Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

This week’s “News & Notes” feature includes several upcoming events across the eastern half of the state along with a couple of recognitions for Knoxville area residents. There’s also a soon-to-be new address for one of the region’s Entrepreneur Centers.

From Knoxville:

• Cymbeline (Bem) Culiat, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of NellOne Therapeutics Inc., was honored on Thursday as one of the “Most Influential Filipina Women in the World” during the 18^th “Filipina Leadership Global Summit” in Lisbon, Portugal. Popularly known as the “Global FWN100^TM,” the award was launched in the U.S. in 2006 and expanded worldwide in 2013. It recognizes innovators and thought leaders of Philippine ancestry who are changing the face of leadership in the global workplace. Culiat was an honoree in the Founder and Pioneer category.
• The “DriveElectricTN Momentum Summit 2022” is today at the Student Union on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Then, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the “Tennessee Sustainable Transportation Forum & Expo 2022” will be held in the same venue. The agenda for both can be found here.
• Solar Alliance LLC Vice President Harvey Abouelata has been honored as a 2022 recipient of the “Career Achievement Award,” along with two industry colleagues, from the Tennessee Solar Energy Industries Association (TenneSEIA). He received the award during a reception at the fall TenneSEIA conference in Knoxville. Abouelata was a charter member and organizer of the Tennessee chapter of the Solar Energy Industries Association in 2010 and was previously recognized in the greater Knoxville community for his entrepreneurial spirit, earning the “Traction Award” at the annual “Startup Day” in 2015 for what was then ARiES Energy. Abouelata oversaw development of the state’s first utility-scale community solar project at Appalachian Electric Cooperative in New Market. He also brought solar to businesses in historic downtown Morristown and partnered with Wampler’s Farm Sausage as that company added renewables to promote their mission.

From Chattanooga:

• The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is hosting its annual “Entrepreneurship Breakfast” this Thursday (November 10) from 8 to 9:30 a.m. in the Tennessee Room of the University Center, and the public is invited to attend. The event will feature Jennifer Pharr Davis, Founder of Blue Ridge Hiking Company, National Geographic’s “2012 Adventurer of the Year,” and Asheville, NC’s “Entrepreneur of the Year.” There is no charge to attend, but pre-registration is required at this link.
• CO.LAB has vacated its space in The Edney Innovation Center as its lease expired. Until new space is ready in the Society of Work’s new building on the North Shore in January, the team will be working remotely.

From Johnson City:

The final “Founders Meetup” of 2022 from FoundersForge will be held at 12 noon Thursday (November 10) at The Wallace Theatre, 215 East Main Street. During the 90-minute session, Rodolphe Pierre-Louis, Founder of ActionVFX, will address the intriguing topic of “How to Double Your Profits by Blowing Up Your Business.” There are both in-person and virtual options to join. Click here for more information.

From Cookeville:

The annual conference of the Tennessee Renewable Energy & Economic Development Council has been scaled back to a half-day event on December 1 at 37 Cedar Restaurant in Cookeville. Programming begins at 2 p.m. CST and concludes around 7 p.m. after a reception and awards ceremony. Cost to attend is $35 per person. For more details and a link to registration, click here.

From Nashville:

• Launch Tennessee issued its annual report last week in digital format. It spotlights a number of developments including the very successful and first in-person “3686 Festival” since 2019 and the addition of key staff including Lindsey Cox, the new Chief Executive Officer. Here’s a link to the report.
• GoodShip, a provider of a cloud collaboration platform automating the manual tasks of procurement, raised $2.4 million in a funding round led by FUSE, with participation from Cercano Management, Flexport Fund, Endeavors, Sope Creek Capital, and Kindergarten Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to bolster hiring efforts and accelerate development of its analytics and procurement product with insights and collaboration from early shipper and carrier design partners.

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