Venture Nashville

Goba Foursquare

2012-01-25T10:28:00.001-06:00

John Dayani Jr.'s GOBA (get out, be active) has done a partnership with Foursquare, release here. Our related story here.

4 guys to watch

2012-01-23T19:24:00.002-06:00

Alex Tolbert, David Box, William Griggs, William Paddock... four bootstrappers pushing their startups along. Catch up with 'em here.

TNInvestco update

2012-01-23T19:03:00.001-06:00

VNC updates TNInvestco investments right here.

Al Ganier venture

2012-01-23T19:01:00.001-06:00

Al Ganier, co-founder of Education Networks of America, is now pursuing a $6MM raise for his VMT startup. Read about it here.

$200MM Health raise

2012-01-23T18:59:00.001-06:00

Rock Morphis and crew have a $200MM raise underway for healthcare investments, read it here.

HCA CIO retires

2012-01-23T12:44:00.002-06:00

Noel Williams, SVP/CIO for HCA, is retiring and a search for her successor is underway. Read it here.

FCA Venture Partners

2012-01-19T19:32:00.001-06:00

FCA Venture Partners Managing Partner Matt King provides an update on the venture-capital firm's investment plans. Right here.

Biz advocates sought

2012-01-19T19:30:00.001-06:00

The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and EmergeMemphis are looking for growth-business champions. Read about it.

Cardio dough

2012-01-19T19:28:00.001-06:00

Cardiovascular Care Group is raising $40MM, read about it.

Action Alignment

2012-01-17T20:07:00.002-06:00

Nashville's Artist Growth is the first of what is likely to be a series of offerings for different industry-verticals - this one's targeting performing artists, with a new technology platform. Worth a look.

Atiba-Cabedge

2012-01-17T20:05:00.001-06:00

Atiba has acquired assets and hired key folks, including Chris Blanz, to create a new company, Cabedge Design LLC. Read more.

VentureNotes

2012-01-17T20:00:00.002-06:00

DAIO, which helps mobile-app developers breathe life into their prototypes, and Pearescope, which helps you find like-minded folks on the free range, both attracted Angel capital. Read it here.

Shareholder InSite

2012-01-17T19:58:00.001-06:00

Joe Maxwell pulls-off a merger and rebranding, transforming CapControls into Shareholder InSite. Right here.

Krush raise

2012-01-17T19:55:00.002-06:00

Krush, the predictive networks startup, has raised $4.5MM, reported here.

NeighborMD

2012-01-17T19:53:00.001-06:00

NeighborMD, a Nashville-based urgent care group, has a $2.5MM raise underway. Reported here.

TNInvestco's Update

2012-01-08T09:00:00.001-06:00

A half-dozen TNInvestco funds recently finessed additional investments. Get the update here.

SourceYourCity

2012-01-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

Nashville-based Neely Burks, the former PR person who believes journalists and professionals who need to tap-into local expertise need the help of SourceYourCity, is lining-up a part-time market developer for the Bay Area. Read more here.

Cumberland Consulting

2012-01-07T17:30:00.001-06:00

Cumberland Consulting got a Tailwind Capital investment, with a kicker of some sort from father-son Clayton and Stuart McWhorter. Read about the investment in the Nashville-area healthcare IT firm, right here.

Nuyens on Fivestone

2012-01-07T16:00:00.000-06:00

Jozef Nuyens sketches-out big portions of Fivestone Partners' strategy, making clear there's more to come for this Franklin-based investment and consulting group. Read more here.

Jericho in N'ville

2012-01-03T09:00:00.000-06:00

Jericho Sciences slipped into Nashville six months ago and is quietly preparing to develop a therapeutic approach that could help dramatically improve HIV treatment. Story here.

StartupTN+Angels

2012-01-03T08:00:00.001-06:00

StartupTN's contract with state economic development officials calls for increasing Angel investor ranks in Tennessee. Story here.

TCRS PE commitments

2012-01-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) recently made private-equity asset commitments of $25MM and $50MM to General Catalyst and Denham, respectively.

OneC1ty touted

2012-01-03T07:30:00.000-06:00

Nashville healthcare office complex is proposed and seems to be gaining some traction. Story here.

Moontoast capraise

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

Moontoast is raising $6MM capital. Story here.

Logogarden buy

2012-01-03T06:43:00.000-06:00

LogoGarden has bought Whoosh! interactive from the founders of Franktown. Story here.

Populr unveiled

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Nick Holland will incubate and accelerate Populr within the Entrepreneur Center, with support from Bullpen Ventures. Story here.

FiledBy sold

2012-01-03T05:15:00.000-06:00

FiledBy, the authors' portal based in Nashville, is now owned by Atiba affiliate SLK. Story here.

Healthbox launch

2012-01-03T05:00:00.000-06:00

Healthbox launches under Hal Andrews and Ron Styers. Story here.

VUSE Engrg news

2011-12-08T12:05:00.002-06:00

Vanderbilt University School of Engineering Dean Ken Galloway will step back into faculty ranks next year, and will be succeeded by Philippe Fauchet of the University of Rochester, details here.

Tech2020's Cuddy retires

2011-12-06T14:42:00.002-06:00

Tech2020 CEO Mike Cuddy is to retire at the end of January, the KNS reports. Here's our earlier report on Cuddy and Tech2020.

PureSafety sold

2011-12-06T14:36:00.001-06:00

Former Nashville- and now Franklin-based PureSafety, a spinout from Thompson Machinery, is now part of Underwriters Laboratories (UL), says a press release today. Read about it here.

O'Boyle to HCA-Parallon

2011-12-06T14:34:00.003-06:00

They've named a new President for HCA's Parallon subsidiary, which encompasses purchasing, IT and more. Read about Mike O'Boyle here.

$40MM fund for NVille

2011-12-06T14:32:00.001-06:00

Harry Jacboson and colleagues have created Fund II, with a goal of $40MM, to be invested toward more disruptive healthcare businesses. Read about it here.

Jacobson + Dashiff

2011-12-02T17:54:00.004-06:00

Harry Jacobson, M.D., head of Healthcare Investment Group, a consortium of funds, announced adding Duncan Dashiff, formerly of Morgan Keegan, et al, to his team. The investment banker has done plenty of healthcare and health IT deals. Story here.

Marc Fortune on Startup Sales

2011-11-28T09:27:00.003-06:00

Marc Fortune, Nashville serial entrepreneur and Angel, has timely advice for startup teams about getting Sales done NOW. Our story's here.

Duplicitous?

2011-11-26T06:52:00.002-06:00

The AP (via Knoxville News Sentinel) compares industry talk of 'crisis' if Obama Administration enviro reg's are implemented, yet in many cases denies adverse material impact on their bottom lines from such actions. True, says AP, the future of the regs is uncertain. Story here.

VNC@Facebook!

2011-11-22T11:14:00.004-06:00

'Sure hope you're an engaged reader of VentureNashville for startup, commercialization and investment news and features, and that you'll Like our FB page, the first chance you get! Many thanks, Milt

TN co-investment coming

2011-11-22T07:06:00.002-06:00

State ECD Commissioner Bill Hagerty is likely within 3 weeks or so to announce criteria for investors applying for a share of the nearly $30MM the State plans to make available for co-investment, in an initiative designed to increase early-stage capital. Tennessee Technology Development Corporation will serve purely as non-judicial administrator of the Hagerty-designed program. Here's an earlier related story on other items in Hagerty's portfolio.

Wisdom of Kateo

2011-11-22T07:02:00.003-06:00

Kate O'Neill of metamarketer has put her finger on something close to the essence of Nashville, and it's important for startup tyro's. Read about it here.

Startup paralysis?

2011-11-22T06:58:00.002-06:00

One of our most-read recent stories: This panel calls the question: If you're an entrepreneur, why are you still sitting there still 'thinking about' starting a business? Tough love from Nashvillians who've been there. Read about it here.

GOBA 2.5

2011-11-02T10:46:00.003-06:00

GOBA ("Get Out, Be Active"), led by John Dayani Jr., today announced v2.5, a more robust version. Release here. Other GOBA progress notes here.

Tom Ballard leaves ORNL

2011-10-31T09:23:00.001-06:00

Tom Ballard, long in the senior ranks of ORNL and UT, is headed for an accounting and consulting firm that's eyeing entrepreneurial startups as clients. Read about it here.

Startup or Job?

2011-10-31T09:20:00.002-06:00

Entrepreneurship isn't for the faint-hearted, and sometimes a job's a better course. Read about this Nashville panel's discussion here.

StartupTN ops

2011-10-31T09:17:00.002-06:00

StartupTN is a bit in stealth mode, but it has an operations director, read more here.

VentureTennessee?

2011-10-28T04:48:00.007-06:00

VentureNashville readers have been generous in their comments and suggestions. Our recent VNC survey asked what you'd like, going forward. Your answer was, essentially: More! and you offered specifics. Partly because of that feedback, we're closer to a decision about coming out of our 'prolonged beta' and possibly launching an added VentureTennessee layer of coverage and services. We'd like to hear more of your thoughts on this idea or others, right away, either here or by email to milt at venturenashville com. -- Many thanks, Milt Capps

U.S. Incomes inequalities

2011-10-27T08:53:00.001-06:00

From Huffington Post reporters, a sobering looking at the continuing concentration of wealth and, hence, opportunity in the world's foremost Opportunity Society, right here.

TN/Nashville ventures

2011-10-26T11:15:00.001-06:00

Capital raises and startups abound! See today's NewsBits and Regional Roundup, right here.

Hagerty's to-do's

2011-10-26T11:11:00.001-06:00

Bill Hagerty, ECD commissioner under Gov. Bill Haslam, has a long and growing economic-development to-do list. Notes here.

Metamarketer's O'Neill

2011-10-26T11:09:00.002-06:00

'Not sure there's a feistier or more entertaining metamarketeer in Nashville. Read about Kate O'Neill here.

Criterion Holdings: Security roll-ups

2011-10-21T09:03:00.000-06:00

Criterion Holdings got some TNInvestco-bred money via XMi High Growth Development Fund, and will pursue buying security firms, the CEO told VNC. Read more here.

PE invests in Change:Healthcare

2011-10-21T09:02:00.000-06:00

West Health Investment Fund, a new private-equity venture focused on improving the affordability of healthcare services, has invested in Nashville-based ChangeHealthcare. Read more here.

MyWerx in iExchange

2011-10-21T09:01:00.000-06:00

MyWerx, the Nashville-based IP-management software provider, and Cumberland Center have joined to create iExchange, to enable technology commercialization from the state's cooperating universities. Read more here.

Innovation for Greater Nashville

2011-10-21T09:00:00.000-06:00

Economist Christian Ketels (left) laid-out a path toward regional collaboration for innovation and prosperity, during his presentation Oct. 20 to an audience assembled by Cumberland Center. Read more here.

ShareableInk's latest ink

2011-10-11T09:41:00.002-06:00

Founder/CEO Steve Hau, 39, needs to be convinced he can adequately staff ShareableInk, a breakthrough technology company, with world-class engineers in Nashville. Read it here.

NEC's PE sponsor

2011-10-08T07:31:00.002-06:00

Galen Partners, the private-equity firm based in Stamford, Conn., is the 2012 healthcare vertical sponsor for Nashville Entrepreneur Center. Read more here.

Tech Gala

2011-10-08T07:29:00.002-06:00

Nashville Technology Council announced that Griffin Technology President Mark Rowan will be keynoter for the Oct. 27th Nashville Technology Gala Awards dinner. Read more here.

LifeScienceTN

2011-10-03T14:23:00.002-06:00

LifeScienceTN, the bioscience trade association led by Joe Cook Jr. of Mountain Group Capital, today released a report of progress within the sector. The document is here.

Rent-An-Angel?

2011-10-03T14:13:00.001-06:00

RentStuff, the Nashville startup that helps people borrow and lend things, is mulling who'll lead its seed-stage round, with a roughly $750K target. Read about its plans here.

Ventures!

2011-10-03T14:06:00.003-06:00

TNInvestco and other Tennessee investors have recently invested in Atlanta Catheter Therapies, MedCenterDisplay, Sponsorpitch and Industrial Ceramic Solutions. Read about it here.

Tech-Creative Hub for N'ville?

2011-09-30T15:30:00.002-06:00

They're a long way from the finish line, to be sure, but advocates and backers of 'Pantheon Park' say they can create a business and performance venue in Davidson County that will attract and retain entrepreneurs, Creative Class members, performers, engineers and others. Read about it here.

Stover exits TTDC

2011-09-30T15:28:00.002-06:00

James Stover (left), after 3 years at COO at Tenn. Technology Development Corporation, is leaving for a new molecular-biology startup, backed by TriStar and Limestone TNInvestcos. Read about it here.

S2 to investor forum

2011-09-27T10:25:00.001-06:00

Larry Foster's doing a lot of right things with his S2 Interactive startup, which has technology to keep surgeon's tools coming in proper order during complex surgeries.. next, he pitches a venture forum in Memphis. Here it is.

LeanKit A-round

2011-09-27T10:22:00.003-06:00

Chris Hefley, 36, is about to undertake a potentially life- and venture-changing event: The A-round that could propell globally his Nashville-centered Cloud-based startup, LeanKit... read about it here.

Agassi's Cogent adieu

2011-09-20T13:18:00.002-06:00

Antoine Agassi, former president and COO of Cogent healthcare, has stepped down, is taking a breather after years of M&A busyness. More here.

Dolliver-Religare

2011-09-20T13:14:00.002-06:00

Kemp Dolliver, Avondale Partners' gun-slingin' hospital-services analyst, is now working for Religare Capital, in Singa-freakin-pore. More here.

VentureTrio

2011-09-20T12:57:00.004-06:00

Luke Simons, most recently of Council Capital (fka: Council Ventures), is having a blast at 76, while 41-year-old Les Wilkinson at Martin Companies and 45-year-old Si Deane of the Baden startup have nothing on him. Meet these guys here.

MusicCityLeads!

2011-09-20T12:54:00.002-06:00

The Music City Music Council has a new superstructure and a second wind, under leadership from Mayor Karl Dean and co-chair Randy Goodman. The details are here.

SpoutingRock eyes TN

2011-09-08T08:09:00.001-06:00

Spouting Rock Capital, based in the Philadelphia area, is apparently getting help from Nashville Angel investor Crom Carmichael, as it prepares a fund that may invest in Nashville-Tennessee ventures. Here's our update on Carmichael's activities and interests.

Venture NoSpin

2011-09-02T11:33:00.003-06:00

The Birmingham Business Journal (sub) lets Blueprint Birmingham advocates know that evasiveness and BS won't be enough to win support for the civic economic transformation initiative. Blueprint leaders are apparently behind schedule in divulging details of their campaign's progress, strategy, etc. Our view: Granted, economic conditions have left every endeavor fraught with uncertainty. No better time to err on the side of transparency in our dealings, particularly when trying to open a new front on innovation for the New Economy in Birmingham, or Nashville. Enough of the smoke, mirrors, spin and BS. Straight talk brings more unity, wisdom and genuine sustainable enthusiasm for progress.

VenX investment

2011-09-01T15:33:00.002-06:00

Today's SEC filing indicates $1.7MM going to VenX, the medical device manufacturer that's gotten strong investment from TriStar Technology Fund, the TNInvestco. Filing here.

Nashville SEC filings

2011-09-01T14:37:00.004-06:00

[Updated] Claritas Capital and BreatheAmerica both made SEC filings in the past 36 hours or so.. Joe Hutts at Breathe reported raising $12MM and says there's another $10MM ontap for when it's time.. Claritas Cap has raised about $10MM toward its $75MM total goal for two pooled investment interest funds.. read about it here.

MidTN venture overload?

2011-08-30T09:23:00.003-06:00

'Guess this means school's back in... so many things cookin' in the venture sphere... Clayton McWhorter's folks are taking a close look at go-forward staffing at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.. JumpStart is about to make some of its acclerator grads happy.. TNInvestco's are putting money where their mouths are, investing in seed- and early-stage deals... eMIDs is part of a Chicago mentoring group.. Steve Collins caught the IPO brass ring... and much more right here.

TN technology news

2011-08-30T09:17:00.004-06:00

Venture Incite's latest commercialization gambit with Y-12... plus capital raises, entrepreneurship and more from one end of Tennessee to the other, read about it here.

VenturePeople

2011-08-30T09:13:00.003-06:00

Jason Dinger, Jay Frank, Jeff Nahley, Rick Oliver... all deeply involved in ventures... read about these Nashvillians right here.

C3 Engine

2011-08-30T09:04:00.002-06:00

Beth Chase's C3 Consulting has created meeting-training space adjacent their corporate headquarters. Details here.

TNECD incubator grants

2011-08-24T11:56:00.001-06:00

As previously announced, TN Economic & Community Development is preparing to award nine $250K grants, one-each with the state's nine economic-development districts. The ECD release is here.

Hagerty TTDC Chair

2011-08-19T14:24:00.002-06:00

The board of directors under Chairman Bill Evans, PharmD, this afternoon elected Haslam ECD Commissioner Bill Hagerty to serve through June 30, 2012, as chairman of TTDC. The story updated here.

Feds fund Haslam initiative

2011-08-16T13:40:00.002-06:00

The U.S. Treasury came through with $29.7 million the Administration of Gov. Bill Haslam needs to breathe life into its INCITE innovation and economic development initiative, a cornerstone of the governor's Jobs4TN program. Details are here.

Massey NTC CEO

2011-08-09T14:19:00.003-06:00

Nashville Technology Council's next CEO, and its first woman in the post, will be Liza Lowery Massey, a veteran of both IT and consulting. Read about her and NTC here.

Entrada beefs-up

2011-08-09T14:17:00.002-06:00

Entrada, which provides users better access to tools for documentation for electronic health records, has more capital and has added a director of marketing, to drive growth. Read about it here.

TNInvestco update

2011-08-09T14:15:00.001-06:00

We got yer TNInvestco portfolio investment updates, righ'cher.

Chattanooga minor PR prob

2011-08-04T07:18:00.003-06:00

In addition to living in Chattanooga briefly as a toddler, I've visited it often since marrying into the Coopers about 35 years ago, and it is today one of my favorite cities -- and I've seen plenty. A writer for Automotive bitingly takes the town to task for the smell its water treatment facility emits when rainfall is way down. Having lived in DC (sewer effluent), Charleston (papermill), Nashville (try Hillsboro Village on a hot day) and other cities with their own delights, I have long ago concluded no village is without its sudden odors. However, given Chattanooga's push for national industrial and residential prominence and overall economic development, this auto scribbler's offering must be noted for the record.

Entrada $3MM B-round

2011-08-03T06:55:00.000-06:00

Entrada, the Brentwood-based clinical documentation company, has filed for a $3MM B round. SEC document here. More on Entrada and its CEO, here.

Comdata adopts Cybera

2011-08-03T06:29:00.002-06:00

Cybera, the locally based network security provider, announced Brentwood-based Comdata, the electronic-payments solutions company, has adopted its technology. Release here.

Amazon.com hearts TN

2011-08-03T04:50:00.002-06:00

Amazon.com has announced its 3rd operating location in Tennessee, the TFP reports. The latest is in Wilson County.

Bullpen Ventures Update

2011-08-03T04:26:00.002-06:00

Bullpen Ventures announced via Getahn Ward's piece in The Tennessean that it has added investors Steve Turner (Market Street, Dollar General), Joe Galante (Sony Music), Mark Montgomery (FLO Thinkery).

EDO Interactive $20MM

2011-08-03T04:23:00.002-06:00

EDO Interactive announced its has raised $20MM. Earlier coverage here.

VenturePeople, Aug. 1

2011-08-01T10:00:00.004-06:00

Here are five vignettes on entrepreneurs and their ventures, including some sage advice from the founder and former owner of Bandbox, plus updates on Chrysalis Ventures and other businesses. Read it here.

NewsBits Aug. 1

2011-08-01T10:00:00.003-06:00

Well, there are three-dozen items here, including a bit on a new ECD appointee with prior interest in TNInvestco. See the Aug. 1, 2011, NewsBits.

Kahootzz cap raise

2011-08-01T10:00:00.001-06:00

Kahootz, the Nashville tech venture led by Steven Buhrman, is preparing for a capital raise to fuel the launch of its "opportunity engine." Read about it here.

Claritas Capital raise

2011-07-20T13:01:00.001-06:00

Claritas Capital, the Burton Hills VC, says its Claritas Capital Real Estate Fund I has raised $6MM or more toward a $7MM goal, in a filing today with the SEC.

FDA gives VenX nod

2011-07-19T12:24:00.003-06:00

VenX, a medical startup that treats spider veins and is backed by TNInvestco-certified TriStar Technology Fund got the FDA nod and 510(k) pre-marketing notification. More here.

VUMC now hub for US research

2011-07-19T06:28:00.003-06:00

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has won a $20MM grant to serve as the coordinating center for an NIH Clinical and Translational Research Awards program that involves 60 institutions. Bill Snyder's Reporter story here posted here.

Frontier Capital in TN

2011-07-18T09:40:00.001-06:00

Frontier Capital (Charlotte, NC) has had its eye on Tennessee ventures for a while. Now, it has more capital and the Recession may be behind us, so... they're taking a fresh look. Scroll down, here.

A free Zingo franchise?

2011-07-18T09:37:00.002-06:00

Two McCamy's in Knoxville have an interesting idea: If an entrepreneur will accept mentoring and join Entrepreneurs of Knoxville, they'll consider them for a free Zingo franchise. Zingo provides drivers dispatched via scooter for motorists who feel they shouldn't drive after drinking, or whathaveyou. It's here too.

Ditto Music cap raise?

2011-07-18T09:33:00.003-06:00

Ditto Music is no "me-too" digital entertainment venture, with offices in Nashville, Liverpool and soon in Oz. The Parsons brothers who own it 100% have no debt and 30,000-plus customers as they sail past the $1MM revenue mark. Next, they'll revisit the issue of accepting investment capital they're previously declined. The story's here.

Galante eyes Angel role

2011-07-18T09:31:00.001-06:00

Joe Galante, who led RCA/Sony on the Row for decades, is looking at some Angel investing opps, read it here.

Bloomberg gifts Memphis

2011-07-14T08:14:00.003-06:00

Bloomberg Philanthropies has made a $4.8MM grant to Memphis, to help the city address inner-city decline and handgun violence. The CA reports.

ORNL cleanup

2011-07-14T07:24:00.002-06:00

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam expressed concern about federal funding for cleanups at ORNL. He's not convinced ORNL is getting its "fair share," he said. KNS here.

HCA Parallon Exec Retires

2011-07-13T07:04:00.002-06:00

HCA announced in a July 12 filing that recently appointed Parallon Business Solutions subsidiary President Beverly Wallace is retiring and her successor will be announced, in due course. SEC filing here. HCA Chairman and CEO said in a statement provided VNC through an HCA spokesman, "Beverly has been an integral member of our senior management team for many years and her contributions to the company are many. Most recently she headed up a group that created and launched Parallon Business Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HCA. Bev had been contemplating retirement for some time but chose to remain with the company in order to lead the launch of Parallon. With this additional achievement now completed, she has chosen to retire at the end of the year. We are happy for her, offer her our congratulations for such a successful career at HCA and wish her the best in retirement."