Global-minded Nashville execs bound for West Yorkshire Innovation Festival

By Milt Capps
Published Wednesday, February 26, 2025 6:00 pm

Lori Odom

THREE Nashvillians intent on building two-way business bridges with other nations will soon travel to the West Yorkshire Innovation Festival, in England.

The Music City emissaries joining the Innovation Festival panel are:

Their topic: "West Yorkshire-Nashville: The Health Innovation Bridge for US Market Entry."

The trio joins panel moderator Alexandra Sheldrake, who is head of quality for Paxman Scalp Cooling (a Paxman AB unit). Release.

The invitation-only panel discussion and luncheon are to take place within NEXUS, the collaboration and innovation hub of the University of Leeds.

The annual West Yorkshire Innovation Festival was given impetus four years ago by West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) Mayor Tracy Brabin, in order to "champion, celebrate and foster collaboration" within that region's business base, according to a WYCA press release yesterday.

Nashville executives' Festival participation is in-keeping with both good-for-business practices and the spirit of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed Oct. 7, 2024, by Metro Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell and Mayor Brabin, as VNC reported at the time.

Chase Spurlock

Decode founder and CEO Chase Spurlock told VNC he's eager to identify further collaboration opportunities in "WY/Leeds." Here are points Spurlock emphasized:

The life sciences industry is global and relationship-driven. Collaboration across borders is key to accelerating innovation. Nashville has a very rich healthcare ecosystem--with the convergence of leading hospital systems, research institutions, and a collaborative business environment. Our team has deep roots here. At Decode, we've been fortunate to partner with international companies whose R&D and commercialization teams span multiple regions. The technology and approach we've developed over time have helped enhance disease detection, monitoring, and treatment for these teams.

The pace of innovation is only increasing. No single ecosystem or company has all the answers. Progress happens when leaders across regions share knowledge and build on existing solutions to advance precision medicine and patient care.

That's why I see strong opportunities to engage with West Yorkshire/Leeds. It's a thriving digital health and research ecosystem that complements our own work and the mission of other Tennessee and Nashville-based startups. In particular, Nashville's hospital and value-based care strengths make it a natural hub for joint commercialization efforts. By bridging these ecosystems, we can unlock new opportunities for innovation and ensure that the best healthcare solutions reach patients faster.

Eric Thrailkill

Asked by VNC about his objectives for his impending UK visit, Eric Thrailkill replied:

During my upcoming trip to London and Leeds, we aim to strengthen the relationships established through the HealthTech Bridge between Nashville and West Yorkshire (WY Nashville). With the rapid expansion of digital and virtual healthcare services, our focus will be on accelerating global partnerships that address the most pressing challenges in the industry--workforce shortages, aging populations, and rising costs of care.

This visit will also serve as a component of the platform to explore tangible opportunities for companies within the WY Nashville network, and across the U.K., to enter the U.S. market and leverage Nashville's dynamic healthcare ecosystem.

Through discussions on cross-border commercialization, regulatory pathways, and investment strategies, we intend to provide a roadmap for international health tech firms seeking to scale in the U.S. and for U.S. companies to partner on research, specific project opportunities, and build relationships for cross border growth.

ECONOMIC ENGINE

Mayor Tracy Brabin

Since signing the MOU with Mayor O'Connell, Mayor Brabin has continued to innovate.

For example, this evening WYCA staff released from embargo a press release regarding a new proposal that Mayor Brabin plans to discuss with regional leaders assembling tomorrow, Feb. 27 (0500 CTUS, 1100 GMT). Release TextPDF.

Her new proposal call for WYCA's creation of a £250 million (roughly USD 317.25M) Capital Investment Fund designed "to boost jobs, accelerate economic growth and put more money in people's pockets..."

The proposal also foresees leveraging "up to £900 million [USD 1.14BN] of total investment alongside the private sector." Investment priorities agenda and meeting weblink.

Two weeks ago, Mayor Brabin announced the West Yorkshire Mayor's Big Ideas Challenge, which offers the region's businesses opportunities to seek grants "to develop their ideas into tangible innovations that can positively impact local communities" -- while also inviting individual 16- to 26-year-olds (or teams, thereof) to be considered for opportunities to pitch their ideas" for possible adoption. Release.

Prior to the Big Ideas Challenge, there came the West Yorkshire Local Growth Plan, which is designed to target investments to help communities and businesses grow. Release.

Still earlier, on Dec. 7, Mayor Brabin announced, "Large employers in West Yorkshire have pledged a total of £9 million to fund hundreds of apprenticeships" in smaller and medium-sized businesses. Release here.

Notably, the first face-to-face meeting of Mayors Brabin and O'Connell in 2024 coincided with the convening of a Global Health Innovators Summit in Nashville, as Venture Nashville reported in October.

Nashville initiatives by the abovementioned Thrailkill and Odom thus far in 2025 have included other recent events. One example here.

POTENTIAL SYNERGY

The Nashville-WYCA relationship seems to be steadily unfolding and seems likely to contribute to advancement of the eight-month-old Nashville Innovation Alliance, which, while certainly leveraging Nashville's healthcare sector, is likely to be industry agnostic.

The Nashville Innovation Alliance was largely created with impetus provided by Mayor O'Connell and by Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier. They and the other founding members of the Alliance's steering committee are listed here.

In addition to considering peer cities' approaches to similar goals, refining the Alliance brand, building-out its anchoring socio-economic network and other imperatives, The Alliance is a cosponsor of Launch Tennessee's "Tennessee House" activation event in Austin, next month. Related report here.

The Alliance is currently managed by VU-GCR's Sally Parker, who is associate vice chancellor for strategy and operations, within the Government and Community Relations division at Vanderbilt. Her opposite number in the Metro Mayor's office is Isaac Addae PhD.

Parker told VNC The Alliance's next scheduled event is "Tech Talent at Scale," on April 8, content of which will emphasize "strengthening Nashville's tech talent pipeline" and "upskilling Nashville's workforce." Details forthcoming.

NOTES / RESOURCES

THE Nashville trio headed to Leeds -- Odom, Spurlock and Thrailkill -- are also among speakers during tomorrow's (Feb. 27) Frontiers Summit 2025, hosted by PHASE Capital, led in Nashville by Kavya Sharman PhD.

Nashville attorney John Scannapieco, who is a partner at Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, was originally scheduled to participate in the WYCA Innovation Panel, but developed a conflict. Scannapieco has since 2016 served as honorary counsul from Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Tennessee. Womble Bond Dickinson has offices in Nashville and Leeds, and in 35 other locations in the U.S. and U.K.

Around the world, capacity for global trade is rooted in the gains of thriving local communities.

Some related resources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | VNC

. last edited 1053 CTUS 28 February 2025