SPRINGFIELD -- Valley Venture Mentors awarded $252,000 in funding to the 12 finalists in its startup accelerator competition during a ceremony at the MassMutual Center Thursday evening.

Companies, ranging from app developers to manufacturers of silencers for firearms, received awards of between $6,000 and $50,000, with judges allocating the money following a months-long process of boot camps and pitching sessions.

The evening's biggest winner was Celia Grace, an Amherst-based fair trade wedding dress retailer and designer that took in $50,000.

"I have had such an amazing experience throughout the accelerator and it would have been worth it without this, but this is just amazing," said Celia Grace founder Marcie Muehlke. "Not only do I have this amazing gift of the money, but I have a really strategic plan of how to use it to grow my business."

The company, which manufacturers its dresses using fair trade labor in India and Cambodia, will use the funds to increase customer acquisition efforts and market its website, Muehlke said.

Muehlke, 33, is a Groton native who attended Brown University and earned an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She started the company after being unable to find a wedding dress whose production met her ethical standards when she got married, she said.

The evening also saw the announcement of other efforts to boost Western Massachusetts' tech sphere. The Springfield Venture Fund, MassMutual's small business investment arm, said it would invest $900,000 into this year's accelerator cohort. And Valley Venture Mentors announced it plans to launch a new accelerator for manufacturing companies, with applications opening in the coming months.

Valley Venture Mentors Executive Director Paul Silva praised the passion and drive of 35 finalists and semifinalists who went through the accelerator program.

"This our 2016 class - they are the founders and the dreamers of the future," Silva said. "They are hell bent on creating benevolent world domination for all of us."

The companies are of wide-ranging backgrounds, Valley Venture said in a press release. Six are run by women and three by people of color. Five are tech companies and seven make physical products. Nine are from the Pioneer Valley, four are from Springfield and others are considering moving to the city.

The businesses, selected from 35 semifinalists and 200 total applicants, all started with under $250,000 in annual gross revenues, and were picked in part for their aggressive growth plans, Valley Venture Mentors General Manager Liz Roberts said.

"They have to have ambition and clarity, and they really want to scale," Roberts said in an interview earlier this month. "They have to be thinking big."

The finalist companies and their award totals are:

Celia Grace, $50,000

Homebody Holistics, $45,000

Scout Curated Wears, $32,000

Treaty: $21,000

DaVinci Arms, $21,000

Prophit Insight, $19,000

Lavingua, $18,000

Name Net Worth, $15,000

iRollie, $9,000

Need/Done Inc., $9,000

SUMU, $7,000

Any Cafe, $6,000

Valley Venture held its first accelerator competition last year, and its first class has already made an impact, according to Valley Venture Mentors Executive Director Paul Silva.

"Last year's cohort has generated $10 million and created 222 jobs," Silva said in a statement earlier this month.

Those companies included Olive Natural Beauty, White Lion Brewing Company, Artifact Cider Project, WorkSafe Technologies, PetSimpl and Food On a Truck.

The 12 finalists were chosen earlier this month following an intensive four-month startup bootcamp, Roberts said. In addition to the funding, Roberts touted the process as a way for new businesses to make connections and secure networking opportunities with investors who may choose to pitch in once the accelerator competition is finished.