Last year Kansas City-based startup EyeVerify took home the Golden Analog for Startup of the Year.

It won’t be long until we’re all looking elegant and dapper August 21 at Midland Theatre in Kansas City, celebrating another year of growth and success across the region at the Silicon Prairie Awards.

We’ve seen unique storylines unfold in our three core regions—an influx of code schools in Nebraska, Iowa’s foundational growth of accelerators and spaces for collaboration, and Kansas City’s attraction as a hub for testing out new technologies.

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Everyone plays a part, which brings us here. Before we can celebrate, we need all of you to help us determine which individuals and companies we’ll be crowning. It’s a two-week voting period that ends at 11:59 p.m. on August 11. That means you have loads of time to spread the word.

Cast your vote for the Silicon Prairie Awards!

Join us for the Silicon Prairie Awards: We have an exciting evening of community celebration planned for Aug. 21 at the Midland Theatre in Kansas City. Tickets are still available for the event, which includes an opening reception, keynote talk by N3TWORK co-founder Erik Lammerding, awards ceremony and closing party. Purchase your tickets today.

Meet the Startup of the Year finalists

This is the one everyone’s talking about. They’re making headlines, headed toward long-term success.

	Bulu Box Bulu Box is a discovery ecommerce platform for health, nutrition and fitness. (Lincoln) Closed a $2 million round of funding CEO Paul Jarrett won Pipeline’s Innovator of the Year Featured in The Wall Street Journal, Inc, Glamour, Lucky, Men’s Fitness and Women’s Health Magazine Has 10,000 monthly subscribers, 60,000 customers, 150,000 products shipped and more than $1.2 million in revenue in less than two years Grown to 10 employees Nomination: “Bulu Box is leading the way in the vitamin supplement space. With two great leaders in Paul and Stephanie Jarrett, Bulu Box has done big things this year and will continue to make headlines.” Read more: SPN
	Higher Learning Technologies Higher Learning Technologies empowers students to learn in a more intuitive and ultimately more effective manner by harnessing the power of smartphones and tablets. (Coralville, Iowa) Won honorable mention in the 2013 John Pappajohn Iowa Business Plan Competition Closed a $1 million seed round in early 2014 from investors like former ACT CEO and Iowa City’s Josh Cramer Won the 2014 Prometheus Award for Best Mobile Application for its nursing app NCLEX Mastery HLT’s NCLEX RN Mastery reached the No. 1 grossing educational app in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store 2013 Silicon Prairie Awards winners for Mobile App of the Year, Innovation of the Year and New Startup of the Year Nomination: “Their $1 million round in January was just the beginning. With a slate of expert mentors on their side and a recent hiring spree, everyone suspects that more news from them is just around the corner. Plus, their product has the potential to truly impact how people learn around the world.” Read more: SPN, Inc. magazine
	MindMixer MindMixer builds better communities by involving people in things they care about. (Kansas City) Closed a $4 million Series B round in 2013 Moved operations from Omaha to Kansas City Expanding the company to more than 85 employees CEO Nick Bowden spoke about how local governments use data to engage constituents at South by Southwest in March Nomination: “MindMixer was recruited to the Valley, but chose to stay with their Midwestern roots. They’ve successfully made the transition to KC and are on a hiring spree.” Read more: SPN
	opendorse Opendorse allows marketers to instantly activate professional athletes to engage their audience. (Lincoln) Opendorse inked a deal with the NFL Players Association Unveiled a new athlete marketing research platform with data on more than 8,000 athletes Nomination: “opendorse is proving that Silicon Prairie startups have the power to disrupt industries. Their solution for the athlete endorsement industry is taking off, after securing their partnership with the NFLPA to power the digital endorsements of all NFL players.” Read more: SPN
	Travefy Travefy is a free web app that makes it simple & fun to plan trips with friends and groups. (Lincoln) Raised a $320,000 seed round Acquired Tripeeze, a California-based competitor Placed second at the annual “Get In the Ring” pitch competition Nomination: “I’ve been using Travefy since it started and couldn’t be happier with where they’ve come and where they’re headed. We’re able to plan family trips, talk about where to stay and eat, manage the expenses and post a final itinerary so everyone knows what’s going on each day. It’s both high and low-tech user friendly.” Read more: SPN, Fast Company, Entrepreneur