Almost 60 Nashville-area entrepreneurs are finalists for the Nashville Entrepreneur Center's annual Next Awards, which showcase some of the top startups and company founders in the region.
The 13-year-old nonprofit, which positions itself as the first stop for someone who wants to start a company, announced the list of finalists first in the Business Journal on Tuesday. Hundreds are expected to attend the Oct. 23 awards ceremony, which attracts a number of high-powered people from the business community.
"This is a night for the innovators, the risk-takers, the dreamers, and the disruptors," Entrepreneur Center CEO Sam Davidson said in a press release.
Some of the more notable contenders include local restaurant titan Strategic Hospitality, entrepreneur Shani Dowell — the first Black woman in the state to raise more than $1 million of venture funding — and FreightWise, the region's fastest-growing private company three years in a row, per Business Journal research.
Hall of Fame inductees will be announced at a later date and also honored at the Oct. 23 event, to be held at downtown's Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
Finalists are grouped by industry, and further split by annual revenue. The Entrepreneur Center also will name an Entrepreneur of the Year and an Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year.
Here are the categories and finalists:
Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year (annual revenue less than $8 million)
- Luke Benda, co-founder and CEO, Healing Innovations
- Allie Williamson, founding owner and CEO, Southern Domestic Diva
- Robert Young, founder and CEO, Covert Results
Entrepreneur of the Year (annual revenue exceeding $8 million)
- Tammy Hawes, CEO and founder, Virsys12
- Colleen Hoke, co-founder and CEO, ObjectiveHealth
- Brenda Motheral, co-founder and CEO, Archimedes
Startups: annual revenue less than $1 million
Financial services/Fintech (newly added category)
- Baker Bookkeeps (Joy Baker)
- Raise Financial (Wesley Belden)
- Workloop (Katy Schmitt)
Health care
- Care Sherpa (Jessica Walker)
- Healing Innovations (Luke Benda)
- Thrive Therapies Group (Kristin McGraner)
Music, sports and entertainment
- Grayscale Marketing (Tim Gray)
- TuneHatch Inc. (Christal Hector)
- Wagr (Mario Malave)
Products, services and retail
- Blueprint Expansion (Krissy Manzano)
- InnerG Juice & Yoga (Nielah Burnett)
- Trace Femcare Inc. (Claire Crunk)
Real estate, construction and hospitality
- AGB Real Estate (Adam Rosenberg)
- Comma Designworks (Eric McGinnis)
- Pillars Development LLC (Edward Henley)
Technology
- Azra AI (Chris Cashwell)
- Calm Waters AI (Joe Ferro)
- Couture Technologies (Deanna Meador)
Market movers: Annual revenue between $1 million to $8 million
Financial services/Fintech
- Adams Wealth Partners (David Adams)
- Excelsior Capital (Brian Adams)
- Wealth Access (David Benskin)
Health care
- RxGenomix (Brad Tice)
- Thalamus (Jason Reminick)
- Winnow (Paul Vernich)
Music, sports and entertainment
- Absolutely Ridiculous (Kyle Mauch)
- The Climb Gyms (Drew Sloss)
- Genni & Co. (Johnny Cloherty)
Products, services and retail
- Covert Results (Robert Young)
- Daily Crunch (Laurel Orley)
- Southern Domestic Diva (Allie Williamson)
Real estate, construction and hospitality
- Adroit Restoration (Gabe Chrismon)
- Eshelman Construction (Andrew Eshelman)
- Holladay Ventures (Evan Holladay)
Technology
- Orange Thread Live (Luke McElroy)
- Pivot Technology School (Joshua Mundy)
- Possip (Shani Dowell)
Market leaders: Annual revenue exceeding $8 million
Financial services/Fintech
- Celero Commerce (Kevin Jones)
- Core10 (Lee Farabaugh)
- Wesley Financial Group (Chuck McDowel)
Health care
- Archimedes (Brenda Motheral)
- ObjectiveHealth (Colleen Hoke)
- Spero Health (Steve Priest)
Music, sports and entertainment
- Soundstripe (Travis Terrell)
- Moo TV (Scott Scovill)
Products, services and retail
- Archangel Protective Services (Ken Thomas)
- pH-D Feminine Health (Deeannah Seymour)
- Turnip Truck (John Dyke)
Real estate, construction and hospitality
- The Clear Blue Co. (Nicholas Ogden)
- Hardaway Construction (David Frazier)
- Strategic Hospitality (Benjamin Goldberg)
Technology
- Acklen Avenue (Colin Callahan)
- BluWave (Sean Mooney)
- FreightWise (Chris Cochran)
