“Innov865 Week” dates announced, applications open to pitch at “Startup Day”
The Innov865 Alliance has announced the dates for the 10th annual edition of its “Startup Day” as well as other plans for “Innov865 Week” in Knoxville. The latter begins Friday September 16, and runs through Friday, September 23.
“Startup Day,” the signature event of the celebration, is set for September 20 at The Mill & Mine, and applications are now being accepted from start-ups located in the 865 area code that want to pitch their businesses to win up to $10,000 in cash prizes. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. EDT June 24, and the link is here.
In addition to “Startup Day,” the 2022 edition of “Innov865 Week” will feature a variety of other pitch showcases, speakers, workshops, networking opportunities, happy hours and tours throughout the week. This year, the Innov865 Alliance will launch track programming to guide and individualize each participant’s experience based on their interests.
Programs within each track will be supported by Knoxville-based businesses and organizations that specialize in that category. Each path highlights various parts of Innov865’s mission to develop, support and promote the Knoxville region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and its collaborative effort to celebrate and showcase Knoxville as a great place for entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses and increase access to capital. This year’s offered tracks include: innovation, education, maker, culture and investor.
Founding members of the alliance include, in alphabetical order: City of Knoxville; Knoxville Chamber; Knoxville Entrepreneur Center; Launch Tennessee; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; PYA, the power behind teknovation.biz; Three Roots Capital; Tennessee Valley Authority; University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville’s Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; UT Research Foundation; UT Research Park at Cherokee Farm; and Veteran Ventures Capital.
