Chattanooga will host a major conference of entrepreneurial investors, executives and service providers this fall during Startup Week in Chattanooga.
Startup Angels, a group of investors and startup executives pushing new business ventures around the world, said Wednesday that it will present AngelSummit US in Chattanooga on Oct. 13-14. The conference will bring together more than 200 leaders in startup businesses and entrepreneurship to discuss tactics for building successful, scalable startup portfolios that are just as innovative as the companies they finance.
Similar AngelSummits were previously held in Dallas last November and in Madrid, Spain, last week.
The announcement of the latest Angel Summit was made Wednesday at the 36/86 conference in Nashville sponsored by Launch Tennessee. At the three-day Nashville event leading into the Bonnaroo Festival, two Chattanooga startup companies - RootsRated and PriceWaiter - also emerged as finalists among those presenting their business pitches during the startup conference.
Chattanooga is quickly gaining attention for its efforts to promote technology-based startups using its fastest-in-the-country Internet speed offered by its city-owned utility, EPB. Just as RootsRated and PriceWaiter are looking for extra capital to expand, the AngelSummit will focus on successful means of boosting resources for growing businesses tapping into new and expanding markets on the web or elsewhere in the changing economy.
"Startups are everywhere, but venture capital isn't," said Startup Angels Founder and CEO Leslie Jump. "We're on a mission to eliminate the problem of 'access to capital' by unleashing the potential of millions of new startup investors around the world."
The Chattanooga summit will open on Oct. 13th at Lindsay Street Hall, as part of the celebrations around Chattanooga Startup Week, with corporate and community partners including The Enterprise Center, the Jump Fund, The Company Lab (CO.LAB), Launch Tennessee and other venture capital groups.
Organizers of the AngelSummit in October said Chattanooga's history of entrepreneurship, its gigabit-per-second Internet service by EPB, and a new downtown Innovation District combined to create the backdrop to host the national conversation on startup investing.
"Hosting the premier AngelSummit is a win for Chattanooga's innovation district," Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said in a statement. "By providing a physical space for ideas, talent, and capital, Chattanooga is maintaining its place at the front of the curve and growing the companies and jobs of the future."
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.