Participants in Techstars Cohort 3 introduced to the Knoxville community
Sponsors of the program express their support for the 14 entrepreneurs and their hope that they will remain in the community when the three months end.
Each speaker at the Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator launch event said the same thing: we want to help you be successful, and we want you to stay in Knoxville.
They were representatives of the “Big 3” – Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the University of Tennessee (UT) System – that have sponsored what is now the third cohort of the “Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator.” Along with Techstars Managing Director Brandon Bruce, senior executives from each of the organizations spoke at an event Monday evening where the start-ups in Cohort 3 were introduced to the community.
After the second year when all but one of the 10 companies participated mostly virtually, it felt good to see the energy in the room as the business community came together to show the 14 entrepreneurs from five countries the “love” for what they are doing in their 10 start-ups.
Monday’s event marked the beginning of the second week for the teams who spent several days last week in a team-building exercise at Maryville College. This week is devoted to one day each visiting ORNL, TVA, and UT, Knoxville. Those visits are designed to showcase the technology assets that each sponsor has, a fact that became the magnetic attraction for the start-ups to spend three months in the region to improve their products or services.
“I’m incredibly excited to be here,” said UT President Randy Boyd. “I would have crashed the party if I was not invited because I love entrepreneurs. We want you to be successful here.”
Boyd knows a thing or two about being a successful entrepreneur. As most readers know, he founded Radio Systems Corporation in 1991. When he sold it 29 years later, the company employed more than 800 people and designed and distributed more than 2,000 pet products under brand names such as Invisible Fence®, PetSafe®, ScoopFree®, SportDOG®, and Kurgo®, among others.
In his comments, Boyd stressed the importance of having a place where people want to live, and Susan Hubbard, ORNL Deputy Lab Director for Science and Technology, picked up on that point. “This is an incredible ecosystem; there is so much support for entrepreneurs.” She concluded by reminding the 14 participants that “what you get out of it is what you put into it.”
Joe Hoagland, TVA’s Vice President of Enterprise Relations and Innovation, added his welcome, noting that “TVA has always been about innovation,” and that is even more critically important in today’s challenging environment for utility providers. “We have to have a lot of people willing to take risks. We are really glad you are here, and we hope you stay here.”
In May, the 10 companies will take to the road, visiting four cities to make individuals in those communities more aware of their efforts and also promoting the Knoxville-Oak Ridge entrepreneurial ecosystem. Those stops include Atlanta, Chattanooga during the CO.MOBILITY Summit, Cincinnati, and Nashville.
Demo Day for the entrepreneurs is June 6, starting at 4 p.m. EDT at Regas Square, 333 West Depot Avenue. To register, click here.
As previously reported in teknovation.biz, the participants in Cohort 3 are:
AutoMetrics is committed to enhancing manufacturing quality by building the machine brain for industrial automation. Powered by machine learning and analytics, its Inspection 4.0 technology provides real-time monitoring for welding and other industrial operations to reduce costly defects and downtime.
Dig Robotics develops a dedicated guidance and control system for excavators. It improves efficiency by 40 percent by ensuring bucket fill every cycle, while reducing excavation time, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Flutter Care builds digital health tools to promote maternal and fetal health. The Flutter Care Pregnancy Health Companion includes an always-on real-time fetal kick counter to promote inclusive, informed, and accessible perinatal care.
Narval develops synthetic Antibody Mimetic ProteinsTM (AMP) to replace conventional antibodies in novel first-in-class therapeutics and make antibody drugs accessible to everyone. The company makes antibodies as affordable, accessible, and easy to use as small molecule drugs.
NeuroX1 utilizes high-performance computing and machine learning to identify and treat neurodegenerative diseases that affect millions of people each year, reinvigorating the neurodegenerative pipeline.
NKA Bio develops new medicines to improve critical care. Its lead product, NKA01, is a temperature-stable antibody for trauma patients. With an injection of NKA01 by a trained Emergency Medical Technician and Paramedic, more time is available for transport and lifesaving surgery.
Orbital Arc develops novel ion thrusters using a patent-pending ionization technology that produces ions at about 4 times as efficiently as competing Hall Effect and gridded ion thrusters. These electric propulsion thrusters operate at higher thrust while in low-power regimes.
Perleybrook Labs seamlessly connects to existing ONVIF IP (Open Network Video Interface Forum) cameras or proprietary USB cameras, transforming them into intelligent mounted vision sensors. By continuously monitoring the workplace, the company’s lead product named Flagman can identify potential safety hazards and alert personnel in real time, helping prevent accidents before they occur. The company is already looking to hire someone in Knoxville as a Field Application Engineer. View the job opening here.
3D Solar is enabling the carbon-zero future by engineering highly efficient, easy-to-manufacture, deploy-anywhere solar. Their process allows micro-solar 3D cells to be manufactured close to carbon neutral by re-using glass from discarded solar panels.
Witching Hour utilizes advanced materials to reduce faults and ignitions of power lines that can lead to catastrophic forest fires. The start-up’s technology can reduce mitigation costs by up to 97 percent.
