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May 15, 2014 | Tom Ballard

Fiveworx, Vendor Registry do well at Baker Donelson investor event

Baker DonelsonIt was a really good day in Atlanta yesterday for two Knoxville start-ups – Fiveworx and Vendor Registry. Both have been the subject of numerous articles on teknovation.biz. Fiveworx was in last year’s Cleantech Open finals, and Vendor Registry won the inaugural “The TENN.”

Yesterday, the two technology-based companies again were rated very high during Baker Donelson’s second annual “Southeastern Regional Capital Connections” event. Just garnering an invitation was significant, with 60 emerging companies from five states vying for 15 slots.

During an initial round of five-minute pitches, each of the companies presented to a roomful of investors. Later that afternoon, the investors selected two groups – one composed of the six companies with which all of them wanted to have follow-up discussions and another with six companies where one or more investors wanted to engage in discussions.

Both Fiveworx, represented by Patrick Hunt, and Vendor Registry, represented by Chris Van Beke, placed in the elite category, giving them the opportunity to have follow-on discussions with all investors.

Last year’s inaugural event resulted in three companies receiving $2.5 million in funding.

The other 13 presenting companies, including two others from Tennessee, were:

  • AgSmarts, Martin, TN;
  • Atlas RFID, Birmingham, AL;
  • GetHealthy, Inc., New Orleans, LA;
  • iQuantifi, Franklin, TN;
  • Longstreet Solutions, Inc., Atlanta, GA;
  • MetroTech Net, also from Atlanta;
  • Pandoodle, Lexington, SC;
  • Reach3D Medical, Suwanee, GA;
  • RentPost, Inc., Atlanta;
  • Retrofit America, Atlanta;
  • Sensiotec, Inc., Atlanta;
  • Validus Solutions, Inc., Norcross, GA; and
  • WACSI, Atlanta.

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