Startup Week CHA 2021
Monday, October 18, 2021
#BuildInSE's Pop-Up Lemonade Stand | DAY ONE
Build In SE invites all startup founders, investors, and tech talent to swing by their inaugural Pop-Up Lemonade Stand, a new outdoor watering hole in support of startup builders in the Southeast.
When life gives them lemons, entrepreneurs make lemonade. When Build In SE serves complimentary lemonade, entrepreneurs gather to share stories and network.
Lemonade servings will be complimentary, while Build In SE merch will be available for sale. A portion of funds raised during this pop-up will support local charities promoting entrepreneurship in Chattanooga.
Sponsored by First Republic Bank
Loving Yourselfie
Come meet Chattanooga's newest attraction - The Selfie Museum - at an exclusive pop-up just for Startup Week CHA
The Future of Capital — Raising it, Accessing It
Wefunder and Capacity Capital are partnering to host a conversation about new avenues to access and raise capital for businesses of all types.
The most important driver of economic growth in Chattanooga is home-grown entrepreneurship. Regulation crowdfunding and other alternative capital tools can help make sure that our community can invest in the founders they care about supporting most.
Will This FLOAT?
This might be the start of a dream come true. Nine people with fresh, creative, fun visions will swallow their fears and doubts and take the stage to present business ideas in this pitch competition. Come see if their ideas FLOAT and connect with budding entrepreneurs.
The full list of companies selected to pitch can be viewed here.
Judges for the event include:
- Adrienne Cooper, founder and CEO of Moonlight Roller
- Erin Felton Lopez, Etsy Inc. Strategy & Analytics, MBA, Ex-Goldman Sachs
- Meilani Santillán, Program Director at Code for America
- Jay Shaffer, Angel Investor and Board Member of Atlanta Tech Angels
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Badge Pickup + Co-working @ Basecamp powered by EPB
Come grab your badge to access all Startup Week CHA has to offer! Badge pickup is available starting at 8 AM and co-working held throughout the day.
Complimentary Peet's Coffee will be available each morning while supplies last night!
Find Your Funding (Panel + Q&A)
Need funding to start or sustain your business? Join us to hear from a panel of local funding providers. You will hear from these organizations about their specific programs (eligibility, requirements, terms, etc.) and will also be able to ask questions. Panelists include:
Audra Kelly, Southeast TN Development District
Gary Moore, BrightBridge
Katie Hendrix, Pathway
Kimberly Narramore, City of Chattanooga
Lya Kimbrough, Kiva
Marcus Johnson, TVFCU
The panel will be moderated by Lynn Chesnutt from TSBDC.
Growth Mindset & Methodology (Part 1)
Learn what makes some people extremely effective in their roles, and the difference between a static vs. growth mindset. This session will also include ways to help others develop a growth mindset.
Sustainability and Recycling Pitch & Pilot Competition
The City of Chattanooga and The Company Lab are partnering for a Sustainability and Recycling Pitch & Pilot Competition.
The city and nonprofit are looking for creative ways to drive the waste management structures and infrastructure systems.
This includes changes to technology, infrastructure, and educating residents.
Members of the public are invited to submit ideas covering one or more of the five areas listed below.
- Circular Economy
- Cost Efficiency in Recycling Processes
- Consumer/resident Education
- Labor Reduction
- Composting
Four submissions will be selected to pilot in partnership with CO.LAB and the City of Chattanooga, and those selected will be awarded a small stipend.
Chosen solutions will present during Startup Week CHA 2021 on Tues. Oct. 19 at noon and be evaluated on:
- Understanding of problem/solutions
- Quality of recommendation
- Implementation
- Feasibility (including an estimated budget)
The selected solution(s) will be selected for pilot programs to assess their feasibility in Chattanooga.
As part of the pilot process, these four ideas will be presented as a pitch event on Wed. Oct. 19, 2021 as part of Startup Week CHA.
Applications are due Oct. 3, and selected applicants will be notified Oct. 10.
Anyone with an idea can email a proposal to [email protected]
TVFCU Idea Leap Pitch Competition
Join TVFCU for the Idea Leap Pitch Picnic on the front lawn of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center. Come early at 3:30 p.m. to set up your lawn chair or spread your picnic blanket and grab an early supper from Chatter Box Café for this outdoor, socially-distant event. The Pitch Competition will begin at 4 p.m. as Champion Christian Learning Academy, Chatt Taste Food Tours, LLC, Lil Mama's Chicago Style Hoagy, Salon Posh and Wild Violet Permaculture, LLC compete for the five Idea Leap Grants ($21K, $15K, $10K, $7K and $5K). In the event of rain, the event will be strictly virtual. Furthermore, if there is a COVID-19 case surge, the event may pivot to strictly virtual. Follow TVFCU on social media for event details
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Growth Mindset & Methodology (Part 2)
Learn about growth frameworks that can be employed at your organization, how to select the proper key performance indicators (KPIs), plus the importance of a customer journey map.
Using story to share your mission
People can’t resist a good story, and when you’re sharing your business or organization's mission, story can be one of your most powerful tools. But, there’s an art to crafting a narrative that is both compelling and informative. Join us for this panel on the power of story, hosted by The Enterprise Center, featuring three local businesses and nonprofits (Lodge Cast Iron, The Chattanooga Tourism Company, and Chattanooga Whiskey), who have used a smart approach to storytelling to share their mission. We will discuss how to think about who your audience is, what your message is, and what platform (video, blog, podcast, social media) you should use.
It's Like Networking, But With Cheese
Gather to share ideas and brainstorm while you and your fellow Chattanoogans sample Artisan Cheese & Nut Mix pairings from Magnolia Fine Foods Co.
Makers Marketplace
30+ Chattanooga-area vendors will be in one place so you can browse all the best from entrepreneurs across the city. The event will be in Miller Plaza’s Waterhouse Pavilion on Oct. 20 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Leveraging Your Local Ecosystem for Growth
Text Request has grown nationally, in part, because of the resources and relationships we have access to right here in Chattanooga. Join Kenneth Burke, VP of Marketing at Text Request and Briana Garza-Wilson, co-founder of Chatt Taste, to learn how to leverage the local business ecosystem to build your reputation and revenue. David Martin, cofounder of Heed PR, will moderate. You'll walk away with a game plan to grow your brand, recruit top talent, increase sales, and move your business forward — all while giving back to our community.
Ladies Who Launch at Common House
THIS EVENT REQUIRES A SEPARATE REGISTRATION
Ladies Who Launch is a partnership between The Chattery & Common House and connects women who are breaking glass ceilings and impacting our community. This month's topic is artists as entrepreneurs featuring Mattie Waters & Jules Downum (The Popup Project), Erika Roberts (Velvet Poetry) and moderated by Miriam Manda of Arts Build.
Lunch is sponsored by The Company Lab
Hardhat Tour of Brickyard
Meet the team — and see the space while it's still being built — of Chattanooga's new early-stage capital and founder's club. Built & funded by the founders of Bellhop and Lamp Post Group, Brickyard recruits world-class founders from all over the country to exit the rat-race, and build unencumbered alongside others in it, and those who’ve been through it.
TVA ED Community Innovation Academy
What would it look like if local governments and communities thought like start-ups to solve problems in their community? If 77% of economic growth can be attributed to small creative advances, what role could our communities play in leveraging those creative advances to create more economic opportunities for their communities?
Whether you’re a pioneering business executive, a startup hustler, a government leader, or a curious student or resident who cares about their community, this event is for you.
Join us for a pitch event to hear 6 community teams from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) region present their top ideas and solutions aimed at solving a complex community challenge over the course of a 5-minute pitch. During our 2 hour program, our community teams will look to engage expert judges known as (Sharks) and audience members to identify and connect resources (ie. feedback, introductions, relationships, program funding).
The Challenge? Communities are inherently slow in responding to solve social and economic problems together. Many of them struggle to break down silos and deploy horizontal collaborations with diverse teams that produce the creative ideas critical to achieving the results that they are seeking.
By participating in the TVA ED Community Innovation Academy the past seven months, these teams of local economic developers and community champions explored tools, tactics and skills to more effectively and collaboratively solve community problems with the goal of sparking more economic growth and shared prosperity.
Participants were tasked with organizing a community innovation team, identifying a critical community problem, and incubating a solution that could solve it and positively support growth in their local economies. Teams have completed ecosystem maps, performed community innovation capacity assessments, engaged in hours of collaboration meetings, and are now interested in each sharing their bright ideas on the national stage of Chattanooga start-up week.
Chambliss Startup Social + The Startup Awards
Join us for the annual Startup Social (powered by Chambliss Startup Group) + the Startup Awards!
CHAMBLISS STARTUP SOCIAL powered by Chambliss Startup Group | 6 PM - 7:30 PM
Meet us at Naked River Brewing & BBQ starting at 6PM to eat, drink and network with entrepreneurs, startups, founders, and Chattanooga's movers and shakers.
At the conclusion of the Startup Social, a special surprise guest will take us from Naked River across the street to Finley Stadium for the Startup Awards.
STARTUP AWARDS | 7:30 PM - 9 PM
Join us for the annual Startup Awards, where we will recognize and celebrate the next generation of emerging companies as well as everyone who helped them become successful along the way.
The awards will be held on the field of Finley Stadium and include opportunities to meet players from the Chattanooga Football Club.
We will also have a late-night food truck on site for eats and drinks.
Awards will be given to:
- Startup of the Year, voted on by the public
- High Growth Company of the Year, presented by CO.LAB
- Goldfinch of the Year, presented by the INCubator
- Micro-business of the Year, presented by LAUNCH Chattanooga
- Charlie Brock Ecosystem Builder of the Year
- Volunteer of the Year, presented by The Enterprise Center
- Rising Star of the Year, presented by the TSBDC
- Latino Entrepreneur of the Year, presented by LaPaz
Friday, October 22, 2021
Tour of Branch Technology
Tour the Branch Technology facility and see 3D printing live and in action.
Tour Stove Works
Stove Works provides local, national, and international artists a venue for the production of, exhibition of, and education through Contemporary works of Art. Come see April Childer's exhibition, I am Not a Cartoon, in the main gallery. Galleries are open from Noon - 6:30 Wednesday - Saturday.
CO.LAB Open House + End of Week Block Party with Chattanooga Design Studio & The Enterprise Center
Come meet the CO.LAB Team & Chattanooga Design Studio for an open house at CO.LAB and an afternoon block party powered by Chattanooga Design Studio and The Enterprise Center on Georgia Avenue.
Tour the Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga
Starting or growing your food based business? This tour is for you!
The Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga is designed for food-centric businesses in the beginning stages of business. Think food truck owners looking for commissary and storage; caterers, bakers, or distributors in need of a kitchen; small businesses looking for a physical location to sell their food at periodic pop-ups or food truck markets.
Come meet the team, tour the space and find out if the Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga is the right place for you.
Shoey’s Bodega
Come buy rare snacks or simply a nice cold BoolAide.
Happy Hour with Solas Bio @ The Company Lab
Come meet the Solas Bio team and start your weekend off right - with happy hour!
Solas BioVentures is a Venture Capital firm that invests exclusively in the Life Science industry, focusing primarily on early and development stage Biotech, Medtech, and impactful companies. Come prepared with your Qs to get As on everything life science and biotech.
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