Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

From Chattanooga:

Dynamo Ventures has announced the close of its third fund at $54 million, more than tripling the size of its inaugural fund. The raise underscores Dynamo’s focus on supporting early stage founders who are reimagining the way the world’s goods are made, moved, and monetized — across supply chains, logistics, and the foundational industries that power the global economy.

The milestone coincides with another significant development: a secondary transaction that provided early liquidity to LPs in Dynamo’s $18 million Fund I (2016). Kline Hill Partners acquired a significant stake in the fund, creating returns over 4x and signaling strong conviction in Dynamo’s portfolio. The transaction unlocked value for investors who backed the firm over eight years ago, with overall performance placing the fund in the top decile of its vintage. While secondaries once signaled distress, they’ve now become a core part of the venture liquidity playbook. According to PitchBook, 71 percent of exit dollars in 2024 came from secondaries.

“In a market where traditional exits via IPOs and M&A remain sluggish, we’ve embraced creative avenues to generate liquidity,” said Santosh Sankar, General Partner at Dynamo Ventures. “This secondary sale not only validates the strength of our first fund, featuring four fund returners, including unicorns, but also reflects our responsibility to build for the long haul while returning cash to our earliest backers.”

From Knoxville:

The Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and its Center for Energy, Transportation and Environmental Policy, have issued a “Save the Date” for the 2025 edition of the Southeast Energy Policy Forum.

The event, scheduled for August 5 and 6 at the School, will foster discussions around four key questions:

1. What can we expect from the new administration?
2. How much energy demand growth should we expect?
3. How can we spur the infrastructure development necessary to meet the demand growth?
4. What is energy security, and how does international trade affect our energy system?

From Oak Ridge:

Mark Field will serve as the Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce while the search continues for a permanent leader. According to an announcement on social media, Field will be in Oak Ridge on Mondays, and the Chamber staff will remain available throughout the week to assist with membership, events, and office matters.

Field retired near the end of 2024 as Senior Vice President of Investor Development and Experience at the Knoxville Chamber, where he served for 17 years. As a Certified Chamber Executive with over 25 years of experience in healthcare and marketing management, he brings deep knowledge and leadership to our organization.

From Washington, DC, but with Tennessee Ties:

Two announcements this week from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).

1. The organization that covers parts of 13 states announced the dates of its annual conference that is hosted in the home state of its Federal Co-Chair. The event is scheduled for October 6 and 7 at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, MD. The theme of the 2025 conference is “Appalachian Places: Growing Local Economies.” Registration will open later this summer.
2. ARC also announced that it has awarded Dataseam a nearly $500,000 contract under its Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE) program to prepare for the expansion of a remote work initiative across 49 counties in six Appalachian states, including Tennessee. The planning project will formalize partnerships and create detailed implementation plans for training providers and community organizations to help Appalachians obtain and stay in remote jobs with national employers. The project will focus on engaging Appalachians who face
   barriers to employment due to childcare or eldercare, physical and mental limitations, lack of transportation, or other barriers. Dataseam and partners bring a combined $125,100 in matching funds to this project, which will produce six reports, including a program governance framework, a project management plan, and a pre-employment training curriculum. Among the partners is the Greene County Partnership.

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