Twelve startup teams from across the Eastern U.S. will soon convene in Chattanooga to launch applications and business models that could thrive on gigabit networks. As the newest members of GIGTANK, these entrepreneurs will spend the next three months working with corporate partners, industry experts, investors and established business leaders to ready their companies for the next-generation marketplace.
Hosted by The Company Lab (CO.LAB), GIGTANK 365 is a boutique accelerator for startups developing high-bandwidth business applications.
As the nation’s first startup accelerator wired to a metro-wide gigabit network, GIGTANK attracts world-class talent to Chattanooga each summer, as well as ongoing recognition from tech circles across the globe," officials said.
This year, the program will accommodate 12 startups and five specialists exploring advanced networking and other emerging technologies in healthcare and other industries. The teams’ applications address opportunities in virtual reality, 3D printing, streaming and satellite technology, as well as several other areas of promise. To view a summary of each startup’s work, clickhere.
The participants of GIGTANK 365’s summer program come from a diverse array of geographies, backgrounds and skillsets. Among them, some are based as far away as Cambridge, Ma., while many others are local or are located in nearby cities such as Nashville, Atlanta, and Birmingham. Most teams will be present in Chattanooga from May 16 through July 29 while free housing is available at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). Two teams will participate remotely and will make periodic visits to Chattanooga throughout the duration of the summer program.
“One of the things we’re most excited about is the quality of the teams GIGTANK 365 has attracted from within our own region,” said Mike Bradshaw, executive director of CO.LAB and Entrepreneur-in-Residence for GIGTANK 365. “The level of involvement of our partners in the community has reached new levels. Several of this summer’s teams are sponsored by local businesses, deepening the vital connection between entrepreneurs and established businesses.”
Among those locally-supported teams are One-to-One Telehealth, a telehealth company working with EPB Fiber Optics and One-to-One Personal Physicians Network, and UTChattSat, a space infrastructure company and recipient of the UTC-GIGTANK Fellowship led by Dr. Daniel Loveless. In addition, TelemeterED will carry forward a gigabit-enabled, 4k microscope learning experience piloted at the Chattanooga STEM School in partnership with Public Education Foundation.
“Gigabit applications like the 4k microscope project are not only redefining students’ access to high-quality learning experiences, they’re also revolutionizing the way they engage with technology,” said Mr. Bradshaw. “The fact that projects like this are coming out of Chattanooga today illustrates just how far we’ve come in our work to make the most of our fiber infrastructure. Now it’s time to leverage our entrepreneurial leadership to take this application, and others like it, into communities outside our own.”
In addition to the GIGTANK 365 teams, two local companies will take part in the summer session of CO.LAB Accelerator, which runs concurrently with GIGTANK 365 in three cycles throughout the year. Those companies will learn alongside GIGTANK 365 teams and will share the same mentor network and startup resources.
The summer session of GIGTANK 365 and the CO.LAB Accelerator will run from May 16-July 29 and will culminate with a Pitch Night where participants will pitch their companies to an audience of investors and local startup supporters. CO.LAB will host its annual Demo Day, where the top startups from GIGTANK 365 and the CO.LAB Accelerator will pitch their companies to a large audience of investors, media, corporate partners and community members, during Startup Week Chattanooga in October.