The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator’s Cleantech Debt Fund will now be open to Tennessee start-ups thanks to partnership with the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council and UT’s Spark Innovation Center. The Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council (TAEBC) and the University of Tennessee’s Spark Innovation Center have partnered with the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) to provide Tennessee cleantech start-ups with additional sources of debt capital to … Read More

Spark Innovator Graduate, Don Derosa, head of Eonix, has been nominated by CSS Design Awards for their company site’s innovative UI/X design. CSS Design Awards is an international web award for solo designers, studios, & agencies that was founded in 2009. The award is backed by a “world-class JPanel of expert judges plus a vast community of awesome professionals” that … Read More

RAEV, based out of Philadelphia, PA, is the new transportation option for individuals traveling less than 5 miles through their city. RAEV is a fleet of shared, small, electric vehicles available for use on a pay-per-drive basis. Twice in three days, the community was introduced to the 10 teams that comprise Cohort 2 of the “Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator” that … Read More

The Johnson City start-up forged the relationship with Knoxville-based Carbon Rivers during last year’s “Spark Cleantech Accelerator.” There’s an old adage about timing being everything. Well, that was certainly the case with Kay Baker of Johnson City-based Green Llama during her time last summer as a participant in the inaugural “Spark Cleantech Accelerator” at the University of Tennessee Research Park. Baker and Matt Keasey, … Read More

The University of Tennessee start-up came out of stealth mode less than a year ago. The latest issue of the UTRF Newsletter from the University of Tennessee Research Foundation provides an update on one of the start-ups in the UTRF portfolio: Orion Therapeutics. As noted in our original teknovation.biz article from last September, the new venture is the result of a decade-long collaboration between a researcher at … Read More

SPARK INCUBATOR PROGRAM SUMMARY SINCE SEPTEMBER 2022: HOLOCENE: Website: https://www.theholocene.co/ CQ INSIGHTS: Website: https://www.cq-insights.com/ RAEV: Website: https://www.raev.tech/ SAFIRE: Website: https://www.safire.co/ FC Renew: Website: https://fcrenew.com/index.html AMERICAN NANOTECHNOLOGIES INC (ANI): Website: https://www.americannano.tech/ ORION THERAPEUTICS: Website: https://orionthx.com/

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Spark Cleantech Accelerator at the University of Tennessee Research Park at Cherokee Farm is now accepting applications to its 12-week business acceleration program, kicking-off on August 14th, 2023. Applications will be accepted until midnight on May 12th. The accelerator is based at the University of Tennessee Research Park in Knoxville, Tennessee and is designed to assist … Read More

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee (UT) Research Park announced today that Lilly Tench has joined the Spark Innovation Center team as Director of the Spark Cleantech Accelerator. Over the past ten years, Lilly has supported entrepreneurs working to develop solutions in key global industries from energy to agriculture. Early in her career, Lilly worked alongside No Impact Man … Read More

The Spark Innovation Center at the University of Tennessee Research Park has issued its first report (2020-2022 SPARK Bi-Annual Report) covering two years of operations, and there are some impressive numbers recorded by its inaugural portfolio companies. Collectively, the seven start-ups raised nearly $35 million, employed 26 full-time people, have 10 contract employees, and supported 10 internships. The funding total … Read More