Joe Maxwell is counting on a law of physics to propel a new accelerator focused on financial technology startups.
"Energy attracts energy," said Maxwell, co-founder and managing partner of Nashville's Fintop Capital. "The amount of transplants here right now, the amount of companies, the amount of interested people in and around this segment — there's just nowhere for us to plug in. It's a hunt-and-peck right now. The community is here; it just hasn't been organized. We can be a launchpad. There's a layer of fintech in a lot of businesses right now."
Maxwell, a venture capitalist who specializes in "fintech," is one of two entrepreneurs-in-residence for the new Project FinTech program based at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. The other featured entrepreneur is Lee Farabaugh, co-founder and president of Franklin-based Core10 Inc. Both operate in what is one of the fastest-growing areas of the technology industry, both in Middle Tennessee and worldwide.
The board of directors for Project FinTech is still being assembled, but already boasts some notable Nashville names including:
- Brian Fox, co-founder of Confirmation.com, which had one of the largest exits in Nashville history at about $500 million;
- Silas Deane, who founded VendEngine and sold it for $84 million in 2021;
- Hugh Queener, co-founder and chief administrative officer at Pinnacle Bank (Nasdaq: PNFP);
- Wade Peery, chief innovations officer at FirstBank (NYSE: FBK)
"It's so powerful when you're building a business and you can get access to others in the same industry," Maxwell said.
The program is recruiting more mentors this spring and intends to open applications in June. Maxwell anticipates accepting eight to 10 companies in each class, or cohort. The first cohort would begin in August and wrap up in spring 2024.
There are other U.S. cities with larger financial industries and much larger technology sectors.
"You say, 'why Tennessee?' Because we have to be committed to cultivating and identifying the next generation of the entrepreneur," Maxwell said. "I look at it from past success: Tennessee has a history of launching, developing, incubating and growing very successful companies. It's a very entrepreneur-friendly environment. We're growing. Why not be a launchpad here?"
Maxwell credited Launch Tennessee and Stuart McWhorter — former head of the Entrepreneur Center and now commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development — for making funding available.
"It was really cool to see that we had a commissioner and an entity that was awake, that was supportive to get this off the ground," he said. "It was validating."
For more, go to projectfintech.com.
