Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

From Chattanooga:

The second annual “CO.MOBILITY Summit” begins later today with a reception and continues through Wednesday. Organized by The Company Lab, the event will feature several keynote speakers and a number of panels. You can learn more about it by reading our recent preview article in teknovation.biz. We’ll be covering the festivities.

From Knoxville:

• The Knoxville Entrepreneur Center (KEC) is holding its monthly “In the Room” event with Gera Grinberg from 8 to 10 a.m. EDT May 23 at its offices on Market Square. This month’s focus will be: (1) a discussion of the topic of “What do investors really care about?”; and (2) a “Hot Seat Halfway-Thru Review” of all four past participants in the grilling experience. To register, click here.
• The day before (May 22) from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. at KEC, the Center is joining with 100Knoxville and Three Roots Capital for a discussion about how to maintain financial structures and systems so that a business is positioned to access capital. Specific financial topics will include: (1) Personal and Professional Credit; (2) Financial Documentation Process; (3) Necessary Records and Length of Time; (4) Best Business Structure(s); (5) Where to Find Resources; (6) Different Types of Funding; and (7) Timeline of Funding Process. To register, click here.

From Oak Ridge:

The Knoxville edition of the TNLedger online newspaper has cast its spotlight on Susan Ochs, Engagements Program Manager in the Office of Technology Transfer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She joined the lab with 20 years of experience in government (Department of Energy and Department of Defense) and private sector business operations. Ochs describes her role as connecting researchers and companies who take lab-developed innovations to market with the goal of advancing the nation’s economic competitiveness. To read the article, click here.

From the Upper Cumberland Region:

The Biz Foundry‘s Powered by Her group is holding three upcoming events.

• From 6 to 9 p.m. CDT on May 22, the Bookclub will discuss will discuss the book “Wolfpack” by Abby Wambach at an event at PLENTY Downtown Bookshop, 48 West Broad Street in Cookeville. To register for the discussion, click here.
• On May 28 beginning at 12 noon CDT, the Carthage group will meet at the Smith County Chamber of Commerce, 939 Upper Ferry Road, for a discussion on how inspiring leaders have leveraged community support to grow their businesses. Lunch will be served compliments of Bank Tennessee. To register, click here.
• Finally, from 6 to 8 p.m. CDT June 6, there will be a meet and greet at Dogwood Exchange LLC, 4950 U.S. 127 in Crossville. Heather Karellas of Streetlamp Creative will lead the discussion about “Storytelling Through Marketing.” To register, click here.

From Nashville:

Angel AI, a parent-designed artificial intelligence (AI) platform that provides an age-appropriate internet experience for children aged 5 to 12 years old, has secured a $4.75 million seed funding round led by Cortical Ventures with significant participation from Village Global and several other prominent angel investors.

Founded by Tim Estes, who also serves as Chief Executive Officer, the start-up uses the most powerful and advanced AI technology, such as large language models, natural language processing (NLP), speech recognition and synthesis, and agent-based systems with memory. This technology allows Angel AI to generate age-appropriate answers to children’s questions, delivering compelling but safe content and entertainment. Additionally, Angel’s platform has the ability to learn, personalize, and understand the child over time. The AI supports children’s curiosity and encourages them to find answers by providing multi-modal content at their comprehension level, including video and audio, to enhance the learning experience.

Angel’s content is also free from distracting advertisements or predatory monetization tactics, which have become commonplace in children’s digital experiences–often to their detriment. In stark contrast to the status quo, Angel is also free of data collection for reselling and always will be.

Another from Nashville:

GoodShip, a provider of a platform for freight network orchestration and procurement, has raised $8 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from Ironspring Ventures, Chicago Ventures, FUSE VC, Cercano Management, 53 Stations, Andrew Silver, Nichole Wischoff, and other angels. The company intends to use the funds to expand the team, accelerate feature development, and support a growing roster of customers that includes many of the nation’s largest shippers.

From Memphis:

• Launch Tennessee, Epicenter, and Pinnacle Financial Partners are holding the next “Capital Conversations” this Thursday (May 23) from 4 to 6 p.m. CDT at Railgarten, 2166 Central Ave. The event will feature LaunchTN’s Capital team, along with financial sector experts from Pinnacle Financial Partners, and representatives from the Epicenter Memphis team.
• Two Memphis companies – one a household name, the other not so much – are among 64 companies and organizations from across the country recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce for their contributions to increasing U.S. exports. Ace Pump Corporation was one of 13 companies receiving the “E” Star Award for Exports, which recognizes previous “E” Awardees that have reported four years of additional export growth. Eleven entities, including FedEx Corporation, were awarded the “E” Star Award for Export Service, which recognizes previous “E” Awardees that have shown four years of continued support of exporters since first winning the “E” Award.

 

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