Chattanooga startup Bellhops competes for national prize to promote firm

Matt Patterson, foreground, Cameron Doody and Stephen Vlahos, from left, of Campus Bellhops work at the Lamp Post Group offices in the Loveman’s building in downtown Chattanooga.

A Chattanooga startup will compete in the final round of a nationwide business competition next month after winning $20,000 in a semifinal round in June.

Bellhops, a moving company that exclusively uses college students to move people in and out of apartments or houses, will compete against four other semifinal winners for the $200,000 grand prize of the Miller Lite Tap the Future competition on August 16 in Chicago.

The competition, in its second year, is open to any business that is less than five years old with revenues of less than $5 million. Bellhops was one of 25 semifinalists who pitched in five cities across the United States, and one of five finalists.

“It turned out to be a huge event,” said Bellhops co-founder Stephen Vlahos. He handled the five-minute pitch and 10-minute question-and-answer session in front of a crowd of about 400 in Atlanta — including judge Daymond John, one of the investors on ABC’s hit TV show Shark Tank.