Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

From Nashville:

Community Equity Partners has announced the three finalists selected to compete at next month’s AgeInnovate Pitch Event. It is back for a second year to shine a light on the creative solutions supporting the senior care ecosystem. The three competitors are:

1. SpendCare, a Franklin, TN-based company that seeks to ensure seniors can afford to buy the right thing at the right time with help from their family and their care team, without worrying about misuse or misunderstandings.
2. Hypersense, based in Grand Rapids, MI, which will launch its flagship product named MemorySPEX^®, a first-in-class, artificial intelligence-powered wearable designed to enhance focus, memory, clarity, and mood—without drugs, supplements, or invasive devices—in January at CES in Las Vegas.
3. CareHome Health Solutions, Wilmington, NC-based that is marketing a Care Circle Compliance Hub for Senior Care Administrators.

The three-hour pitch event begins at 5 p.m. CDT on September 17 at FARMUSE, 2517 White Avenue in Nashville. To register, click here.

From College Park, MD, but with Chattanooga Ties:

Amazon just made a bold move into quantum computing with a $36.7 million stake in IonQ, the company that is a partner in the EPB Quantum Network. The investment was revealed in the company’s latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing. That instantly puts the e-commerce giant among the largest tech investors in a publicly traded quantum hardware company. IonQ’s trapped-ion quantum computers already power workloads on AWS’s Braket service, so this deal looks like more than just a passive bet. IonQ shares popped about seven percent after the news.

From Lebanon, but with Statewide Implications:

In a speech in Lebanon last week, the Tennessee Lookout reports that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins defended eliminating more than $31 million in funding to the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, which houses agricultural research and resources for Tennessee farmers and communities in 95 counties.

Rollins defended the reductions, saying, “Those cuts were being made in programs that did not align with the president’s vision of putting farmers first.”

Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden described the reduction as a “repurposing” and said changes were made in research funding based on whether a grant “helps a farmer in the field make more money.” Projects aimed at “clean energy” or based on “racial criteria” were eliminated, he added.

From Tysons, VA, but with Ties to Knoxville:

RegScale, the leading provider of Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM), has announced the promotion of Dale Hoak to Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).

A U.S. Navy veteran and accomplished cybersecurity leader, Hoak joined RegScale as its first security hire and one of the first employees. Since then, he has been instrumental in building the company’s security foundation and guiding it through a period of rapid growth, leading to the successful attainment of our FedRAMP High authorization.

The company is headquartered in Virginia, but has its R&D operations at the University of Tennessee Research Park.

From Chattanooga:

FourBridges Capital Advisors is ranked among the top 10 on Axial’s Top 25 Lower Middle Market Investment Banks for the second quarter of 2025. This is the second time that FourBridges has made Axial’s list of top lower middle market investment banks.

Based in Chattanooga, FourBridges Capital Advisors specializes in industrial, commercial, and residential services as well as manufacturing and consumer products. “Operating in an extremely competitive market, we’re gratified that FourBridges stood out among the many high quality firms out there,” said Managing Director Andy Stockett.

“We’re pleased to be recognized for our continued focus on owner entrepreneurs and solving not just the financial challenges they face when selling their business, but the emotional and personal factors that accompany the process,” Stockett added. “Our attention to detail and commitment to dive for loose footballs probably helped as well,” he added.

Founded in 2009, Axial brings together American small business owners and lower middle market M&A professionals on the industry’s most trusted and advanced online M&A platform.

Pathway Lending, a Nashville-based nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and small business lender, has announced that Paige McVity of Chattanooga has joined as East Tennessee Regional Director.

In that role, her primary responsibilities are to drive loan production across East Tennessee through strategic partnerships, team leadership, and targeted outreach in CDFI-qualified areas, which include low-and moderate-income areas. McVity and her team plan to reach Pathway’s goal to inject $12 million of capital into East Tennessee communities in 2025 that will help small businesses grow, finance more affordable housing opportunities, and increase sustainability measures.

McVity joins Pathway Lending with more than two decades of experience in banking, lending, and operations, most recently working as the Senior Vice President at United Community in Chattanooga. Prior to that, she served as a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan officer at BrightBridge Capital, also in Chattanooga.

From Prospect, TN:

Word reached us that Sam Hart, who turned his passion for manufacturing as a journeyman machinist into a 25-year career at the Y-12 National Security Complex before later working another 18 years as a part-time Business Consultant for the Knoxville Chamber, has died. He passed away on August 6, and memorial services were held August 9.

Hart is survived by his three adoring daughters and sons-in-law: Donna and Mark Dudek, Yvonne and Andrea Buzzini, and Catherine and Randy Jameson, and grandchildren: Elizabeth Mauldin-Pakdaman; Cole and Avery Jameson; and Ettore and Ida Rose Buzzini.

 

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