Who deserves recognition in Louisiana’s tech community? We asked, and you answered.
Those reader suggestions helped shape the field for the inaugural Louisiana edition of the Technical.ly Awards, our annual end-of-year honors decided by popular vote.
This year’s six categories recognize everything from new businesses and first-time entrepreneurs to the events, investments and debates that have made news across the state.
Now you get to decide who wins. Take a look through the finalists and cast your votes by Nov. 25.
Launch of the Year
The new company, product, service or go-to-market approach in your ecosystem this year that had the most impact, either locally or globally.
- Startup Prize: Energy: The Shreveport-based pitch competition added an energy track, expanding beyond its health focus with an inaugural event featuring 33 companies from 14 states.
- Persona AI and SSE Steel robotics pilot: The humanoid robot maker and steel manufacturer partnered to train AI-powered robots on a real-world manufacturing line.
- Louisiana Startup Report: In partnership with LA.IO, Tulane’s Albert Lepage Center expanded its annual regional startup survey statewide and introduced an interactive platform for exploring funding, hiring and trends.
- Aplicor3D: Working with Lafayette biotech Tides Medical, St. Landry health system Opelousas General introduced wound care that uses 3D-printed grafts made from a patient’s own tissue.
Programming of the Year
The activation, program or event that made the most difference in the local innovation community this year.
- AI Fridays by Hello Gravel: The free monthly meetup catches the community up on the latest AI happenings and gives innovators the chance to show off what they’re building.
- Stealthmode Startup School: This new accelerator brings together ambitious founders with relevant expertise and connects them with opportunities to build and grow their companies.
- New Voices NOLA Power Pitch: A new partnership brought this competition for local Black founders to the Essence Festival of Culture, offering $50,000 in grants plus ongoing coaching and mentorship.
- Emerging Tech Internship: Opportunity Machine’s new initiative offers paid positions and hands-on experience to UL Lafayette students by pairing them with startups in search of additional talent.
Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year
The newcomer (someone who started their entrepreneurship journey within the past 2 years) who made the biggest splash this year, whether locally, regionally or globally.
- Robert LeBlanc: After 15 years working on towboats, New Orleans-based LeBlanc launched the platform Geaux River to help modernize the maritime industry.
- Cesar Bacaro: This New Orleans musician is building Giigs, an app that connects performers, venues and fans — and won the audience vote at Idea Village’s Big Ideas Showcase.
- Lucy Schodell: An accomplished distance runner and camp organizer, Schodell last year launched Watch Women’s Sports (IRL) to help the growing fanbase find places to connect and cheer on their teams.
- Colin Raby: After an LSU course sparked the idea, Raby founded Baton Rouge startup FarmMind, which went on to win the 2026 American Farm Bureau Federation Ag Innovation Challenge.
Visionary of the Year
The person who changed the most minds, inspired the most conversation or spurred the most progress to your ecosystem this year.
- Andrew Albert: With experience founding companies and working in tech companies, Albert now leads the team responsible for Idea Village’s accelerator programs and thought leadership initiatives.
- John Roberts: As managing partner at Boot64 Ventures, Roberts has invested in dozens of seed-stage companies and is pushing Louisiana to view its pipeline of giant industrial projects as launchpads for the next generation of startup founders.
- Kimberly Gramm: Tulane’s chief innovation and entrepreneurship officer is leading a new NSF-funded $6 million initiative to help turn university research into products, companies and careers.
- Vicki Colvin: Two years in as LSU’s engineering dean, Colvin is helping build Louisiana’s AI workforce, with her co-taught college courses and the launch of the state’s first AI bachelor’s degree program this fall.
Deal of the Year
The financial transaction that made the most difference to the local ecosystem this year.
- SpaceX’s $100B spaceport: Following swirling rumors and legislative moves to attract the aerospace industry, Elon Musk’s space company announced it picked Vermilion Parish’s Pecan Island for its next buildout, aiming for 10,000 launches per year.
- Disney x Corridor Ventures: Philanthropic nonprofit the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation committed an undisclosed amount of funding to the early-stage VC firm, bringing outside significant capital to the Southeast.
- Starget Pharma’s Series A: The AI-driven cancer therapy company closed an $18 million round alongside a collaboration with Shreveport’s Center for Molecular Imaging and Therapy, paving the way to potentially lifesaving clinical trials.
- Beken Bio’s NSF grant: The biotech startup secured $1.25 million in federal funding to support a Louisiana study of its ovarian cancer blood test, with trials expected at hospitals in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Discourse of the Year
The theme, topic, industry, group, people, company or organization that dominated discussion across the ecosystem this year.
- AI data centers: Louisiana’s push to attract data centers — Meta’s $50 billion Richland Parish project, Amazon’s $18 billion campuses in Caddo and Bossier, and a few others — sparked debate over resource strain, job opportunities and the politics behind these massive deals.
- Flooding “point of no return”: A Tulane-led team published an analysis of Louisiana’s coastal resilience, prompting some to urge New Orleans residents to relocate (and a clapback from the mayor), while others to see an opportunity to innovate.
- Future of rural healthcare: With more than 40% of Louisiana’s rural inpatient hospitals deemed at risk of closing, state officials announced a $20 million annual catalyst fund (its first awards are still pending), while startup founders are building companies to provide potential solutions.
- Carbon capture and landowner rights: A wave of carbon capture and storage projects fueled a fight over who gets to decide where they go. Elected officials, residents and industry groups clashed over eminent domain and who has final say.
