The spark is real | Community welcomes 12 clean-tech energy companies to Knoxville
The community welcomed 12 new companies to Knoxville for the Innovation Crossroads program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Spark Cleantech Accelerator at the UT Research Park.
The ground level of the Institute for Advanced Materials & Manufacturing at the University of Tennessee Research Park was packed to the brim on Wednesday morning for a sold-out Premier Partner’s event, hosted by the Knoxville Chamber. It was an obvious nod to the overwhelming community support for two key entrepreneurial programs fueling growth in the East Tennessee region.
The Innovation Crossroads (IC) program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been running for eight years and is welcoming its ninth cohort. And, the Spark Cleantech Accelerator (CTA) at the UT Research Park has been running for three years and is welcoming its fourth cohort. The latter program was strategically designed to further engage the fellows in the IC program, helping extend their stay in Knoxville, advance connections, and (hopefully) convert them to the Spark Cleantech Incubator program, which helps connect entrepreneurial researchers to lab space.
The model, which ORNL and UT developed in a direct partnership, has been successful. Spark has nurtured 40 companies, resulting in 196 high-paying jobs, several dozen internships, over $100 million worth of investment and grant funding, and a 77 percent retention of company presence in Tennessee.
“These programs may not be big and new and shiny anymore, but the advantage for these companies is the mentorship and guidance of all the founders who walked before them,” said Dan Miller, the Program Manager for the Innovation Crossroads program. “There are also a lot of people in this room who contribute to the success of these companies. Thank you.”
Dozens of representatives from Knoxville’s entrepreneurial partner organizations, business leaders, university faculty, founders, and community members showed up in support.
UT System President and serial entrepreneur, Randy Boyd, also spoke at the reception about the heart of the Knoxville community and its unwavering support for founders.
“One of the things you see here is a community that works together,” Boyd said.
The 12 founders are embarking on the 12-week CTA program, which started at the beginning of the week. For their participation, the founders each receive a $15,000 stipend for travel, living expenses, and business milestones, mentorship, connections, training workshops, and partnership opportunities with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), UT, the City of Knoxville, and Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council (TAEBC) members.
The founders are included in the Innovation Crossroads program, which includes going through the CTA:
- Alex Readel, Applied 2D Materials
- Evan Stacy, Lumios Materials
- Brian Washington, AluminAiry
- Helen Banner, ALGENOVAS
- Viktor Zenkov, Effusio
Read more about the IC 2025 cohort on Teknovation.
The founders who are specific to the CTA’s 2025 cohort include:
- Kendall Byrd, Caddis Technology
- Ian Ramsdell, Kupros Technology
- Eric Heikkenen, NXT MFG
- Ginger Watkins, ORB Technologies
- Maged Guerguis, OTTO Prefab
Read more about the CTA 2025 cohort on Teknovation.
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