121 Tech Hub emerges as the new ‘hot spot’ for tech start-ups in Knoxville
121 Tech Hub will hold a grand opening from 5 to 7 p.m. EDT on October 2 as part of Innov865 Week.
Brandon Bruce likes to describe a new co-working space that has just opened in Knoxville’s Old City as “a clubhouse for the club” of local tech founders and teams.
Located directly across the street from the building housing Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria, it’s in the recently renovated 121 Building at 121 East Jackson Avenue. The facility, named the 121 Tech Hub, is the handiwork of Bruce and John Bruck, collaborators in support of the local entrepreneurial community.
Teknovation.biz and PYA, the power behind the six-day-a-week news site, are the first two sponsors of the facility that Bruck describes as the “home for tech-based start-ups in the community,” including portfolio companies of Market Square Ventures, and companies coming from University of Tennessee, Knoxville and programs like the Spark Cleantech Accelerator, the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center’s The Works, ORNL’s Innovation Crossroads, and Techstars.
Bruce told us that last May’s roadshow for the “Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator” participants was the proverbial tipping point that led to the two bankrolling the new venture. The group visited Atlanta, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, and Nashville.
“Every city that we visited had a facility like this,” he said. “We wanted to have one in Knoxville.”
While Bruce and Bruck are starting small, they have expansion plans for an unused portion of the building.
Initially, the 121 Tech Hub had hot desks across an open coworking space as well as two single offices and two double offices. Memberships are $250 per month.
The facility comes with 24/7 access, Wi-Fi, call boxes, a network printer, use of a conference room, a reception area, and a kitchen and lounge. Bruce emphasizes: “The most important amenity is community – entrepreneurs building alongside and in support of one another.”
As demand grows, their plans include building out the space on the lower level of the building.
The first tenant is Market Square Ventures, the new Knoxville-based venture fund for which Bruce and Bruck are two of the five General Partners. Several founders have already joined during the rolling soft opening.
121 Tech Hub will hold a grand opening from 5 to 7 p.m. EDT on October 2 as part of Innov865 Week. To register to attend, click here.
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