3 Future Founders Fellows Awarded $50,000 Arch Grants

October 11, 2021

Future Founders is thrilled to announce that three members of our prestigious Fellowship program were recently named to the 2021 Arch Grants Cohort.

Each year, Arch Grants welcomes innovative, scalable and job-creating startups from around the world to participate in the nonprofit’s annual Startup Competition for a chance to be awarded $50,000 in non-dilutive grants and $10,000 for relocation if they are located outside of Missouri and at least 150 miles from St. Louis.

This year’s Arch Grants Startup Competition ultimately awarded 35 businesses with their share of a $1,920,000 grant pool, including three founders from the Future Founders Fellowship:

GABA (Candice Blacknall, 2021 Fellowship Cohort) – a career development marketplace that matches students aspiring to health careers to study tools and support services based on their learning preference and desired career.

No Limbits (Erica Cole, 2020 Fellowship Cohort) – a ready-to-wear, adaptive clothing brand with the mission of increasing comfort, confidence and independence in those who struggle with clothing due to a disability.

Paerpay (Derek Canton, 2020 Fellowship Cohort) – an application software platform that enables merchants to accept contactless payments without the cost of hardware, changing processors or downloading apps.

Each of the winning companies will receive $50,000 as well as pro-bono professional services from respected local firms, and $10,000 for relocation if they are located outside of Missouri and at least 150 miles from St. Louis. In turn, the startups will commit to operating their businesses from St. Louis for a period of at least one year. Arch Grants’ 2021 Cohort is the largest and most diverse group Arch Grants has ever funded, including companies which are moving to St. Louis from cities such as Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and more.

Future Founders is thrilled to see our Fellowship founders achieve such incredible recognition and resources to continuing building their innovative startups, and cannot wait to watch the meaningful impact they have on the St. Louis entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Learn more about these amazing founders and the Arch Grants program by attending the 2021 Arch Grants Virtual Gala.