Nashville Entrepreneur Center welcomes 71 startups for spring accelerator programs
The companies span three tracks Project Healthcare, TakeOff, and InFlight and represent a wide mix of experience levels and industries.
Seventy-one startups led by 88 founders begin the Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s Spring 2026 accelerator programs this week, marking one of the organization’s largest cohorts to date.
The companies span three tracks: Project Healthcare, TakeOff, and InFlight, and represent a wide mix of experience levels and industries.
The numbers tell a compelling story.
According to the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, 60% are first-time founders, 37% are women-owned. 44% are led by founders of color, and nine are veteran-owned. And, six of the founders even traveled internationally to participate.
Notably, 20 of the companies are already generating revenue.
Project Healthcare, the EC’s healthcare-focused track, includes 22 companies and 35 founders tackling some of the most persistent challenges in the industry.
The program also includes five companies participating through a new partnership between the EC and Life Science Tennessee to support commercializing technologies.
The Project Healthcare accelerator drew applicants from around the world.
TakeOff is best for early-stage startups that have a goal to go-to-market. The program is specific to Nashville-based founders in any industry with a validated business plan looking to launch in the next 2-3 months.
And InFlight focuses on companies that already have a product offering, but need to build some additional momentum. The accelerator helps high-growth founders in any industry looking to accelerate their success and make meaningful connections.
According to the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, this cohort includes a deep bench of experienced repeat founders, academic researchers, and first-time entrepreneurs, creating what the EC views as a valuable concentration of talent.
The EC argues that the real impact comes from “founder density.”
Founders will share workspaces, compare fundraising notes, meet potential partners, and build relationships inside Nashville’s healthcare, technology, and investment community.
The Spring 2026 accelerator officially began on February 25 and concludes with pitches at Nashville Entrepreneur Day on May 21.
Read more about the founders in this piece by Rob Williams at the Nashville EC.
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