THE LARGE 36|86 Entrepreneurship and Technology Conference each summer in Nashville has become "a home run for LaunchTN and the state and an important element of some of the successes we are now seeing," Launch Tennessee CEO Charlie Brock recently told Venture Nashville.
During this year's event, roughly 40 prominent speakers will address the projected 1,000-plus attendees. The core event is June 5-6 with a Student event June 4 and a Growth seminar June 7th. The annual "Village 36" cohort of startups is carefully vetted by Launch Tennessee, drawing from prospects identified in Tennessee and seven other southeastern states and the District of Columbia.
Jill Van Beke, Launch Tennessee's director of entrepreneurship and innovation, recently told VNC the selection process drew upon "dozens of different relationships we have built over the past few years. Referrals from past Village companies, regional venture firms, and teams from Southeastern accelerators, entrepreneur centers and [executives running] co-working spaces helped us build a very strong, diverse portfolio for this year's conference."
Regarding diversity, LaunchTN previously announced, "Half of the Village 36 companies have founders from under-represented groups in technology such as women, minorities and [U.S. military] veterans."
Of those 36 startups and their teams chosen to represent the "Village 36" cohort, 15 startups are from Tennessee -- One each from Memphis and Chattanooga, 2 from Knoxville and 11 from Nashville.
Fully 21, or 58%, of the Village 36 are from beyond the state line: Alexandria-VA (1), Charlotte-NC (1), Covington-KY (1), District of Columbia (1), Durham (3), Huntsville (1), Lexington-KY (1), Myrtle Beach (1), Pikeville-KY (1), Raleigh (2), Savannah (1), Tampa (1).
Asked whether Village 36 selections represent, in part, an effort to lure promising out-of-state startups to Tennessee, Van Beke said, "Our intention in recruiting startups for 36|86 is not toward relocation from other Southeastern states. We certainly would like more investors with boots and money on the ground here, but there is absolutely nothing predatory on the startup side."
In line with that, Van Beke also said "...the tone we've set for ourselves with 36|86 -- collaborative leadership along with a high value proposition with respect to learning, networking, hospitality and entertainment."
Jill Van Beke
"Our team spends considerable time making 36|86 a valuable experience for everyone, in the planning, at the conference and with follow up," she said at another point.
Van Beke also listed the forms of value different 36|86 stakeholders see in the major regional event (quoting):
Investors who very efficiently see a region's worth of great deal flow
Sponsors that get more geographic reach for their dollars
Entrepreneurs (those in the Village and those attending) get to interact with the national slate of investors and speakers we can attract with our regional scope
Speakers get a stage to communicate with an audience of innovators and influencers from across an entire region to which they may not normally have access
"Tennessee gets to host it all -- putting our state on the national stage as a leader and a collaborator," Van Beke added.
This year's event is projected to attract more than 1,000 attendees, including more than 100 investors. The members of 36|86 2017 follow below.
2017 VILLAGE 36 COMPANIES
Acivilate is a for-profit SaaS social enterprise. We improve productivity for courts, jails and community supervision, help leverage community resources, and help ex-offenders demonstrate they are on the right track. (Atlanta)
Apto is the first on-demand culture and language community, which simulates real-life scenarios in order to help internationals and their families successfully transition to regional life in the US. (Nashville)
Bark uses machine learning algorithms to detect and alert parents to issues on their children's social media, text messaging, and email accounts, such as cyberbullying, sexting, and suicidal thoughts. (Savannah)
Bit Source is a software development company that designs, develops, and deploys websites, applications, games, tools, interactions, and software solutions. (Pikeville, KY)
BlueCart saves restaurants and suppliers time and money, without sacrificing their hard earned relationships. By streamlining the ordering process, restaurants place orders with suppliers, and suppliers receive orders in real-time. (Washington, DC)
Brytecore applies machine learning behavioral intelligence from collective sources to predict the timing of home buyer purchase decisions. Clients see an average 300% increase in lead conversion. (Atlanta)
Cathedral Leasing is a specialty finance company using a cloud-based platform for a quick, easy application process for instant credit decisions on commercial and heavy equipment. (Durham)
CloudTags is the creator of the Connected Store. We work with digitally native brands and retailers to power data-driven pop-ups. We track all browse-data, sales and customer identification online afterward. (Atlanta)
Collider makes Orchid, a proprietary machine that produces production quality parts in traditional manufacturing materials. Our fully automated process eliminates costly tools and machinery for volumes <2000 parts. (Chattanooga)
Curu is a robo-advisor for credit. The web and mobile app find opportunities to improve your credit score and automates them. (Charlotte)
Adtech cyber security software that eliminates advertising fraud, saving advertisers and publishers billions, annually. We are the Nortons of AdTech. (Tampa)
EVAmore is an online platform that automates the process of booking live entertainment for private events. (Nashville)
Faros is uniquely qualified to answer the real question in healthcare analytics-not just WHO is at risk, but HOW to best treat them over time at the lowest cost. (Nashville)
Fitspot offers in-office group workouts on a subscription basis. We provide the trainer, the equipment and help companies track employee ROI/engagement through our technology suite. (Atlanta)
GoldenDeal is the first wealth building real estate platform. Buyers and sellers pay only for the customized services they need from an army of on-demand, licensed and insured agents. (Durham)
Homey is a mobile app that teaches kids financial literacy and the value of work through chores and enables parents to transfer money directly to the kids bank account. (Memphis)
Jammber is a pioneering platform serving the creative industries with simplified, intuitive ways to track credits, payments, and paperwork in one single, handy place. (Nashville)
LaaSer makes 911 work the way you think it already does, by leveraging the power of your connected devices to locate you in an emergency and get you help faster. (Atlanta)
Med+Proctor's immunization network saves time for student's their parents and school administrations. Additionally, it diminishes outbreak and PR risk on campuses. Its core market - 70 million people. (Nashville)
The MomSource Network platform connects women to professional development, networking and flexible employment. (Knoxville)
NourishWise is the most expansive & accurate nutrition solution in the $340B local restaurant industry. We remove the guilt and guesswork for our users trying to dine healthfully. (Nashville)
We provide contractors and do-it-yourself DIY pro's, visibility into municipal knowledge, permitting requirements and the ability to pull construction permits online for over 19k building departments, nationwide. (Myrtle Beach)
RevBoss is a venture-backed SaaS company based in Durham, NC. Our mission is to help our customers get more customers through outbound sales. (Durham)
Reveal Mobile turns the location signals coming out of mobile phones into money. Our patent-pending technology sits inside over 400 mobile apps, converting location data into valuable audience segments. (Raleigh)
We're a health technology company created by clinicians to attack chronic disease. Our SaaS leverages real-time biometrics to automate pharmacy benefits and empower world class clinicians for more meaningful intervention. (Lexington, KY)
Savii is a female owned Raleigh-based tech company that supports in-home care companies with mobile-first platforms, empowering more effective collaboration with caregivers, patients, family members and the agency. (Raleigh)
ScriptDrop is the first in-workflow prescription delivery and medication reminder service. (Nashville)
With our advanced text messaging platform, Signal Vine enables higher education institutions and nonprofits to communicate effectively and efficiently with students. (Alexandria)
Our AI platform provides evidence-based improvements to document drafting and predictive analysis of related legal and financial outcomes by modeling text and its relationship to context. (Nashville)
Smart RIA is a fast-growing SaaS company well-positioned in the hot RegTech market. Our software automates and significantly simplifies the management of regulatory compliance for investment advisors. (Knoxville)
Solar Site Design is a collaborative, cloud-based marketplace platform that connects sales-ready solar projects to leading solar companies to drive down customer acquisition costs. (Nashville)
Clean and safe plant-based dyes for conscious brands and consumers, from a trusted, scalable Tennessee grown supply chain. (Nashville)
Surgiorithm's proprietary predictive algorithm helps ophthalmology practices identify candidates for premium cataract surgery. Using an intuitive iPad App, Surgiorithm has been proven to significantly increase patient satisfaction and practice revenue. (Nashville)
Personal Digital Identity and Biometric based Identity & Trust as a Service for FinTech and the P2P & Sharing Economies. (Atlanta)
Wyp Aviation is taking human flight to new levels, bringing all new meaning to the phrase "Surf the Cloud." (Huntsville)
Wyzerr builds artificial intelligence to turn employee, customer, and consumer feedback data into operational tasks for the different roles in a company. (Covington, KY)
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