2014 Startup Day emphasizes startup-friendly culture, assets in ET

KNOXVILLE—Knoxville’s second annual Startup Day kicked off Thursday afternoon at The Standard in downtown Knoxville. The event celebrated the success of Knoxville’s growing startup community and raised awareness about resources that support East Tennessee entrepreneurs.

Among the presenters were Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Tech 2020.

“When most Americans think ‘startup community,’ they think Silicon Valley in California, New York City, or Seattle,” said Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero. “It’s significant that East Tennessee is nurturing its startup culture, making resources available to startups, and generally creating a welcoming environment for entrepreneurs. Creating a startup-friendly city will keep and attract talent, capital, and more resources.”

Startup Day featured fireside chats with eight of Knoxville’s seasoned entrepreneurs and investors, including Ben Brown, chief executive officer of SwiftWing. SwiftWing invested $686,000 in Survature, a local startup at the University of Tennessee Business Incubator.

Ten local startups presented PechaKucha style, quick-fire pitches, including Vuture, an app that allows users to send personalized video messages to a recipient’s email or cell phone at a specified date and time.

“With Oak Ridge National Lab and the University of Tennessee, we see plenty of highly advanced technological ideas particularly in the energy, agriculture, healthcare, big data, and big media fields,” said Ken Woody, president of Innova, an early stage venture fund located in Knoxville and Memphis. “There are some very bright and capable mentors in the Knoxville area, and a strong passion amongst many businesses to support these early-stage companies.”

Vig Sherrill pitched his seventh company, General Graphene, at Startup Day 2014. Sherrill attributes the region’s big science assets and world-class manufacturing to the success of his first six companies that brought more than $100 million to the region.

More than 400 people registered to attend Startup Day 2014. Attendees included businesses, entrepreneurs, and investors looking for the next big idea, businesses, regional accelerators, and research institutions that provide support to startups and East Tennesseans interested in learning more about the region’s entrepreneurial community.

About Startup Day 2014

Startup Day 2014 is presented by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Tennessee Research Foundation, Launch Tennessee, Pershing Yoakley and Associates, Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, and Tech 2020, who organized the event.

For more information about Knoxville’s Startup Day 2014, visit www.StartupDay2014.com or watch it live http://startupday2014.com/live/.