LEESBURG, Va., Oct. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The Loudoun County Virginia Economic Development Authority announced the winners of its 2022 Innovation Challenge. The startup competition is designed to recognize companies that are pioneering new initiatives in their industries in the Northern Virginia locale.
Gigasheet, a cloud big data spreadsheet, took first prize in the Information and Communications Technology category. The award was $25,000 for first place.
Gigasheet’s technology enables even those without sophisticated technical skills to analyze large data sets. While users interact with what looks like a simple spreadsheet, a powerful database running behind the scenes allows users to analyze and manipulate up to a billion rows of data. The platform has more than 10,000 users, who have processed more than 50 billion rows of data in the past several months.
“We find a wide variety of people are using Gigasheet. Many are looking for a straightforward way to analyze files too big for Excel, while others are looking for lightweight data science,” said Gigasheet co-founder and CEO Jason Hines. “Our users come from small companies, as well as tech giants. The common thread is that they’re discovering new business opportunities within their data. Gigasheet provides an easy way to analyze and share huge files, everything from sales transactions and marketing leads to insurance data.”
The competition drew more than 150 startup applicants, which were narrowed down to 12 finalists in 4 categories. The finalists each gave a live presentation in front of a panel of judges for an opportunity to win part of the $150,000 in prizes. After the presentations, judges questioned each of the founders asking for their ideas about implementation and viability before scoring.
“There’s a lot of energy around entrepreneurship in the county and we embrace the opportunity to cultivate the next generation of #LoudounPossible success stories. A rising tide lifts all ships, so we believe investment in these small companies with big ideas will help diversify and stimulate our local economy, while bringing attention to the strong business ecosystem we have developed in the county,” Loudoun Economic Development Executive Director Buddy Rizer said. “Congratulations to all of our winners, and we look forward to working with the entire pool of applicants to find success in Loudoun County.”
“We’re so excited and grateful to be recognized. We plan to put the funds towards expanding our presence in Loudoun County to strengthen our federal government offering,” said Hines.
Loudoun County, Virginia, is in the Washington, D.C., metro area and recently topped the U.S. Census list of the wealthiest counties in America. In addition to the government sector, it is home to large Internet-related and high-tech enterprises, like Verizon and Orbital Sciences, and houses major data centers like those that power Amazon.com’s cloud services business.
Gigasheet is a cloud-based big data spreadsheet that helps organizations investigate massive data sets without needing a database, programming knowledge, or any IT support.
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SOURCE Gigasheet
