Nashville's tech scene is about to radically change with the arrival of Oracle and as Amazon and other firms fill their downtown hubs. But there's plenty of action right now. Tech Bytes is a twice-monthly roundup highlighting news on startups, capital raises, acquisitions and other activity in the region's tech sector.
- Launch Tennessee has hired executive search firm Stanton Chase to shape its efforts to hire a CEO to succeed Van Tucker, who resigned this summer. Bruce Doeg, vice chair of LaunchTN's board and leader of the search committee, cited Stanton Chase's "combination of deep Tennessee roots and a national network that extends into Silicon Valley, Boston and Austin" among several attributes that solidified the firm's selection. LaunchTN hopes to have a CEO in place by year's end.
- Green Hills-based i3 Verticals Inc. (Nasdaq: IIIV) revealed that it paid $60 million for a health care company. Who was it? You'll have to tune into the company's next earnings call, in November, to find out. "It is a rock-solid company with robust software capabilities," said CEO Greg Daily. The price tag appears to be the second-largest acquisition in the company's nine-year existence.
- Asurion will spread a new $1 million donation among three local affiliates of the National Urban League: Middle Tennessee, Houston and Phoenix. The money, to be allotted over the next five years, will support Project Ready — which focuses on preparing Black and other historically underserved students in grades 8 through 12 for technology jobs.
- For the first time, the Greater Nashville Technology Council is assembling a delegation to head to the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The council is billing the trip as a way to "connect with your fellow tech leaders as part of a group representing Nashville's tech community." More info here.
- Nashville's RJ Young unveiled a new logo intended to signify how the legacy copier and printer business is tilting more toward technology, aiming for half of its revenue to come from the "technology solutions" side of its business by 2022. Nashville's Powell Creative designed the logo.
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Tech talk
"There's plenty of money here, but it just gets deployed in health care because that's a reliable way to make a great multiple. We want to clear the way for smaller-scale companies and other types of entrepreneurs around town."
Read Ezell, of the business crowdfunding platform Wefunder, which has made Nashville its only outpost outside of its Silicon Valley home base.
