And the winner is ...

Six local tech companies will be vying for the fifth annual Entrepreneurship Awards hosted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Entretech on Thursday.

For the category of companies under $1 million in sales, the finalists are L.A.-based Edge-Cast Networks Inc., a music and video download network; Calando Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biotech subsidiary of Pasadena-based nanotechnology development subsidiary Arrowhead Research Corp.; and the Rubicon Project, an online advertising technology firm.

For companies with revenues up to $8 million, the top three contenders are Pasadena-based Central Desktop, which makes an Internet application that streamlines online data; L.A.-based Nami Media Inc., which makes a platform that aggregates sponsored search traffic; and Santa Monica-based Zag, a B-to-B car shopping site.

The three finalists for the category of companies that generate more than $8 million are Pasadena-based eHarmony, a popular dating site; Monrovia's Green Dot Corp., a prepaid retail debit card company; and Vantage Media Corp., a Venice-based search marketing firm.

Staff reporter Booyeon Lee can be reached at [phone], ext. 230, or at [e-mail].