SSR - April 26, 2024

nnovate South kicked off yesterday in Lafayette, LA. Today's schedule starts at noon. We highly recommend Gant Laborde's AI talk at 1:05 and the Startup Founder Panel after featuring some of the best and brightest of Louisiana's startup ecosystem.

New Orleans event-tech company WRSTBND had a majority stake acquired by AXS, a global leader in ticketing. A provider for major events across the country, WRSTBND partnered with Cara Stone to handle the acquisition. Check out the Constant Purpose interview with WRSTBND below. 

The National Science Foundation announced the launch of NSF Regional Innovation Engines. Offering teams up to $15M initially, and potentially $160M over ten years. Applicants and letters of intent are due by June 18th, 2024. 

Louisiana

New Orleans event-tech company WRSTBND had a majority stake acquired by AXS, a global leader in ticketing. AXS was originally established in 2001 as HDNet, co-founded by Mark Cuban. Integrating AXS Mobile ID technology with WRSTBND’s ecosystem will allow AXS clients and partners to reap the benefits of rapid iteration and the release of new features, further integrating point-of-sale, credentialing, sponsorship, and loyalty programs.

Innovate South kicked off yesterday in Lafayette. Today's schedule starts at noon. We highly recommend Gant Laborde's AI talk at 1:05 and the Startup Founder Panel after featuring some of the best and brightest of Louisiana's startup ecosystem.

DoorDash released a report on driver and merchant earnings for alcohol delivery in 2023. Guess who came out on top? Louisiana dasher earnings increased 51% on booze deliveries while merchants saw a 200%+ increase in alcohol sales.

Fibrebond Corporation is expanding its Webster Parish facility in northwest Louisiana with a $50 million investment, securing over 450 jobs and indirectly supporting an estimated 650 more in Louisiana. 

Alabama

Governor Kay Ivey announced that a consulting firm and two Alabama universities have been selected to assist in the creation of a new strategic economic growth plan that will guide the state into the next decade and beyond.  

Phoenix, Arizona-based OMCO Solar, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of steel structures for solar panels, plans to invest over $10 million into its second production facility in Alabama, creating 70 full-time jobs in Limestone County. 

Two startups competed in a field of nine finalists to earn a combined $75,000 in non-dilutive funding in the Alabama Launchpad Cycle 1 2024 Finale. 

Arkansas

AI startup Xtremis is coming to Northwest Arkansas. Xtremis uses AI to map energy in a given geographical area, then helps make the info usable for wireless telecommunications and the military.

Today is final deadline for the Conductor Healthcare Innovation Sprint open to Arkansas college students. Apply here.

The founders of Hightag will join 15 other outdoor recreation startups graduating this week from Embark, a national accelerator program hosted by Founded Outdoors and REI Path Ahead Ventures that provides entrepreneurs of color the resources to launch their businesses.
 

Northwest Arkansas is emerging as one of America's new innovation hot spots, measured by the change in utility patents granted over time per 100,000 residents. 

Florida

Miami-born Exowatt launched with $20 million in tow. This seed round included investors such as a16z, Atomic, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The renewable energy company has developed a modular energy platform that includes a heat collector, a heat battery, and a heat engine.

Superlogic has secured a strategic funding of $7.6 million to to liberate consumers from the confines of reward point systems. The conversion of reward points is currently possible on a limited scope, such as converting Amex points into Delta miles or Marriott points. However, Superlogic aims to elevate this feature by significantly increasing the opportunities for such point exchanges.

The Mark Cuban Foundation is hosting free Intro to Artificial Intelligence Bootcamps for underserved high school students to increase AI literacy and understanding. The first bootcamp is November 2nd, 9th, and 16th in Fort Lauderdale. Students can apply here.

Georgia

Atlanta Tech Village founder David Cummings is buying up acres of South Downtown properties that were set to be sold at foreclosure. His plans for the property include creating a vast tech entrepreneurial district as the second location for Atlanta Tech Village. 

Switchyards – the members-only “neighborhood work club” – has received a $5 million capital investment that will allow the Atlanta-based company to open 200 new clubs over the next five years.

Mississippi

Aspiring business owners will have a chance to win start-up funds and get their ideas noticed by investors this summer with the return of Innovate Mississippi’s CoBuilders Program. It is a 12-week intensive and structured program designed to accelerate the growth of qualifying startup companies primarily in technology and innovation. Apply here. 
 
The Innovate Mississippi team recently participated in the MSU Startup Summit, an event that showcased the entrepreneurial spirit thriving within Mississippi’s ecosystem. Standout startups like MagneBrite, Poseidon’s Vaults, and ConnectU received recognition for their innovative ideas, with MagneBrite winning the $7,000 first prize and People’s Choice awards in the grand finale on Friday.  

North Carolina

An Arizona company has agreed to acquire Charlotte’s Snap One for $1.4 billion to increase its security products business.

Charlotte based startup Wayhaven is an online platform and mobile app that gives students 24/7 access to a chat-based mental wellness coach that's powered by artificial intelligence. After raising an $850K seed round they're piloting with several universities and growing their team.

Raleigh sustainable food startup Atlantic Fish Co has developed and tested a cultivated black sea bass prototype, the company’s latest milestone in the production of sustainable seafood made from harvested fish cells.

South Carolina

Citibot, out of Charleston, who builds AI-powered chatbots and translation tools for state and local governments has raised $1M.  
 
Sunny Benefits, also out of Charleston, has raised $8M to further their mission of helping health plans and employer groups engage with consumers.  

Tennessee

Chattanooga Entrepreneur Week is next week from April 29 - May 3. The conference, which is free to attend, will include networking opportunities, breakout sessions, panel discussions, a live podcast recording, roundtable events, and a co-working zone. Check out the schedule and grab your tickets here.

Toothy Cow Productions, out of Franklin, has raised $2M via crowdfunding. Toothy Cow are the creators of the largest crowdfunded family animation series in history called The Wingfeather Saga. 

Memphis-based AgLaunch, a nonprofit organization specializing in agricultural innovation, is seeking applications for its flagship AgLaunch365 Accelerator and Farm Trial program and summer bootcamp start-up series. The program offers transformative agtech start-ups in row crop, livestock, and specialty crop agriculture a farm-immersive business development experience to accelerate the time to market.