Felicia Jackson with the CPR Lifewrap pitches her company at the Will This Float? event held at the Revelry Room on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Ten finalists pitched business plans in the contest, and the selected winners were the company undaground in the best overall category, Southside Strings in best music & entertainment, and the CPR Lifewrap in best general business.Three of the nine startup companies chosen for the elite Techstars Austin accelerator program this year are from Chattanooga – offering both a financial boost to the local firms and national attention for Chattanooga’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The local firms picked for the Texas program – CPRWrap, Pass it Down and Woorly – will each receive $120,000 in investment and training assistance along with the management training and advice offered by a variety of business and management experts from across the country.
The three Chattanooga companies were picked from among hundreds of applicants across the country and their leaders began the accelerator program this week in Austin along with other top startup firms picked from Los Angeles, Toronto, Houston, Austin and Fayetteville, Arkansas. Chattanooga birthed more of the promising startups picked for this year’s Austin accelerator than any other city.
Amos Schwartzfarb, managing director of Techstars Austin Accelerator, said those picked for the three-month program represent “some of the best and brightest new startups” in the country and are expected to emerge from the program in April with extra investment and expertise to propel their businesses forward.
“We kicked off this week and we are looking forward to three months of intense business building culminating with our Demo Day on April 10 and Investor week April 15–17,” Schwartzfarb said. “Techstars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed. Our one and only goal is to support and help grow these incredible companies.”