Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Knoxville Business News Tennessee Mountain Scenery Background
October 22, 2020 | Tom Ballard

Three more winners selected in latest “Pitch for Good” event hosted by the Nashville Entrepreneur Center

The Nashville Entrepreneur Center (EC) hosted its latest “Pitch for Good” competition yesterday, this time focused on start-ups in the music and entertainment sectors.

As has been the case with four previous editions, there were six competitors divided into two categories – less than $25,000 in revenue, defined as Stage 1, and between $25,000 and $1,000,000, defined as Stage 2.

Winning their respective categories and $2,000 each were FanFlex and the TM Inc. App, while CUE Audio captured the award as the audience favorite. By being selected as the favorite of those viewing the event, CUE Audio was awarded a $1,500 credit toward EC programming.

Erik Nelson, Founder of FanFlex, described the start-up and its app as “bringing live music back to venues.” As further described on its webpage, the app “is able to create shows out of thin air in places that the acts may never have considered performing.” FanFlex serves 150 venues in 20 states.

Timothy Burkhead, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TM Inc., described the app as a tour version of Slack, supporting agents, managers of musicians, bands and venues in an integrated, more efficient manner.

Ira Akers, Co-Founder of CUE Audio, described the company as an offline, network-free communications protocol using ultrasonic audio to transmit data between any microphone and speaker. One of its signature clients is the New Orleans Saints where the company has created a synchronized light show that involves the mobile devices of everyone in attendance.

The other three presenters were:

  • Riley Vasquez, Founder of Tour Collective that helps connect those organizing tours and individuals who are looking for jobs as members of the touring crew, making sure it is a good match for both parties. It was described by one of the judges as a talent agency for tours.
  • Kevin McCarthy, Co-Founder and CEO of We Should Write Sometime, a free app to help songwriters save time finding and connecting with other songwriters around them to set up the perfect co-writes. He noted that the average number of co-writers on the latest Billboard “Hot 100” list is 5.5 individuals.
  • Sam Brooker, Co-Founder of WINNR that is a social gaming platform to help individuals compete with individuals with similar skills levels in a variety of sports.

Judges for yesterday’s competition were: (1) Gil Beverly, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer for the Tennessee Titans; (2) Brian France, former Chairman and CEO of NASCAR and Founder of Silver Falcon Capital; (3) Sammy Rubin, Co-Founder of Triller and Founder of Big Room; and (4) Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy of Country Music.


Don’t Miss Out on the Southeast’s Latest Entrepreneurial, Business, & Tech News!

Sign-up to get the Teknovation Newsletter in your inbox each morning!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.


No, thanks!