As one of a handful of entrepreneurs picked from applicants around the globe for a pioneering business accelerator program that started Thursday in Chattanooga, Michael Marczi loaded up his car last week to make the drive to Chattanooga from his Silicon Valley business headquarters in Mountain View, California.
After nearly completing his 2,400-mile journey, Marczi found himself stalled on Interstate 24 during Tuesday's snowstorm about 20 miles from his downtown Chattanooga destination. Looking for an alternative route amid the storm, Marczi's GPS directed him to take the South Pittsburg exit and then on to Highway 156, where his four-wheel drive truck ultimately got stuck in the ice along with other vehicles in New Hope, Tennessee.
Without any place to stay or a way to travel, Marczi said he quickly found out about the famed Southern hospitality when he was welcomed to stay overnight by a local resident and then ultimately driven to his destination in Chattanooga by people he had never met before.
"The May family in New Hope was phenomenally gracious and let me stay with them overnight and served me amazing biscuits and gravy with eggs and bacon for breakfast," Marczi said Thursday after arriving in Chattanooga for the first time.
(READ MORE: Cold weather pushes power use to record high in Tennessee Valley)
When he was unable to summon an Uber or taxi to his rural location, Marczi said he walked along the railroad until he came to the new headquarters of the River Gorge Ranch, where Sam Thorton, the son of developer John "Thunder" Thornton, was working the front desk and offered to give Marczi a ride to Chattanooga where Thornton lives.
"This isn't the start on this journey I expected, but everyone in Tennessee so far has been incredibly nice and friendly and made me feel welcome," Marczi said Thursday during an interview at the Company Lab headquarters in North Chattanooga.
Marczi, the founder of the electric vehicle charging startup known as MarsCharge, is among the company founders from five technology startup ventures lured to Chattanooga for a 12-week accelerator program conducted by Co.Lab and the business development firm known as Gener8tor. The startup companies are being provided $20,000 each in seed capital — and could qualify for up to $100,000 post-program financing if they grow at least some of their business in Chattanooga.
The participating businesses offer a range of services in the growing sustainable mobility field for moving people, goods and data and were picked from a pool of 145 applicants for the program from 25 nations around the globe.
Marczi said he has been working for the past two years in Silicon Valley to develop ultrafast electric vehicle chargers that reduce costs and enhance the resiliency of the electric grid. He said he was drawn to Chattanooga by its reputation for innovation and as an emerging "buckle of the battery belt" amid a growing number of electric vehicle manufacturers in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and the Carolinas.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga poised to become the buckle of the battery belt)
In addition to MarsCharge, the other businesses in Co.Lab's new accelerator designed to transform the future of mobility include:
— Fluix: Based in San Francisco and headed by Kush Patel, the company is developing technology that optimizes data center efficiency to reduce energy costs by 40%, operational carbon dioxide emissions by 45% and daily water usage by millions of gallons.
— Coulomb AI: The India-based company founded by Khushboo Shrivastava offers a battery observability platform that is working to elevate battery safety, reliability and sustainability.
— Xtelligent: Headquartered in Long Beach, California, and initially funded in part by the U.S. Department of Transportation, company founder Michael Lim said his company is developing adaptive traffic control systems to help the flow of people and goods and achieve at lease a 20% improvement in network travel time.
— Terminus: The London-based startup has a patented camera and data mining system, enabling public authorities and governments to take proactive action to make their cities smarter, safer and more efficient.
"This cohort is not only the first of its kind in Chattanooga, but in the country as well," Tasia Malakasis, CEO of the Company Lab, said during a news conference Thursday to introduce the new businesses. "Bringing in such a wide range of mobility startups positions this city to be a leading network for sustainable transportation, data, energy and movement."
For at least the next six weeks in Chattanooga and in Atlanta and Nashville, the company founders will meet with industry leaders, investors and others to help them grow their businesses and gain access to pilot opportunities with local companies, Malakasis said. The accelerator has attracted about 60 volunteer mentors for the program, and Malakasis said the entrepreneurs should also learn from other company founders trying to grow their emerging businesses.
"This really plays to the strengths of Chattanooga, and with the community support we are getting, we hope to build more of these type businesses here in Chattanooga," Malakasis said
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.