Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Public voting is now open for this year’s “What’s the Big Idea? Pitch Competition,” hosted by the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center (KEC).

Through February 19, individuals can vote for their favorite participant(s), and those results will be considered as KEC determines the finalists for the weekend-long activity that concludes with a pitch competition.

There are 28 competitors in this round: (1) Algaeo; (2) AR Hero; (3) B-Roll Bank; (4) Backpacking Meal Prep Service; (5) FarmCare; (6) Fem & Daisy; (7) Franco; (8) Hickory Hedge; (9) Hire a Cyber Pro; (10) Hempy Hens; (11) It Takes a Village; (12) Knoxville Capsule Hotels; (13) Marvelous Monsterpieces; (14) Melissa Merkle Coaching LLC; (15) MetaFlex Therapy Glove; (16) Miracle V. Birth Concierge; (17) The Mighty Wig Rental; (18) Monika Miller; (19) Promethus Barrels; (20) Q’munnity; (21) SimplePost Social; (22) The Sonder Market; (23) SpaceCraft; (24) SpeakBit.mov; (25) Tiny Stage Comedy; (26) TravL; (27) TrustMe Transport; and (28) Vitriform3D.

The videos can be found here where there is also a link to voting.

Judges for the March 5 finale are:

• Damon Rawls, Founder of Innovation Digital Agency and an individual with more than 10 years of helping small businesses with their digital marketing needs.
• Melissa Centers, a board member, consultant, and attorney who provides integrated strategic advice and support to Boards of Directors, founders, and companies of all sizes. Before entering private practice, she was the Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at State Auto Insurance, a $2 billion publicly traded insurance company that also operated a venture capital fund, State Auto Labs.
• Patrick Hunt, a serial entrepreneur and Chief Evangelist for Lirio, the leading personalization engine for digital health. He previously co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of Fiveworx, which was acquired by Lirio.

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