Knoxville’s sixth annual Startup Day celebrated East Tennessee’s thriving entrepreneurial community at The Mill & The Mine on Tuesday, September 25. Regional innovators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and investors joined the East Tennessee community for competition and fellowship at the signature event of Innov865 Week, the city’s annual showcase of Knoxville as a great place to start and grow businesses.
An East Tennessee startup won both cash prizes at the Startup Day pitch competition, which featured six startups pitching their businesses before a panel of judges for the change to win up to $10,000. StoragePug earned the $7,000 Startup Day 2018 Judge’s Choice prize presented by the Innov865 Alliance, as well as the $3,000 Startup Day 2018 Crowd Favorite prize presented by SunTrust Bank.
Tommy Nguyen is co-founder and COO of StoragePug, a modern marketing company for self storage. Powered by scalable cloud and serverless computing, StoragePug creates intelligent marketing websites that connect customers to self storage through online rentals, bill pay, and lease eSign. Self storage exists to help people transition into new phases of their lives, and to help self storage owners be the best stewards to people in need and meet them where they are – online and on their smartphones. Combined with marketing intelligence, StoragePug has built a proprietary online rental station which empowers storage owners to rent more units with the convenience of eSign and autopay.
“SunTrust Bank is proud to play a role in East Tennessee’s advancement as a prime destination city for startups and entrepreneurs in the Southeast,” said Harry Gross, Knoxville President of SunTrust Bank. “We join the Knoxville community in supporting these startups and celebrate these entrepreneurs who are putting our city on the map as a hub of innovation.”
Amy Nelson, CEO of Venture for America presented an inspiring keynote presentation about her passion for training more entrepreneurs and retaining talented young people in middle-America cities like Knoxville. “Entrepreneurs are the backbone of our economy. When cities invest in innovation and come together to lower barriers for new businesses, it injects critical new life and economic growth throughout the entire community. It has been truly impressive experiencing firsthand Knoxville’s thriving ecosystem of budding entrepreneurs and innovation.”
Graham Taylor and Nima Tamaddoni of T&T Scientific received the fourth annual Innov865 Traction Award, presented by UT Federal Credit Union. The Innov865 Traction Award is given to a Startup Day alum whose businesses has gained the most momentum since pitching at Startup Day.
T&T Scientific has gained considerable traction since winning the 2016 Startup Day pitch competition. Just this year, the company setup a global distribution network with on the ground sales forces in more than 25 countries. Knoxville’s Halls community will be the beneficiary of T&T Scientific’s growth later this year, as the company plans a move to a 15,000 square foot facility which will expand its manufacturing capabilities. T&T Scientific produces low-cost, single use liposome extrusion devices that simplify the process of preparing liposomes for research laboratories, manufacturing facilities, and clinical settings.
“UT Federal Credit Union is delighted to continue its sponsorship of the Traction Award and celebrate the success of East Tennessee entrepreneurs,” said Myra Hamilton, Assistant Vice President of Business Lending at UT Federal Credit Union. “T&T Scientific joins a prestigious community of previous winners helping to driving innovation and growth in our region.”