Arch Grants Awards $1.35M to 2026 Cohort – Announces 20 New Startups joining their Portfolio

(pictured: photo of the 2026 Arch Grants Cohort)

ST. LOUIS, MO – October 30, 2026 – Arch Grants today announced 16 grant recipients in its 2026 cohort, along with two companies joining a new early-stage pilot program and two additions to its Fellows program. The founders will be recognized tonight at neXus, Arch Grants’ annual gala at St. Louis Union Station.

Selected from hundreds of applications, the grant recipients advanced through community judging, founder interviews, an August 5 Finalist Pitch Day at Saint Louis University’s Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business, and due diligence. The cohort includes companies already based in the St. Louis region as well as founders relocating from other states.

Each of the 16 grant recipients will receive $75,000 in equity-free funding, with an additional $25,000 available to qualifying companies relocating to St. Louis. Recipients commit to maintaining their headquarters in the region for at least one year. They also receive access to Arch Grants’ network of mentors, experienced operators, investors, corporate partners, and founder programming.

The 2026 recipients span agriculture, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, medical devices, artificial intelligence, education, and software. Their approaches include technology intended to accelerate precision plant breeding, fluorescent roofing fasteners that simplify inspections, a device designed to improve labor monitoring, and software developed to help identify operator fatigue. The full list appears below.

“Being named an Arch Grants recipient is a huge milestone for EvoNatura,” said Priyanka Naithani, co-founder and CEO of EvoNatura. “This support opens incredible opportunities for us to expand our reach across the Midwest and accelerate our partnerships with plastics manufacturers. We are thrilled to be part of the vibrant St. Louis community and look forward to growing here.”

Several recipients will receive awards supported by longstanding Arch Grants partners. VigilanceIQ receives the Donald M. Suggs Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award, powered by Ferring Family Foundation (F3). NeuroFore, OpsCompanion, and Untapped Solutions are this year’s #STLOnward Awardees, powered by NISA Charitable Fund. Xphera receives the Mapping Innovation Award, powered by William T. Kemper Foundation.

“Every year, these founders remind us what’s possible when extraordinary people are willing to take a chance on St. Louis, and when this community shows up to support them,” said Gabe Angieri, Executive Director of Arch Grants. “Some are building on the strengths we already have here. Others are bringing new ideas, talent, and ambition from across the country. What they share is a determination to build something meaningful, and our job is to give them every reason to succeed right here.”

The evening will also honor Bob O’Loughlin, Chairman and CEO of Lodging Hospitality Management (LHM), with the 2026 Arch Grants Entrepreneur Award. O’Loughlin founded LHM in 1986 and acquired St. Louis Union Station in 2012. Under his leadership, the landmark has been revitalized as a major destination, with attractions including the St. Louis Aquarium and St. Louis Wheel. Past honorees Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop, and Bob Clark, founder of Clayco, will present the award.

Arch Grants is also introducing an early-stage pilot for promising companies with substantial local support. The program offers selected founders access to the Arch Grants portfolio community, mentorship, experts-in-residence, investor and corporate introductions, and programming, without an initial cash award. Its first two participants are CapyBio, which is developing tools to improve human cell models used in medical research, and Gateway Photonics, which is developing a wearable retinal-imaging headset.

Two additional companies are joining the Arch Grants Fellows program: STACKED, led by Drew Davis, and ZLS.app, led by Ryan Wolfe and Mohammed Al-Rawi. Launched in 2023, the Fellows program connects leaders of established St. Louis companies with peer roundtables, leadership forums, and the Arch Grants founder-support network.
“Every company in this cohort made a deliberate choice to build here, and everyone in that room tonight is part of why that choice makes sense,” said Zundra Bryant, Board President of Arch Grants. “Honoring Bob O’Loughlin on the same night tells you something about St. Louis. The people who built this city and the people building what comes next belong on the same stage.”

Meet the 16 recipients of the 2026 Arch Grants Startup Competition:

Amass develops symbiotic crops designed to help farmers diversify revenue and reduce reliance on synthetic inputs. Its initial bioenergy crop is intended to grow alongside corn and become a solid biofuel after harvest. Company Leadership: Justin Traenkle, Founder Origin: St. Louis, MO

CERV is developing a medical device to measure cervical dilation during labor, with the goal of improving monitoring and the patient experience. Company Leadership: Elizabeth Buzbee, Co-Founder and CEO; Annika Avula, Co-Founder and COO; Sandy Montgomery, Co-Founder and CTO Origin: St. Louis, MO

Curate Therapeutics is developing a drug-delivery platform that uses platelets to carry established chemotherapy treatments toward tumors, beginning with pancreatic cancer. Company Leadership: Christopher Bethel, Founder and CEO Origin: St. Louis, MO

EvoNatura is developing a microbial additive designed to improve the biodegradation of plastics, with applications in plastics manufacturing. Company Leadership: Priyanka Naithani, Co-Founder & CEO; Alka Naithani, Co-Founder & CFO Origin: Pawtucket, RI

LumaNail develops fluorescent, blacklight-reactive roofing nails designed to make inspections easier and help contractors improve quality control. Company Leadership: Mike Rains, CEO; Jason Schmidt, President; Peter Venezia, COO Origin: St. Louis, MO

Monarch Waste Co. provides on-site cannabis-waste destruction and materials recovery services to help licensed businesses comply with disposal requirements. Company Leadership: Annie Macheca, Co-Founder & COO; Zach McCullough, Co-Founder & CEO Origin: St. Louis, MO

NeuroFore is developing AI-enabled technology to identify possible early signs of Parkinson’s disease using non-motor symptoms. Company Leadership: Hamasa Ebadi, Founder and CEO; Miles Gilliam, Co-Founder & COO Origin: St. Louis, MO

New Heritage Ag is developing a CRISPR delivery platform designed to bypass tissue-culture steps in precision plant breeding and accelerate the development of new crop traits. Company Leadership: Pei Yen, CEO; Yang Yen, Chief Science Officer Origin: Sioux Falls, SD

OpsCompanion develops software that helps organizations monitor employee use of AI tools and control what information those tools can access. Company Leadership: Kenneth Eversole, CEO; Eli Front, CTO; Izayah Hudunt, COO Origin: St. Louis, MO

Quest March is developing an online platform that combines tabletop role-playing with features of multiplayer online games to help people play Dungeons & Dragons together. Company Leadership: Justin Sindecuse-Hayden, CEO Origin: St. Louis, MO

Reflect & Restore develops AI-assisted tools for student reflection, restorative practices, and school culture. Company Leadership: Gerald Raines, Founder & CEO Origin: Houston, TX

Symbio develops on-site food-upcycling systems intended to convert food-production byproducts into useful ingredients and additives. Company Leadership: Elliott Notrica, CEO; Nikolai Valencia Glushchenko, COO Origin: Bloomington, IL

Untapped Solutions develops AI-enabled case-management and relationship-management tools for nonprofit, government, and human-services organizations and the people they serve. Company Leadership: Andre Peart, CEO Origin: Yonkers, NY

VertiGreens grows produce using urban vertical farming, with the goal of supplying fresh greens locally throughout the year. Company Leadership: Tova Feinberg, Founder & CEO Origin: St. Louis, MO

VigilanceIQ develops AI-enabled tools intended to help transportation fleets and other operators assess fatigue risk ahead of shifts and missions. Company Leadership: Mike Bynum, Co-Founder and CEO; Russ Harvey, Co-Founder and CTO Origin: St. Louis, MO

Xphera develops positioning and navigation technology intended to provide an alternative to GPS. Company Leadership: JohnGabriel Nguyen-Truong, Founder & CEO Origin: St. Louis, MO

Meet the two companies joining the new Arch Grants Early-Stage Pilot:

CapyBio develops tools to help scientists improve the reliability of human-cell models used in medical research. The St. Louis company builds on research from Washington University in St. Louis. Company leadership: Guillermo Rivera Gonzalez, PhD, Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer; Samantha A. Morris, PhD, Co-Founder
Origin: St. Louis, MO

Gateway Photonics is developing OCTPro, a wearable optical coherence tomography headset intended to make retinal imaging more accessible in clinical and other care settings. Company leadership: Dr. Chao Zhou, Co-founder & Head of Technology and Product Development; Dr. Jane Cai, Co-Founder & Head of Business Development
Origin: St. Louis, MO

Meet the newest Arch Grants Fellows:

STACKED makes sauces and works to expand opportunities for young people with disabilities. Company leadership: Drew Davis, Founder; Josh Wagner, President

ZLS.app develops AI-enabled case-management software for public defenders to organize case materials, discovery, and workload information. Company leadership: Ryan Wolfe, Co-Founder; Mohammed Al-Rawi, Co-Founder

We extend our sincere gratitude to our sponsors, the Daugherty Foundation, HEC, Logic Systems, NISA, Once Films, Southwest, Richard & Paula Riney, and Union Station Hotel St. Louis, for their generous support and everything they do.

About Arch Grants

Arch Grants is a St. Louis-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to transform the St. Louis economy by attracting, retaining, and supporting extraordinary entrepreneurs. Since its founding in 2012, Arch Grants has awarded more than $23.3 million in non-dilutive funding and supported 311 startups. Arch Grants-backed companies have generated more than $1.4 billion in revenue, raised more than $929 million in follow-on capital, created more than 4,300 jobs, and generated more than $276 million in regional wages. Learn more at archgrants.org and follow Arch Grants on LinkedIn and Instagram.