Stevies' five-star salute for STEM Punks

STEM Punks, which offers curriculum courses in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) for school students, has today scooped gold, silver and bronze in the annual Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

The Samford company won gold in the Most Innovative Startup of the Year - Consumer Product Industries and the Most Innovative Startup of the Year - Consumer Service Industries categories.

STEM Punks also took silver in the Most Innovative Tech Startup of the Year – Services and in the Award for Excellence in Corporate Innovation - Most Innovative Tech Startup of the Year sections.

There was also a fifth award - a bronze trophy for Achievement in Product Innovation.

On a mission

It is a remarkable achievement for a business which started in a garage, and was hit hard by the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, but adapted and is now a major online educator.

“Our mission is to inspire tomorrow's innovators and teach kids about 21st Century skills by enabling a mindset of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship,” says STEM Punks CEO Michael Holmstrom.

“Our classes are online and in-person for kids at home and teachers in schools, all over the world. We are delighted to receive these Stevie awards and congratulate all other finalists and winners.

“At the beginning of COVID there was a tough few weeks – we lost eight months of revenue in two weeks. But COVID was probably the best thing that ever happened to our business.”

STEM Punks Live

Mr Holmstrom says the need for the educational programs delivered by STEM Punks intensified as the pandemic set in, with students working at home online and traditional classroom learning on hold.

“Schools had a bigger need than ever for the content – the only issue was how to reach them," he says, "The result was STEM Punks Live, which delivered 24 free episodes across eight weeks.

“It was free – it was the right thing to do. We had to learn very fast – we didn’t know how to do streamed content and video production – the first episode was a bit cringy,” he laughs.

Virtual ceremony

More than 900 entries were received for the Stevie Awards, the only business awards program to recognise innovation in the workplace in all 29 nations of the Asia-Pacific region.

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word for “crowned,” the winners will be celebrated during a virtual (online) awards ceremony on July 14.

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