Claritas Capital raise

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

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

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

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?

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?

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

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

Bloomberg gifts Memphis

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

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

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."

Audi harkens to Noog?

Audi, a Volkswagen brand, may actually consider following its parent to Chattanooga, The Times Free Press reports.

TNInvestco update

Drawing on records provided by State Economic and Community Development, VNC presents an informal summary of the ten TNInvestco funds' reported investments, to date. Its' right here.

Tech2020 update

At age 16, Technology 2020 has come a long way and has numerous entrepreneurial projects underway. CEO Mike Cuddy gives the tour, right here.

MBVP TnInvestco cash

Memphis Bioventures TNInvestco fund announced its first TNInvestco investment, and says there are more on the way. Story here.

Nashville Tech Council

NTC announced its new officers and board members, right here.

Inova Payroll gets $1MM bump

More investment, now totaling $4.2MM, was announced today in Farsheed Ferdowsi's Inova Payroll, updated here.

Lipscomb U. informatics

Lipscomb University has unveiled a new informatics degree, details here. This complements their recently announced information security degree.

Terenine data protector

Terenine, the hosted-data and recovery provider in Chattanooga, is among tech companies benefiting in the wake of disruptive storms and floods, the TFP reports.

Nooga site costs

We may hear more about this. Chattanooga wants to revamp its city website, but the cost has become a focal-point. The TFP has it.

Memphians exhorted

Commercial Appeal contributing columnist Andre Fowlkes exhorts Memphians to leverage Tennessee's strong rankings and Memphis' contributions, thereto, to improve the city's reputation. Read it here.

NewsBits, July 5, 2011

Remember when Summer used to slow things down? Lots going on. Catch up here.

Jacobson funds update

Dr. Harry Jacobson, vice chancellor emeritus at Vanderbilt University and former CEO of its Medical Center, is an entrepreneur and investors, and he has quite a lot going. The story's here.

This startup is wired-in

Cumberland Signal, the Chattanooga startup that simplifies life for airplane mechanics, is on its takeoff role, the story's here.

Knox Green jobs

The MTSU green-jobs report for the Knoxville area is reported by the Knoxville News Sentinel, here.

Greenjobs Memphis

The MTSU report on Green-jobs formation is parsed, as it relates to West TN, the Commercial Appeal has it.

Chamber scrutiny

Lewis Lavine of Nashville-based Center for Nonprofit Management is one of several sources casting a wary eye on reports of a multicultural chamber's spending in Chattanooga, the Times Free Press reports.

VW Chattanooga update

The Times Free Press reports the lengths to which Volkswagen is going to ensure quality in production in its Chattanooga plant, read it here.

Stratasan rebrands, Fetherling aboard

Stratasan will get 100% of Tod Fetherling, as he pushes to create new alliances for the health analytics firm; also, we provide a weekend update on the Nashville Technology Council's search for Fetherling's replacement as CEO. Read about it here.