February 19, 2015

Oakland, CA February 19, 2015: Hundreds of business, political and nonprofit leaders gathered at the Fox Theater to see which entrepreneurs and organizations would win the coveted East Bay Innovation Awards this year. The event, celebrating the most innovative businesses in the categories of advanced manufacturing, clean tech, education, engineering and design, food, information and/or communications technology, and life sciences, highlighted seven outstanding organizations from an original pool of 178 nominations. A "Catalyst of the Year" award was also presented to an entity transcending organizational boundaries to bring East Bay assets together in innovative ways - the 40,000 square foot business incubator and accelerator, TopLine in Richmond. Among this year's winners were FATHOM, a 3D prototype fabricator; SfunCube, the world's only solar incubator and accelerator; Blue Bottle Coffee; OSIsoft; Abbott Diabetes Care; and Oakland Digital Arts & Literacy Center. Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER) in Alameda won the Engineering & Design Award for its cutting use of technology to explore and map the bottom of the ocean to help governments determine the state of their ocean bound infrastructure and provide solutions for the most complex underwater tasks.

The Clorox Company, with headquarters in Oakland and a site in Pleasanton, received the event's Legacy Award, in recognition of their 100+ years of innovation.

The event was hosted by the East Bay Economic Development Alliance, a regional cross-sector organization dedicated to promoting business attraction, retention and growth in the East Bay. The Innovation Awards showcased the awardees' reasons for doing business in the East Bay - business growth potential, supportive culture of taking risks, transportation infrastructure, local talent, diversity and quality of life.

All awardees received personalized illuminated trophies developed through a 3D manufacturing process.
Awardees in the eight competitive categories include (in alphabetical order):
Advanced Manufacturing
FATHOM http://studiofathom.com
Catalyst of the Year
TopLine www.gototopline.com
Clean Tech
SfunCube www.sfuncube.com (Finalist in two categories)
Education
Oakland Digital Arts & Literacy Center http://odalc.org
Engineering & Design
Deep Ocean Exploration & Research (DOER) www.doermarine.com
Food
Blue Botle Coffee https://bluebottlecoffee.com
Information and/or Communications Technology
OSIsoft www.osisoft.com
Life Sciences
Abbott Diabetes Care www.abbottdiabetescare.com

About the East Bay EDA
The East Bay Economic Development Alliance (www.eastbayeda.org) is a public-private partnership founded in 1990 to serve the Bay Area's East Bay region (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties). The East Bay EDA's mission is to establish the region as a world-recognized location to grow businesses, attract capital and create quality jobs.

Contact:
Darien Louie
Phone (510) 272-3874/418-8605
darien@eastbayeda.org
East Bay EDA
1221 Oak Street, Suite 555
Oakland CA 94612
www.eastbayeda.org


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