The Spark Innovation Center at the University of Tennessee Research Park has issued its first report (2020-2022 SPARK BiAnnual 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 includes $18 … Read More

Applications for the Spark Cleantech Accelerator Cohort Two to open in January 2023

Members of Cohort 4 of “Innovation Crossroads” graduated over the summer from the two-year program. One founder, Erica Grant, has continued to participate in panel and pitch events throughout Knoxville despite being busy planning for a pilot program, raising a seed round, and hiring at her recently renamed company now known as Quantal Security Inc. The company is focused on creating stronger … Read More

The Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council (TAEBC) has announced 16 speakers for its upcoming “Opportunities in Energy.” The annual event will run from 12 noon to 4 p.m. EST November 16 at The Square Room on Market Square in Downtown Knoxville. Sessions will include topics ranging from battery partnerships to corporate sustainability to a local Knoxville nonprofit winning the Department of Energy’s … Read More

frakktal, one of the participants in the inaugural “Spark Cleantech Accelerator,” has joined another accelerator. It’s the “HudsonAlpha Agtech Investment Accelerator” where the participating start-ups receive a $100,000 investment. Operated by gener8tor, a global venture firm and start-up accelerator, in partnership with the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, the 12-week program kicked-off October 13 with five participants in its inaugural cohort. Other participants … Read More

The “Spark Incubator Program,” a strategic initiative within the Spark Innovation Center at the University of Tennessee (UT) Research Park at Cherokee Farm, has selected eight early stage tech companies to participate in its 2022-2023 program. The two-year program, led by John Bruck and Carol Seamons, was launched in September 2020 to provide some of the East Tennessee region’s most … Read More

Anca Timofte of Holocene, one of the participants in Cohort 6 of the “Innovation Crossroads” program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been selected for the prestigious Breakthrough Energy Fellows global initiative. Launched by Breakthrough Energy which was founded by Bill Gates of Microsoft fame, the program is designed to support the development of cutting-edge climate technologies. The second cohort consists of 47 Innovator and … Read More