Startup Showdown Takes the Stage in Nashville
Entrepreneurs / 5th September 2022
Venture capital investment firm Panoramic Ventures has announced that its next Startup Showdown pitch competition for early-stage startups, will take place at this year’s 3686 entrepreneurial festival hosted by Launch Tennessee (LaunchTN) September 27-29 at the historic Marathon Music Works in Nashville.
The upcoming Startup Showdown in partnership with 3686 marks the 12th Startup Showdown competition since the event’s inception last year. To date, the competition has hosted over 1,200 mentor sessions and invested more than $1.6 million into 13 winning companies. Startup Showdown events have taken place in such vibrant tech cities as Atlanta, Miami, Austin—and now Nashville.
From the hundreds of anticipated startup applications, 25 semifinalists will be selected to attend a Mentor Day to further refine their pitch, and five finalists will be selected to compete live on stage at 3686 in front of the audience and to a panel of guest investor judges to win a $120,000 investment prize and join the Panoramic portfolio.
The call for applications to pitch is now open and closes on September 6.
The judges for Startup Showdown x 3686 taking place on Wednesday, September 28, include (in alphabetical order):
- Chris Sloan, Chair, Emerging Companies Team at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC
- Derrick Morgan, Managing Partner at KNGDM Group and former Tennesee Titans Linebacker
- Marlon Nichols, Co-Founder and Managing General Partner at MaC Venture Capital
- Paul Judge, Managing Partner at Panoramic Ventures
- Samara Hernandez, Founding Partner at Chingona Ventures
Partnership Champions Tennessee’s Booming Tech Ecosystem
According to Panoramic’s 2021 The State of StartupsSM in the Southeast report, as of mid-year last year $3.7 billion dollars have been invested into Tennessee startups since 2016, with Healthcare IT, SaaS, and FinTech the leading investment categories.
Tennessee is particularly friendly to startups with comparatively lower taxes, lower cost of living, and good quality of life.
“Not only is Nashville an extremely vibrant and culturally rich city, the tech community has been solving big problems and building impressive companies,” said Panoramic Ventures Managing Partner Paul Judge. “We look forward to collaborating with LaunchTN and all of the city’s entrepreneurs and innovators.”
Named for the geographic coordinates of Nashville, this year’s 3686 will feature some of the country’s top innovators and entrepreneurial voices, engaging attendees through fireside chats, networking opportunities, and panel discussions. After last year’s success with 400+ investor meetings, 3686 will also feature an expanded one-on-one matchmaking event that pairs entrepreneurs with investors and corporations, along with a lineup of live music entertainment and other programs.
“Tennessee is one of the few states with a statewide network of organizations collaborating directly with investors and entrepreneurs to grow the startup ecosystem—and our partnership with Panoramic is a key part of that,” said LaunchTN CEO Lindsey Cox. “We’re thrilled that Startup Showdown is taking center stage at this year’s 3686 and are excited by the exposure it offers to the promising tech startups selected to compete.”
Panoramic Announces Nashville as Stop on Wider View Tour
The Panoramic Ventures team, including Managing Partners Mark Buffington and Paul Judge, will also meet with entrepreneurs, investors, local ecosystem builders, HBCUs and universities, government and cultural leaders during a two-day visit to Nashville on September 27-28. The Wider View Tour is a series of events that bring together startup founders and investors in emerging geographies, celebrating entrepreneurship and connecting communities. Learn more and apply to attend here.
