Startup Showdown Takes the Stage in Nashville at 3686

Panoramic Ventures Partners with LaunchTN to Host Nashville's First Startup Showdown Competition; Announces Nashville as First Stop on Wider View Tour.    

Today we are excited to announce that our next Startup Showdown pitch competition for early-stage startups, will take place at this year's 3686 entrepreneurial festival hosted by Launch Tennessee (LaunchTN) September 27-29 at the historic Marathon Music Works in Nashville.    

The upcoming Startup Showdown in partnership with 3686 marks the 12^th competition since the event's inception last year. To date, the competition has hosted over 1,200 mentor sessions and invested more than $1.6 million into 13 winning companies. Startup Showdown events have taken place in such vibrant tech cities as Atlanta, Miami, Austin — and now Nashville.    

About Startup Showdown Nashville

From the hundreds of anticipated startup applications, 25 semifinalists will be selected to attend a Mentor Day to further refine their pitch, and five finalists will be selected to compete in front of a panel of guest investor judges to win a $120,000 investment prize and join the Panoramic portfolio. The call for applications to pitch is now open and closes on September 6.    

Judges for Startup Showdown x 3686 taking place on Wednesday, September 28, include (in alphabetical order):  

   
• Chris Sloan, Chair, Emerging Companies Team at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC
   
• Derrick Morgan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at KNGDM Group and former Tennessee Titans Linebacker
   
• Haley "Zap" Zapolski, Managing Director at Jumpstart Foundry
   
• Marlon Nichols, Co-Founder and Managing General Partner at MaC Venture Capital
   
• Paul Judge, Managing Partner at BIP Ventures
 

Partnership Champions Tennessee's Booming Tech Ecosystem    

According to the BIP Ventures 2021 The State of Startups^SM in the Southeast report, as of mid-year last year $3.7 billion dollars have been invested into Tennessee startups since 2016, with Healthcare IT, SaaS, and FinTech the leading investment categories. Tennessee is particularly friendly to startups with comparatively lower taxes, lower cost of living, and good quality of life.    

"Not only is Nashville an extremely vibrant and culturally rich city, the tech community has been solving big problems and building impressive companies," said Paul Judge. "We look forward to collaborating with LaunchTN and all of the city's entrepreneurs and innovators."    

Named for the geographic coordinates of Nashville, this year's 3686 will feature some of the country's top innovators and entrepreneurial voices, engaging attendees through fireside chats, networking opportunities, and panel discussions. After last year's success with 400+ investor meetings, 3686 will also feature an expanded one-on-one matchmaking event that pairs entrepreneurs with investors and corporations, along with a lineup of live music entertainment and other programs.    

"Tennessee is one of the few states with a statewide network of organizations collaborating directly with investors and entrepreneurs to grow the startup ecosystem — and our partnership with BIP Ventures is a key part of that," said LaunchTN CEO Lindsey Cox. "We're thrilled that Startup Showdown is taking center stage at this year's 3686 and are excited by the exposure it offers to the promising tech startups selected to compete."    

‍BIP Ventures Announces Nashville as Stop on Wider View Tour    

Our team will meet with entrepreneurs, investors, local ecosystem builders, HBCUs and universities, government and cultural leaders during a two-day visit to Nashville on September 27-28. The Wider View Tour is a series of events that bring together startup founders and investors in emerging geographies, celebrating entrepreneurship and connecting communities. Learn more and apply to attend here.    

‍About BIP Ventures    

BIP Ventures partners with extraordinary founders to drive exceptional outcomes. Since 2007, the firm has invested in the success of B2B software and tech-enabled service businesses at all stages of maturity. In addition to capital, we support entrepreneurs with access to infrastructure, acumen, and talent that results in category-leading companies. Our distinct multi-stage investment platform has driven consistent top-quartile returns over 15 years. For more information, visit bip-ventures.vc or follow BIP Ventures on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter @bipventures

‍About Launch Tennessee

‍Launch Tennessee (LaunchTN) is a public-private partnership with a vision to make Tennessee the most startup-friendly state in the nation. Its mission is to empower a high-functioning network of resources focused on core priorities that support Tennessee's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through its network of Entrepreneur Centers and partner organizations across the state, Launch Tennessee fosters collaboration among entrepreneurs, the private sector, capital sources, institutions and government to offer entrepreneurs what they need to succeed and stay in Tennessee to build companies and create jobs. Learn more at www.launchtn.org.    This press release was originally released on PRNewswire.