SSR - November 8, 2024
Louisiana
An exciting fall continues in Louisiana. The New Orleans BioInnovation Center (NOBIC) held the BioChallenge pitch contest. Informuta, a biotechnology company focusing on DNA sequencing and infectious disease detection, took home the grand prize and audience favorite, with Vaxess and SiVec Biotechnologies placing second and third. Next on Louisiana's calendar is Tulane's Future of Energy Forum on November 15-16, followed by Nexus' BizTech Challenge headlined by Pinky Cole Hayes on November 29. Want to join the Nexus Louisiana family? The organization announced it would accept applications for a new president and CEO. Learn more and apply here.
Alabama
The Alabama Entrepreneur Institute and The EDGE are celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week with two significant events: the River Pitch Competition and a Demo Day. The River Pitch Competition, taking place November 19, will help innovators and entrepreneurs with new ideas and early-stage businesses obtain feedback on their work and potentially win one of 10+ different $1,000 prizes. The Demo Day will take place on November 21, allowing entrepreneurs to showcase their businesses. Both events are free and open to the community.
Arkansas
The SBA chose Startup Junkie, a Fayetteville nonprofit that supports entrepreneurship throughout Arkansas, to lead a new project designed to foster energy innovation by strengthening the lithium supply chain. The Lithium Regional Innovation Cluster will expand through parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
Florida
There are several notable financings in Florida to report, with more listed in our Recent Rounds section at the bottom. Osigu, an AI-powered healthcare revenue and claims management platform, announced a $25M Series B round and a partnership with Visa to expand its offerings. Urbint raised $35M in investment led by S2G to continue growing its platform to recognize weather patterns related to natural disasters. Homee, an AI direct repair network company, announced a $12M Series C round. Congratulations also go out to Nodal, a company aiming to help make surrogacy more affordable, and Matia, an AI data company, and their recent rounds.
Join the Embarc Collective's incoming CEO, Tim Holcomb, at the Embarc Collective's Builder Series on November 13. The event will feature conversation, a great way to share stories on the possibilities for southern Florida and meet the Embarc Collective leadership.
Georgia
Georgia companies are also seeing some exciting funding announcements. Yellow Card, a crypto startup with roots in Atlanta, raised a $33 million Series C round led by Blockchain Capital. OncoLens, an oncology healthcare startup, announced a $16M Series B round led by BIP Capital, Cross Border Impact Ventures, Martin Ventures, and SeedToB. SingleOps, a landscape business software, announced a merger with Landscape Management Network, securing additional growth capital. Finally, Neighborly Software announced a strategic growth investment from North Carolina-based Falfurrias Management Partners.
Congratulations to the Technology Association of Georgia 2024 winners. The winners were selected based on their contributions to corporate leadership, public service, and innovation.
Mississippi
Small businesses in Mississippi may see a boost in access to funding and programming. The U.S. Treasury announced that it had chosen Mississippi, Mississippi Small Business Development Center Network (MSBDCN) and Innovate Mississippi (Innovate MS) to receive $4.8M in federal funding matched by $2.2M from Innovate MS. Funding will go towards a new ConnectMS Program which will consist of six programs designed to help small businesses. Learn more about the program here. And don't forget to sign up for Accelerate from November 19-20. The event will highlight entrepreneurs throughout Mississippi and give those in the community a chance to unite. Register here.
North Carolina
Congratulations to Charlotte-based Petfolk on announcing $36M in Series C investment. Petfolk provides access to urgent care vet clinics and will use the funding to expand its network. Wilmington-based Synply, Inc, a cloud-based loan syndication platform also announced a $4.8M Seed funding round led by Canapi Ventures and Live Oak Ventures. NC IDEA announced that it will accept applications through December 5 from organizations executing innovative and transformational ideas to strengthen North Carolina's entrepreneurial ecosystem, specifically focusing on supporting under-served entrepreneurs in the state.
South Carolina
Startups who want to enter the Wild Pitch contest as part of Dig South's Tech Summit 2025 can now submit their proposals. Winners can go on to compete and win up to $1,000,000 at the nationwide competition in San Francisco.
Tennessee
Congratulations to Hera Health Solutions, a health company based in Memphis, on securing an exclusive licensing agreement with Geovista, a leading animal health pharmaceutical company based in South Korea. LaunchTN, a Nashville-based nonprofit supporting entrepreneurs in Tennessee, released its 2024 Impact Report. The report shows over $6M spent in early-stage company investments and $4.5M awarded out of the states SBIR/STTR matching fund. Check out the full report here.
Finally, in Knoxville, the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation hosted the 2024 SEC Student Pitch Competition which allowed students to compete for $25,000 for their businesses. The team of judges awarded Brace Cap (Vanderbilt University) the first-place prize of $10,000, Trinity Tube (University of Texas at Austin) the second-place prize of $8,000 and The Earlybird Co. (Auburn University) the third-place award of $7,000.