Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Innovation initiatives in four cities will be spotlighted over three days when the Tennessee House returns to Austin, TX during the annual South By Southwest (SXSW) gathering on March 7-9. Organized by Launch Tennessee with support from a number of organizations, the event will be held at the Electric Shuffle in Austin.

The full schedule can be found here. We pulled these highlights from the agenda.

1. The festivities open at 4:30 p.m. CST on March 7 with an invitation-only happy hour. To request an invite, submit your information at this link. What’s billed as the “UT-Off” will begin at 7 p.m. CST and include a bottle of the limited-edition Tennessee Orange nail polish, custom-mixed by Knoxville-based start-up Blank Beauty.
2. The first half of March 8 is all about Chattanooga, starting with “Nooga in the Morning” that begins with chicken and waffle bites at 10 a.m. CST. From 11 a.m. to 12 noon, the focus shifts to a session titled “Momentum in Mobility” that will feature Tasia Malakasis, The Company Lab’s  Chief Executive Officer, and representatives of Motoring Lab, Tranco, and Volkswagen. From 1 to 2 p.m. CST, the focus turns to the Chattanooga Quantum Collaborative, EPB, IonQ, and Qubitekk, including a discussion of the latter’s start-up journey to acquisition and lessons learned along the way. Finally, the spotlights on Chattanooga concludes with Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly taking the stage to host a showcase of exciting and groundbreaking start-ups from the Chattanooga region.
3. After closing for two hours for a refresh, the Electric Shuffle reopens at 5 p.m. CST with the spotlight now on Music City, appropriately dubbed “Nash at Night.” First up is a discussion by leaders from Oracle leadership about why Nashville is destined to serve as the company’s world headquarters, what they hope to bring to Music City, and what a future rooted in Tennessee will look like. After two one-hour sessions titled “Welcome to Nashville: Where Creative Brands Thrive” and “Start-up Spotlight,” the next three hours are devoted to Nashville’s rich music history. That includes a two-hour Hip Hop Karaoke event followed by a final hour devoted to what is described as a “once-in-a-lifetime celebration with a late-night line dance class, set to an exclusive soundtrack of the country’s biggest hits over the last 100 years, remixed like you’ve never heard them before.”
4. On March 9, Memphis has a full day of activities under the “901 Day” brand, starting at 10 a.m. CST with some soulful gospel music and a breakfast spread including biscuits and gravy, plus a taste of Texas with breakfast quesadillas. Programming starts at 11 a.m. CST in a session led by Ankur Jain, Chief Data and Analytics Officer for ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. His topic is “The Power of Data at St. Jude.” Two other sessions before a midday refresh will focus on FedEx and the new xAI facility. When programming resumes at 6 p.m. CST, it will be for the “901 Day Start-up Pitch” event followed by an Elvis lookalike contest and a GloRilla Glowstick Dance Party.

To register to attend any day, click on this link.

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