At the Chattanooga Rotary Club meeting on Thursday, CO.LAB CEO Tasia Malakasis announced a new programmatic focus on the sustainable mobility sector. CO.LAB is a nonprofit startup accelerator based in Chattanooga. Sustainable mobility encompasses the future-forward movement of people, goods, energy, and data—something that unequivocally reflects Chattanooga’s spirit of innovation.
In celebration of this focus, CO.LAB will launch its sustainable mobility programming in May with a community-wide startup event featuring a special guest. More details will be available in the coming months.
“With our new sustainable mobility program, CO.LAB and Chattanooga will once again be front and center supporting startups who are building the innovative companies of tomorrow," said Charlie Brock, chairman of CO.LAB's Board of Directors. "Our accelerator participants will have access to multiple technology platforms along with capital, mentorship, talent, and pilot customers."
CO.LAB is thrilled to announce this focus, as Chattanooga is well positioned to be a global destination for sustainable mobility innovations, said officials. With the city’s strength of industry backed by cutting-edge research teams dedicated to exploring clean, sustainable energy sources, Quantum networking, freight technology, Smart Traffic solutions, and electric + autonomous vehicles, Chattanooga now has testbeds in these areas that exist nowhere else on the planet.
CO.LAB is uniquely equipped to scale forward-thinking companies in these areas, thanks to the team’s expertise in providing invaluable business support and connecting startup founders to Chattanooga’s unparalleled resources, said officials.
The CO.LAB team believes that the success of the sustainable mobility program depends upon the strength of its partners. CO.LAB is currently supported by Launch Tennessee, Freightwaves, US Express, EPB, Brickyard, VentureSouth, Chattanooga Smart City Collaborative, and the UTC Center for Urban Informatics and Progress.
“I’m very excited that Tasia and the team are focusing on a sector of great promise and opportunity for our city,” says Craig Fuller, CEO of Freightwaves.
“A smart city and urbanization research center at UTC, the Center for Urban Informatics and Progress, CUIP, is uniquely positioned to partner with CO.LAB in the sustainable mobility sector,” states Dr. Mina Sartipi, founding director of CUIP. “Leveraging our growing and dynamic testbeds
with the support of numerous community partners, CO.LAB’s new programmatic focus will help fast-track Chattanooga’s place as the hub for mobility electrification, connectivity, and automation.”
CO.LAB also seeks additional support from both the Chattanooga community and the greater national ecosystem:
“We are actively recruiting startups, mentors, and industry partners who are engaged in the mobility revolution and if you want to work with us on this please reach out," said Tasia Malakasis, CEO of CO.LAB. "We are open to exploring potential partnerships and opportunities to collaborate
together."
CO.LAB will continue to support entrepreneurs with access to capital, programming, talent, connections, and voice—while also bolstering businesses in search of Chattanooga's competitive advantage.
The company’s programs such as KIVA, CO.STARTERS and rural outreach will lead the way in providing critical business resources to the Greater Chattanooga area. Additionally, CO.LAB provides resources to entrepreneurs as LaunchTN’s Chattanooga-area entrepreneur center partner.
CO.LAB looks forward to collaborating with Chattanooga’s greatest innovators and is committed to moving the needle of progress forward, said officials. For more information, please visit: www.comobility.org