LaunchTN Annual Report | InvestTN put $14.4 million to work in fiscal 2026
Launch Tennessee invested more in startups over the past year than it did in InvestTN’s first two years combined, according to the organization’s fiscal year 2026 annual report.
InvestTN, LaunchTN’s $70 million equity fund, deployed $14.4 million and backed 53 startups in the fiscal year ending June 30, the report says. Since the fund launched in June 2023, it has invested $27.8 million in 79 companies across 20 industries.
The fund is backed by the U.S. Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative. Founders must secure at least a 1-to-1 private match.
“Each turn of the cycle makes the next one stronger,” Chief Investment Officer Eller Kelliher said in the report.
LaunchTN also reports that companies in its SBIR/STTR Matching Fund program have passed $1 billion in economic impact since the program began in 2017. The organization has made 236 matching awards totaling $35.8 million. That includes $5.1 million to 32 companies this year, among them Knoxville’s Orion Therapeutics and SkyNano.
On the research side, the Tennessee Technology Advancement Consortium links six universities from the University of Memphis to East Tennessee State University. The report credits TTAC with 22 startups launched and 90 new invention disclosures.
LaunchTN also received a $350,000 Kauffman Foundation grant to lead a national study of multi-institution tech transfer offices.
The statewide network grew to nine entrepreneur centers this year with the addition of NOVA Entrepreneur Center in Pulaski. The InvestTN Road Tour reached 10 cities and 591 participants. Tennessee House at SXSW drew 4,753 attendees, a 21% increase over last year.
The report also notes that LaunchTN’s board was dissolved on May 26 for restructuring under new state legislation, with appointments pending as of June 30.
Read the full report from LaunchTN here.
Like what you've read?
Forward to a friend!