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Tech Trailblazers Are GO: Awards Now Open for Entries; Thousands of dollars worth of prizes plus exclusive VC and vendor CTO mentoring await the winners at www.techtrailblazers.com(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LONDON, UK - - Calling all innovative enterprise IT startups: The Tech Trailblazers Awards have officially opened for entries at www.techtrailblazers.com. The Tech Trailblazers Awards represent the first independent initiative to recognize and reward enterprise technology startups in a global arena. Innovative, young companies from around the world are invited to enter the awards for the chance to win much more than just a logo and a press release. The prizes include business-development products and services worth thousands of dollars from an estimated $1 million prize fund, as well as expert advice in the form of VC and CTO mentoring. The Tech Trailblazers technology categories include: big data, cloud, infosecurity, mobile, networking, storage, sustainable IT and virtualization. In addition, there is a special "emerging markets" category for enterprise tech startups in those technology categories from geographical regions where IT industries are rapidly growing, such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS). Stephen O'Donnell, chairman of the Tech Trailblazers Awards judging panel and consultant, analyst, author and blogger at The Hot Aisle, said, "Tech Trailblazers is designed for everyone to be a winner. The category leaders will deservedly get their certificates and trophies as well as significant industry recognition - they also get exclusive attention, coaching and mentoring from leading VCs and CTOs. However, all entrants, regardless of how well they do in the competition, get valuable prizes and services designed to help grow and develop their companies. Tech Trailblazers has deliberately set out to become a unique part of the startup ecosystem, helping young, job-creating businesses with growth, publicity and business development." The Tech Trailblazers Awards prize fund, projected to be worth in excess of $1m, is supported by sponsors and industry partners including MIT/Stanford Venture Lab, the Cloud Security Alliance, Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), Prezi, Startup America, RealWire, Lissted, Launchpad Europe, MyNewsDesk, and ExecEvent. All entrants to the Tech Trailblazers Awards get the chance to present their technology to some of the IT industry's eminent influencers from around the world. The extensive judging panel reflects the Tech Trailblazers' pioneering "community spirit" approach to enterprise IT awards. The Tech Trailblazers Awards celebrate innovation in the following enterprise IT areas: big data, cloud, emerging markets, mobile technology, networking, IT security, data storage, sustainable IT and virtualization. The early-bird submissions fee is $250 with a deadline of August 17th at 11:59pm PT. Entry forms should be submitted before the final closing date of September 12th for consideration by the expert panel. For more information and to download an entry form, please visit www.techtrailblazers.com. To join the Tech Trailblazers as a sponsor, please email [email protected]. To be added to the mailing list to receive the latest updates, please email [email protected]. Follow the Tech Trailblazers Awards on Twitter @techtrailblaze or using hashtag #TTAwards. Notes to editors Stephen O'Donnell, chairman of the Tech Trailblazers Awards judging panel, former CIO, author, and consultant and blogger at www.TheHotAisle.com, is available to comment. Please contact Olivia Shannon at Omarketing for more information (contact details below). At present the judging panel includes: Mohit Agrawal, Founder and Editor, Telecom Circle (Twitter: @telecomcircle) Cynthia Artin, President, Artin Arts (@cynthiaartin) Joe Baguley, Chief Cloud Technologist, VMware (@joebaguley) Frank J. Bernhard, Strategy and Operations Director, Deloitte Consulting (@FrankJBernhard) Steve Broadhead, Founder and Director, Broadband-Testing Labs (@steve_broadhead) Rebel Brown, Author and Startup Veteran (@RebelBrown) Mike Burkitt, CTO, Launchpad Europe (@launchpadeurope) Teresa Cottam, Founder and Chief Analyst, Telesperience (@teresacottam) Chris Evans, Consultant and Blogger, TheStorageArchitect.com (@chrismevans) Marty Foltyn, Hands-On Lab Program, SNIA (@MartyFoltyn) Ian French, Channel Guru, Mentor and Entrepreneur (@siceo) Edward P. Gibson, Director, Forensic Technology Solutions, Pricewaterhousecoopers (@EdwardPGibson) Martin Glassborow, Blogger, Storagebod (@storagebod) Mark Hillary, CEO, IT Decisions (@markhillary) Brian Honan, CEO, BH Consulting (@brianhonan) Elise Huang, Partner, WestSummit Capital Sam Johnston, Director, Cloud & IT Services, Equinix (@samj) Ben Kepes, Principal, Diversity Limited (@benkepes) Justin Lodge, Infrastructure Architect, National Australia Bank (@justin_lodge) Chris Mellor, Storage Editor, The Register (@chris_mellor) Steve O'Donnell, Consultant, Advisor and Author, TheHotAisle.com (@stephenodonnell) W. Curtis Preston, CEO, TruthInIT (@wcpreston) Simon Robinson, Research Vice President, 451 Research (@simonrob451) Kai Roer, Senior Partner, The Roer Group (@kairoer) Raj Samani, EMEA Strategy Advisor, Cloud Security Alliance (@raj_samani) Andrew Seldon, Editor, Hi-Tech Security Solutions, TechNews (@andrewseldon) Sarb Sembhi, Director, Consultancy Services, Incoming Thought (@sarbsembhi) Enrico Signoretti, Senior Consultant, Juku Consulting SRL (@esignoretti) Harkeeret Singh, Global Head of Energy & Sustainable IT, Thomson Reuters (@harqs) Jennifer Steffens, CEO, IOactive (@securesun) Jon Toigo, CEO, Toigo Partners International (@jontoigo) Matthew Yeager, Chief Technologist, Colt Technology Services (@mpyeager) Monica Zlotogorski, Editor, Inside Latin America, TM Forum (@MonicaCZN) Media Contacts For Tech Trailblazers Olivia Shannon Omarketing UK: +44 (0)208 255 5225 US: +1 781 519 0275 [email protected] www.twitter.com/Olivia_at_O About the Tech Trailblazers Awards www.techtrailblazers.com Tech Trailblazers is a new concept in awards, designed explicitly for smaller businesses and startups that are less than five years old and at C-series funding or below. The awards have low barriers to entry and prizes that not only recognize startup innovation, but also proactively help startups grow their businesses with exclusive coaching, mentoring and development from VCs and leading CTOs as well as an estimated prize fund worth in excess of $1m. The awards seek to recognize true innovators in the following enterprise technology areas: Big Data Trailblazers Cloud Trailblazers Emerging Markets Trailblazers Mobile Technology Trailblazers Networking Trailblazers Security Trailblazers Storage Trailblazers Sustainable IT Trailblazers Virtualization Trailblazers Entries are now open at www.techtrailblazers.com. The early-bird deadline is August 17th at 11:59pm PT. Final deadline September 12th at 11:59pm PT. For more information, please read the FAQ at www.techtrailblazers.com/faq, email us at [email protected], or follow us on Twitter @Techtrailblaze or via the hashtag #TTAwards. 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