Press release
30 Apr 2024 

EY Announces Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Bay Area Award Finalists

Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates ambitious entrepreneurs who are shaping the future

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San Francisco, April 30, 2024 – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced the finalists for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Bay Area Award. Now in its 38th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive business award for audacious leaders who disrupt markets, revolutionize industries and have a transformational impact on lives. Over the past four decades, the program has recognized the daring entrepreneurs with big ideas and bold actions that reshape our world.

These 26 regional entrepreneurs were selected as finalists by an independent panel of judges. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

"This year's finalists are intrepid visionaries making a profound impact on their industries," said Renee Mendez, EY Partner and Entrepreneur Of The Year Bay Area Program Co-Director. "Handpicked by a panel of independent judges, these entrepreneurs show unwavering commitment to their businesses, their customers, and their communities. We are excited to celebrate their remarkable accomplishments."

Entrepreneur Of The Year honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.

The 2024 Bay Area finalists are:

Satyen Sangani | Alation | Redwood City

Amit Etkin, MD, PhD | Alto Neuroscience | Los Altos

Adam Goldstein | Archer Aviation | San Jose

Jason Lopatecki and Aparna Dhinakaran | Arize AI | Berkeley

Kevin Gosschalk | Arkose Labs |San Mateo

Nacho De Marco | BairesDev | Mountain View

Naomi Allen | Brightline | San Mateo

Cody Finke, PhD | Brimstone Energy, Inc. | Oakland

Guru Hariharan | CommerceIQ | Palo Alto

Hersh Saluja | E2 Consulting Engineers, Inc. | Emeryville

Ann Weiss | Hatch, Inc. | Palo Alto

Andrew Rubin | Illumio | Sunnyvale

Kevin Chanthasiriphan and Kevin Lee | immi | San Francisco

JoeBen Bevirt | Joby Aviation, Inc. | Santa Cruz

Purva Gupta | Lily AI | Mountain View

Brian Thomas | Metagenomi | Emeryville

Bhavin Shah | Moveworks | Mountain View

Spike Lipkin | Newfront | San Mateo

Deka Dike |Omatochi | Dublin

Shadi Bakour | PathWater | Fremont

Nooshin Behroyan | Paxon Energy & Infrastructure Services | Oakland

David Utley, MD | Pivot | San Carlos

Benjamin Oakes | Scribe Therapeutics | Alameda

Arch Rao | SPAN.io, Inc. | San Francisco

Learn more about the finalists at ey.com/us/eoybayarea.

Regional award winners will be announced on June 14 during a special celebration. The winners will then be considered by the National independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.

In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network and access needed to unlock their full potential.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, Marsh USA, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Bay Area region, sponsors include DLA Piper, ADP and Big Picture.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year®

Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally.

The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

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