LAUNCH TENNESSEE today announced it has picked the next crop of University-based entrepreneurship finalists who will pitch their business ideas to judges Aug. 28, as part of the Student Edition of the 36|86 Entrepreneurship Festival in Nashville.

Entrepreneurship Director Brittany Burgess of the LaunchTN staff said the agency, which operates under the aegis of Tennessee Economic and Community Development (ECD), had received more than 40 applications for consideration from teams with current or recent ties to one or more Tennessee institutions.

Separately, LaunchTN announced the names of its 13 finalists, holding details for later formal release. The following entries are drawn from subsequent VNC research and are subject to update and revision:

► ALLINWON, University of Memphis, a gamified B2B/B2C education-technology and learning-management system platform, co-founded by Stefen White of Memphis. F6 ino on Allinwon here.

► ATS Innovations, run by CEO Tèa Phillips, an Engineering senior at Tennessee Technological University, has created MetaFlex Therapy Gloves, which helps strengthen wearers' grips, serving folks coping with, e.g., arthritis or stroke, or conditioning for rock climbing or other athletics.

► Clu Technologies, Rhodes College, Category: B2B Software, apparently developing an ordering system for stadiums and similar venues. Led by Cinthya Bolanos. Rhodes article on Bolanos here. And: Related F6.

► COLLEGE In Color, Belmont University, Social Enterprise, B2C. Pro-mental health platform for helping students cope with stress, particularly risk of suicide. Led by Founder/CEO Jordon Washington.

► FATHOM, Vanderbilt University, Social Enterprise, led by CEO Joseph Adeloa. The new company says it seeks to encourage and invest in social innovation by young people serving as change- and empowerment-agents in a "more equitable and sustainable future." This LinkedIn search shows numerous co-founders with a wide range of ties, as well.

► FLO+ CO, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Consumer Goods/Services - Concept for a shop centered on both floral products and coffee. Won the Vol Court pitch competition earlier this year. Led by Meg Hutchinson.

► GREENLEAF Solutions, led by Colin Brice, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, technology, Social Enterprise, developing hydroponic technologies, resource-efficient foodstuff production and delivery of microgreens to local restaurants. Related f6.

► PREDICTION Health, Vanderbilt University, B2B Software, led by Co-founder and CEO Pedro Teixeira PhD. Its software helps reliably capture and cogently integrate structured documention of clinician-patient encounters into appropriate records, to help improve the quality of care.

► STUDIOUS Freelancing, B2B. We believe this team aims to place college students into work-for-hire project positions. We believe Jamie Isabel, who is a Tennessee State University alumnus and who owns Nashville's Dalmatian Creative Agency is on the team with COO Josh Cross, a Belmont University alum.

► SYNCHRO Motion LLC, Vanderbilt University, Led by co-founder Harrison Bartlett, whose interests center on robotics and healthcare. He apparently spends a good bit of time in the VU Center for Intelligent Mechatronics.

► SWARM, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, B2B. Founder Michael Newton is into software and media that help brands target college students via selected social media. A UT story on the startup is here.

► THE BIRDS + The Bees, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, B2B Social Enterprise for Sex education. Led by Brianna Rader. Related News Sentinel and Huffington Post stories.

► ZENO Power Systems, led by VU alum Tyler Bernstein, may be focused on radio-isotope power systems (RPS) for use in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which would dramatically extend drone airborne time for military and other purposes. And this note suggests they've considered pursuing SBIR.

Launch Tennessee is officially chartered as Tennessee Technology Development Corporation, and is funded mainly by the state. VNC

. last edited 1407 5 July 2018