All four of the Memphis companies presenting at the first Demo Day for The Tenn were selected to participate in the state’s first official small business accelerator.
The Tenn, which selected 10 companies out of 20 pitches to participate in the program, will give founders the opportunity to meet leaders of top corporations in the state. They will also fly to California and the East coast to meet venture and angel investors and receive office space in their nearest local accelerator. The companies will participate in The Tenn Roadshow Sept. 9-13, during which they will visit Tennessee-based corporations like FedEx Corp., First Tennessee Bank, Eastman Chemical in Kingsport, Scripps Networks Interactive in Knoxville, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in Chattanooga and Hospital Corp. of America in Nashville.
“The Tennessee Roadshow is a unique opportunity for these startups to get advice from top executives at some of the state’s leading corporations,” Charlie Brock, CEO of LaunchTN, which developed The Tenn, said in a statement. “These meetings are a great step toward increasing corporate engagement with startups in Tennessee. We are thrilled to give The TENN this opportunity to network with and learn from such seasoned business leaders.”
Memphis-based companies Health & Bliss, Mobilizer, Screwpulp and View Medical were selected to participate in the Tenn. Health and Bliss, Mobilizer and View Medical participated in the most recent group of companies to complete Zero to 510, the Memphis-based biotech and medical device accelerator program. Screwpulp completed Seed Hatchery, the local technology startup accelerator. Other participants include: HATponics, Survature, Vendor Registry and eClinic Healthcare, Got You In, Gun.io.
In addition to the Memphis companies participating in The Tenn, Memphis-based startups BioNanovations and MentorMe were selected to participate in the NewMe Accelerator, which is currently underway in San Francisco.