The Innov865 Alliance has selected three judges to take the stage on Startup Day 2018 to listen and decide which of the six startups competing will win the Startup Day 2018 Judge’s Choice Prize, presented by the Innov865 Alliance.

The winners of the pitch competition will be announced on Sept. 25 during the signature event of Innov865 Week, an annual celebration of Knoxville’s thriving entrepreneurial community held this year Sept. 23-28, 2018.

The six startups were selected from a large pool of applicants for the chance to pitch their businesses before a panel of judges at Startup Day’s pitch competition. The finalists will compete in two prize categories, judges’ choice and crowd favorite, for the chance to win a total of $10,000 in cash prizes to invest in their startup. The crowd favorite prize is sponsored by SunTrust Bank.

Startup Day 2018 is Sept. 25 from 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. at The Mill & Mine in downtown Knoxville. Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, and registration is now open online.

The judges include:

Eric Meyerson, Head of Marketing at Sensai

Eric Meyerson is head of marketing for Sensai, a new startup that gives businesses, creators, and artists the power to transform their online influence with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Eric is also former marketing executive at Facebook, YouTube, and Eventbrite, and he earned his MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley. Click here for more information.

Sue Malone, President of Strategies for Small Business

Sue is the number one provider, SBA Export Express and SBA SLA v.2 and director of marketing for Superior Financial Group.  Sue’s involvement began with the program’s inception in 2002. Since then, Sue has helped fund over 41,000 SBA loans, which include Patriot Express loans, Export Express, Community Express and now Small Lender Advantage v.2 and became the largest SBA lender by volume.  Her goal is to fund 100,000 small businesses. Sue is a serial entrepreneur and has started over seven businesses. She holds an MBA from St. Mary’s College. Click here for more information.

Mike Stephens, Chief Integrations Officer at Ministry Brands

Mike has been operating in healthcare finance since 2001, with 10 years of experience as a CFO in hospitals across the country, both in the for-profit and not-for-profit space. Mike has led turnarounds with teams in 5 different hospitals that have cumulatively achieved over $200 million in EBITDA improvements under his guidance; with the majority of this performance occurring thru revenue growth. His most recent opportunity as CFO of NCH Healthcare System in Naples, FL, went from a negative operating margin of $ (5.6 Million) in 2013 to projecting a $45 Million margin in 2015. Click here for more information.