#IBJtech — April 21, 2017

Coding academy Eleven Fifty expands flagship program
It's no secret that tech (and non-tech) companies are hungry for software development talent. But for many, not just any talent can truly satisfy their deep hunger pangs—it needs to be experienced talent. Think three years or more. Eleven Fifty Academy President John Qualls knows that finding available, experienced coders is immensely difficult, but he wants to help. So he has introduced an extended program that works with students for up to 18 months. More

TID-BYTES

>Angie's List co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer Angie Hicks will be honored with TechPoint's Trailblazer Award at next week's Mira Awards, the not-for-profit tech group announced this week. The award recognizes "visionaries whose contributions have had lasting and significant impact" on the local tech ecosystem, TechPoint said. Past winners include Interactive Intelligence founder Don Brown, ExactTarget co-founder Scott Dorsey, venture capitalist Robert Compton, and former Ball State President Jo Ann Gora. In prepared remarks, TechPoint CEO Mike Langellier said: "Over the past 20 years [Hicks] has built one of our community's most recognizable brands—a brand that bears her name and features her in national TV commercials. Further, she and her former colleagues, Scott Brenton and Bill Oesterle, created the Orr Fellowship program, which has been a remarkable supplier of top talent to our tech community." 

>Emily Trimble, the founding Indianapolis campus director for The Iron Yard, has departed. She joined the national, for-profit coding school in June 2015 and her last day was April 7. She's been succeeded by Jessica Miller-Block, who was previously campus operations manager. During Trimble's roughly two-year tenure, she oversaw the graduation of about 50 students, many of whom had no prior coding experience. In a Twitter direct message, Trimble said, "I really enjoyed my time at TIY. It was incredible to see the reception, support, and growth we had in Indy! But I am ready for my next adventure. I plan to stay in Indy and am looking forward to finding my next place in the Indy community." (She also wrote a Medium post about the departure.) 

>Along with the weather, venture capital fundraising seems to be warming up in central Indiana. According to recent securities filings, high-tech compression garment maker Recovery Force LLC is chasing $5 million in equity financing. Jeb Banner's software firm Boardable is after $1.2 million and marketing-software company Sigtsr Inc. is trying to lock down $1 million through a debt offering. Oh, and Lafayette-based M25 Group, which invests in Midwest companies, has about half the $25 million it’s raising for its second fund. 

>Last year's AT&T Internet of Things Civic Hackathon at Launch Fishers drew less than 200 people, AT&T Indiana President Bill Soards said. This year more than 400 people are coming to the event. At the inaugural event in 2016, a collection of full-time developers, self-employed coders, and tech savvy college students tried to come up with tech solutions around drug abuse using a trove of public data. This week, they're conjuring up ways that companies in three big Indiana industries—manufacturing, agriculture and logistics—can implement IOT into their businesses. 

>The Elevate Purdue Foundry awarded five Purdue University-affiliated startups $80,000 each in its latest Gold Award funding round. A couple of the firms deal in life sciences and one plays in the virtual reality space. 

>ICYMI: Angie's List executive Shelly Towns has left the company after a 12-year run, Carmel-based KAR Auction Services spent $43 million on a Chicago-based tech company, and the Salesforce sign is taking shape on the state's tallest building.

MENTIONED

Business Insider tapped into Indianapolis-based social-media tracking firm Fizziology’s massive data trove to rank the most popular Netflix shows. 

In an op-ed piece in the Muncie Journal, Ontario Systems executive Casey Stanley spelled out ways to help tech grow Indiana's economy. 

NATIONAL SCENE

Most startups know a customer's value can go way beyond revenue. Feedback, testimonials, referrals—the list goes on. But if you're going to use that customer as an example in presentations about your company, just make sure you get permission first or you'll end up like this $3.5 billion company, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

The New York Times explored some of the stories of the more than 85,000 foreign tech workers "left in limbo" by President Trump's immigration policies.

In the wake of a live-streamed murder in Cleveland, Facebook's violent video problem isn't going anywhere anytime soon, The Ringer reports.  

CALENDAR

Verge Pitch Night at The Hi-Fi in Fountain Square 
Presented by Verge Indianapolis 
Wednesday Apr. 26, 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., 1043 Virginia Ave., Indianapolis 
Cost: $20 
  
Lemonpalooza — A lemonade-selling showdown featuring Angie's List and Salesforce 
Presented by Verge 
Friday Apr. 28, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1 Monument Circle, Indianapolis 
Lemonade cost: $1