosystem in the East Bay. 
  • Community Impact: Companies and organizations advancing bold and equitable solutions to create and cultivate economic opportunities for East Bay communities to thrive. Examples include those engaged in uplifting marginalized communities through arts & culture, education & workforce development, and/or addressing environmental challenges. 
  • Manufacturing: Companies leveraging cutting-edge production processes, advanced design, and technologies to transform the manufacturing of physical products. To be eligible, companies must have a production facility in Alameda County or Contra Costa County.

     

  • Product or Technology: Companies utilizing exceptional and innovative approaches to enhance products, services, or technologies. Example industries include but not limited to the Built Environment, ClimateTech, Food & Beverage, Life Sciences, and Technology. 

Past Finalists

Past East Bay Innovation Award finalists include Tesla, Impossible Foods, Prime Roots and 10x Genomics just to name a few. Below is a sampling of our cutting-edge finalists over the years:

List of Finalists & Awardees

Companies/Organizations with an asterisk denote past awardee.

Advanced Manufacturing

  • Adept Technology
  • Arris Composites*
  • Bayer Healthcare*
  • Bishop-Wisecarver
  • Boehringer Ingelheim*
  • C3 Nano
  • Checkerspot
  • Cuberg
  • DuPont EKC*
  • Emerald Packaging*
  • FATHOM*
  • Inland Metal Technologies
  • Lam Research*
  • MDC Vacuum Products
  • MycoWorks
  • Mizuho OSI*
  • Saildrone*
  • Tesla Motors*
  • Therm-x*

Arts & Culture

  • ARTogether*
  • AXIS Dance Company
  • Berkeley Repertory Theatre*
  • Hip Hop for Change*
  • Living Jazz
  • Native American Health Center, Indigenous Red Market*
  • Nomadic Press
  • Zoo Labs

Built Environment

  • Buildings IOT*
  • Build It Green*
  • Designing Justice & Designing Spaces
  • Geopogo
  • Roof and Realm
  • Studio KDA
  • Terner Housing Innovation Labs* 
  • UrbanBloc*

Catalyst

  • Berkeley Skydeck*
  • CCTA/GoMentum Station*
  • Cyclotron Road
  • Delta Diablo*
  • Kapor Center for Social Impact*
  • LBNL/CalCharge
  • Lit San Leandro, LLC
  • PetersenDean Roofing & Solar
  • Powerhouse
  • Topline*
  • Wareham Development/QB3 East Bay Innovation Center*
  • Youth Radio*
  • Zero Net Energy Center

Technology

  • aspera*
  • Ambi Robotics*
  • Applied Silver
  • Beyond Lucid Technologies
  • Callidus Cloud*
  • Captricity*
  • Chirp Microsystems*
  • Civil Maps
  • Clef
  • Livescribe*
  • Love Never Fails
  • Medinas Health*
  • Mosaic
  • Network Optix 
  • OSIsoft*
  • Perforce Software
  • PhaseSpace
  • Potrero Medical*
  • Rain* 
  • Rigetti Computing*
  • Trov
  • Zymergen

    Clean Tech/Sustainability

    • Ecologic Brands*
    • EnerVenue
    • Back to the Roots
    • Finelite, Inc.
    • Full Cycle Bioplastics
    • GRID Alternatives
    • Kiverdi, Inc.
    • Lilac Solutions* 
    • MCE Community Choice Energy*
    • Microvi Biotechnologies*
    • Monarch Tractor
    • Motiv Power Systems*
    • Natel Energy
    • Nelumbo*
    • PolyPlus Battery Company
    • Porifera*
    • Powerhouse
    • Smart Wires Inc.*
    • SORAA*
    • Sungevity
    • Twelve  
    • Vigilent*

    Community Impact

    • Bayers Collaborative Community Investments 
    • Black Cultural Zone*
    • Building Opportunities for Self- Sufficiency (BOSS)
    • District Works*
    • EBALDC
    • Lao Family Community Development
    • Oakland Genomics Center*
    • RYSE Center

    Education

    • Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals*
    • Biotech Partners*
    • Community Resources for Science
    • Girls Garage*
    • Green Biome Institute at Cal State East Bay
    • Hack the Hood
    • Idea Builder Labs*
    • Kids Teach Tech* 
    • Lawrence Livermore/Sandia National Laboratories
    • NorCal Bay Area Biotechnology Center
    • Oakland Digital Arts and Literacy Center*
    • Ohlone College Smart Manufacturing Tech Program
    • PilotCity*
    • Scientific Adventures for Girls*
    • Tech Exchange
    • TechBridge*
    • TechHire Oakland
    • The Bread Project*
    • Veterans to Technology (LLNL/Los Positas College)*

    Engineering and Design

    • Aeye
    • Alphabet Energy*
    • Ambi Robotics* 
    • Applied Spectra
    • AEye, Inc.
    • Bolt Threads*
    • Cyark
    • DOER*
    • DOER Marine
    • Energy Recovery
    • Enovix
    • Gel-Pak Lid/Clip Super System LCS2*
    • Key Source International
    • Meyer Sound*
    • Pandora*
    • POP Manufacturing
    • Saildrone
    • Sigray, Inc.*
    • Sila Nanotechnologies*
    • Squishy Robotics*
    • Velodyne LiDAR*
    • Verdant Structural Engineers  

    Food

    • Back To The Roots*
    • Blossom Foods
    • Blue Bottle Coffee*
    • Climax Foods 
    • Community Grains
    • CORE Foods*
    • Finless Foods*
    • GELTOR, Inc.
    • Hodo Foods
    • Impossible Foods*
    • Kikoko
    • OCHO Candy
    • Perfect Day
    • Prime Roots*
    • Revolution Foods
    • Ripple Foods*
    • St. George Spirits*
    • Torani Syrups* 
    • Tsar Nicoulai Caviar*
    • UPSIDE Foods*

    Legacy Awardees (non-competitive)

    • Bayer
    • Cal State East Bay
    • Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA)
    • East Bay Regional Park District
    • Kaiser Permanente
    • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
    • Novartis
    • Port of Oakland
    • The Clorox Company
    • UC Berkeley

    Life Sciences

    • 4D Molecular Therapeutics
    • 10x Genomics*
    • Abbott Diabetes Care*
    • Aduro Biotech*
    • Ardelyx
    • ATUM
    • Bakar Labs* 
    • Bionova Scientific
    • Caribou Biosciences*
    • Cerus Corporation
    • Ekso Bionics
    • Eikon Therapeutics*
    • Elemeno Health*
    • Enchroma*
    • Gritstone Oncology, Inc.
    • Penumbra*
    • Pivot Bio
    • POC Medical Systems
    • RefleXion Medical*
    • Singulex
    • UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland*

    Sponsorships & Benefits

    2025 Sponsors & Partners

    PRESENTING

    DIAMOND

    Media

    PHOTO GALLERY

    LATEST NEWS

    FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

    1. What are criteria to qualify as a nominee?
    In order to be eligible for award consideration, nominees must:

    • Be a company or organization headquartered or operating in Alameda or Contra Costa counties. 
    • Be available to take part in filming and interviews leading up to the event 
    • Support and amplify pre-and post-event promotional marketing, including social media 
    • Have high-level leadership attend the in-person awards ceremony on March 27, 2025 at the Scottish Rite Center in Oakland 

    2. How was my company/organization nominated?
    East Bay EDA relies on its member network and partnerships with Bay Area media outlets to publicize the opportunity. You might have been nominated because someone who knows about your innovative company/organization and wants you to be recognized for it!

    3. Does it cost money to nominate?
    The purpose of this award is to highlight and promote innovative companies/organizations in the East Bay. There are no fees associated with nominating a company.

    4. What happens after I nominate?
    Independent judging panels will evaluate each nomination in a particular nomination category. Finalists will be revealed ahead of the 2025 East Bay Innovation Awards. Awardees will be revealed at the 2025 East Bay Innovation Awards ceremony on March 27, 2025.

    5. Who are the judges?
    The panels we have assembled are known experts in their field, have built companies and brands, and recognize the importance of celebrating the significant contributors to the East Bay’s unique culture of innovation. Many are past finalists and awardees themselves!

    6. Will my company information remain confidential?
    All nominations are 100% confidential. Neither the nomination nor any of its content will be shared with anyone other than East Bay EDA staff and judges. All judge must review and sign a Confidentiality Agreement.

    7. What will the awardees and finalists receive?
    Awardees will receive a one-of-a-kind, locally-made East Bay Innovation Awards trophy. Both awardees and finalists will be featured in the San Francisco Business Times. Your organization will be recognized in multiple media press releases. Awardees and finalists will also receive official East Bay Innovation Awards logo to promote online, one-year paid East Bay EDA membership, and serious bragging rights!

    8. Is there a cash prize?
    East Bay EDA is a non-profit organization which supports efforts to sustain a thriving regional environment. East Bay EDA’s event sponsors provide gifts to the awardees with a cash value of over $500.

    9. Am I required to attend the Innovation Awards?
    Yes, the company’s executive leadership must be present to accept the award at the in-person awards ceremony on March 28, 2024.

    Nominations/Award Force-Related Questions

    1. How do I nominate a company/organization?
    Nominations are submitted on our website via the “Nominations” tab or by visiting eastbayiawards.awardsplatform.com. Once you register with the AwardForce platform, be sure you check your spam/junk folder during the account verification process so you can access your account and begin nominating.

    If you are an external party nominating a company/organization, the person whose email you provided will be automatically notified to complete a short application to answer questions about their innovation. More importantly, a personal nudge informing them of their nomination (including checking their spam/junk folder) goes a long way! 

    2. Do I have to register to submit an application?
    Yes. This allows you to submit multiple entries and manage your entries by making edits before submitting. The deadline for submittals is November 1, 2024 at 5:00 pm.

    3. Can I submit multiple nominations for different companies/organizations?
    If you are not representing a company or organization being nominated, you can submit multiple nominations for different companies/organizations. If you are submitting an online application on behalf of your company/organization, please submit just one application.

    4. Can I make changes after submitting my application?
    Yes. After logging in, go to My Entries and then click on the entry you want to change in order to begin editing. Click save to ensure your changes have been submitted, and go to My Entries to see your newly saved entry. The deadline for submittals is November 1, 2024 at 5:00 pm. No changes can be made after this period.

    5. I represent a company/organization. Are self-nominations allowed?
    Yes, we highly encourage it! Be sure to select, “I am a company representative” if you are submitting on behalf of your company/organization so you can answer questions about your company and innovation! Please ensure that only one application is submitted for your company.  

    6. Why do I have to answer questions about my work?
    Your responses assist the independent panel of experts to gain a clear understanding of your organization, its activities, and its impact on the region and the industry.

    7. Do I have to tell you about my revenue/earnings?
    We understand that some information is proprietary. If you feel more comfortable providing a range, that will be helpful. Alternatively, you could say “above” or “below” an amount you feel comfortable disclosing. None of this information will be made public without your approval.

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