There are a number of local groups with whom UTRF works who are dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship and technology commercialization.
Click on the panels below for more information:
Knoxville
Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEI) enables the development of entrepreneurial talent through both coursework and events, many of which include the entrepreneurial community. ACEI also supports economic development by assisting with the creation of new businesses launched by students and faculty.
Meritus Ventures, L.P. (Meritus) is a $36.4 million venture capital fund formed to make equity investments in private, expansion-stage companies in predominantly rural areas in central and southern Appalachia.
Solidus is a Tennessee venture capital fund that pursues investment opportunities in Healthcare Services, Applied Technology and Information Services/Media.
Fairview Technology Center supports the creation and success of growth-based businesses by providing affordable office and lab spaces, allowing new companies to maximize their limited start-up capital.
Innovate Knoxville is a regional group coordinating the vast range of entrepreneurial resources that exist in the Innovation Valley. Their first project is a web-based portal that provides information on upcoming entrepreneurial events across the region.
Entrepreneurs of Knoxville: comprised of entrepreneurs, inventors, investors and business owners, Entrepreneurs of Knoxville is a group that meets weekly to share ideas and provide support to each other.
Memphis
The Memphis Bioworks Foundation is dedicated to growing the bioscience industry in Memphis and the Mid-South. They offer many services to help entrepreneurs, including an incubator that has office and wet-lab space to host growing businesses, and accelerators to assist entrepreneurs.
ZeroTo510 is a nationally-recognized startup accelerator that provides seed funding and mentorship to entrepreneurs developing new medical devices companies.
Innova Memphis is a venture capital firm investing in early stage companies. Innova has invested in multiple companies founded on University of Tennessee inventions. Innova co-invests with MB Ventures in the ZeroTo510 companies.
Start Co. is a nonprofit organization with a focus on digital startups, socially impactful startups, and women-lead startups, which promotes entrepreneurship by building founders and companies.
The FedEx Institute of Technologyis the home of the University of Memphis Office of Technology Transfer, and also frequently hosts innovation and entrepreneurship events.ou also are free to commercialize your invention. As long as you do this without the use of UT resources, there will never be a University claim on your invention.
MB Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in early stage companies. MB has invested in multiple companies founded on University of Tennessee inventions. MB co-invests with Innova Memphis in the ZeroTo510 companies.
Epicenter Memphis is a community-wide initiative to help entrepreneurs conceive, launch and scale businesses in the Memphis region across a range of industry sectors.
Emerge Memphis provides strategic support to startup companies, innovators and entrepreneurs in the Mid-South. In addition to working with entrepreneurs, Emerge also runs a 60,000 square foot incubator in downtown Memphis.