CO.LAB announces 16 start-ups to pitch at next week’s “Demo Night”
Twelve weeks of hard work by 16 companies culminates a week from Thursday (July 26) when Chattanooga’s CO.LAB holds a “Demo Night” for its two summer accelerators.
Ten start-ups are pitching in the organization’s first-ever Consumer Goods Accelerator, while eight are in the well-known GIGTANK program. The finale takes place beginning at 6 p.m. at the Waterhouse Pavilion at Miller Plaza. Food and beverages will be served. Entry is free and open to the public. Click here to register.
“CO.LAB’s support of high-tech and consumer-focused entrepreneurs reflects the best of our region’s entrepreneurial assets,” Marcus Shaw, the organization’s Chief Executive Office, said. “Chattanooga’s legacy of building strong consumer brands is rooted in our startup spirit and quest for our most fulfilled lifestyle, a passion we continue to see in our Consumer Goods companies. In addition, our GIGTANK companies have leveraged our incredible internet infrastructure and network of mentors and advisors to launch companies that are best positioned to grow here in the Gig City.”
The 16 companies, ranging from breweries to software providers, have collaborated with business experts and mentors to fast-track the development of their start-ups. Designed for high-growth ventures, the two accelerators support entrepreneurs working to scale their companies through the pursuit of pilot partnerships, angel or venture capital, and new customers.
Now in its sixth year, the GIGTANK Accelerator attracts entrepreneurs from across the nation to take advantage of the Chattanooga’s lightning-fast, low latency broadband network. The program has earned global recognition for becoming the world’s only start-up accelerator wired to a metro-wide gigabit network.
Participants in the inaugural Consumer Goods Accelerator are:
- Cashew, a restaurant that offers vegan cuisine and baked goods, including cashew cheese that is distributed to regional restaurants and retail stores.
- Chattanooga Sports Leagues which plans and manages recreational sport events and programs for young professionals.
- The Chef & His Wife, a producer of healthy pre-packaged meals as well as a variety of pimento cheeses.
- Fleetwood Coffee, the revitalization of a nearly century-old coffee brand originated in Chattanooga.
- Hutton & Smith, a brewery and taproom that brews and distributes craft beer to cities across Tennessee.
- LoAdebar, a producer of energy bars made from natural and organic ingredients.
- Muse + Metta, a producer of kombucha which is made in six flavors from all-natural ingredients.
- Site Seven which designs and executes specialized camper build-outs for Mercedes-Benz Sprinters, Dodge Promasters, and Ford Transit Vans.
- SWAYY, a design and manufacturing company that produces fully-insulated hammocks.
- Weekly Fig, a local online farmers market that specializes in home delivery and meal planning, enabling customers to save time on grocery shopping and researching recipes.
GIGTANK participants are:
- Big Bang, a cloud based IoT platform that works with small and medium-sized businesses to create connected devices and applications.
- BrewFund, an online platform that builds continuous customer loyalty for breweries by leveraging technologies that provide peer-to-peer gift giving, sales optimization and mug club management.
- Blue Spatial makes mapping and location analytics software that help organizations gain insight so they can make better decisions.
- Deep Mapping maps and monitors underground infrastructure by integrating multi-modal sensing, gigabit networking, data analytics and augmented reality. Deep Mapping is a project of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
- IMSA provides risk data and analytics for large sea bearing yachts and shipping companies.
- TenGIG, an online gaming festival in Chattanooga, powered by EPB, the nation’s No. 1 gaming Internet Service Provider.
