Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Overcast skies didn’t dampen the spirits of more than 1,200 registrants for the third Nashville Entrepreneur Day at GEODIS Park. Founders, investors, ecosystem supporters, and business-curious individuals filled the concourse of the ballpark to learn about Nashville’s emerging entrepreneurs.

Sam Davidson, CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center (EC), said he and his team came up with the idea in the spring of last year.

“It is a community event for the community, by the community, and that’s what we love to see here in Nashville. We are the kind of city that embraces all types of businesses – any industry, any stage,” he said.

Making an Impact

For the spring event, ten companies from vastly different industries competed for EC Impact grants worth $25,000, $10,000, and $5,000 in non-dilutive funding. These businesses ranged from mom-and-pop restaurants and meal planning to interior plant design, healthcare, and SaaS startups.

For example, the first-place winner, Othman Ouenes, the founder of Fidari Inc, has built a care coordination platform for community oncology clinics. In a lively presentation, he explained how the platform standardizes patient navigation, supportive care, and billing for health systems. It has already served more than 12,000 patients.

The second-place winner, NEUROFIT, is also building in the healthcare space, targeting the issue of burnout among hospital staff. The founders, a husband and wife team, Andrew and Loren Hogue, said their 7-day stress relief techniques have been clinically validated across 16,000+ real-world users.

And the third-place winner, Savannah Toal, founder of Plant Savvy, started a company focused on making corporate spaces warmer through plant design and plant maintenance. She said her biggest bottleneck to taking on more business is the capacity of her team.

“This opportunity gives those businesses a chance to interact with our community, who can in turn support them as customers, funders, or even as employees, and definitely as advocates to share the word about what these companies are doing,” Davidson added about the presenting companies.

See the full list of every company that presented in the Impact Grant showcase.

The room for the Impact Grant showcase was packed to the brim, standing room only. Davidson said that’s what the event is all about: connecting communities and companies.

Since GEODIS Park was built, the team there has had a community mindset at its core,” Davidson said. “It’s been a natural pairing for us at the EC, a perfect match.

In addition to the impact grants, 13 companies presented as part of the Healthcare Innovation showcase. Those companies included: ACUITYhealth, Capital Pulse, ChromatoCare Innovations, EndoLimb Orthoplastic Solutions (previously featured in Teknovation), Insiteflow, Lanyard Health, Medstream Solutions, NatureFound, NeXtriage, Radical Shoots, Sensory Bridges (previously featured in Teknovation), VoluMetrix, and Yeji X.

“If you are curious, what does entrepreneurship look like in Nashville? This is the place to see it,” Davidson said.

The next Nashville Entrepreneur Day at GEODIS Park is scheduled for the first week of December, coinciding with the close of the fall EC accelerator cohorts.

Find more information about the EC here.

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