9 Weeks.
Endless Opportunities.
KEC’s Startup Accelerator for early-stage software, technology, and tech-enabled companies ready for scale.
THE WORKS 2026 Facilitator
Important Dates
May 8th – Applications open
June 1st – Applications close
June 5th – Companies notified
June 24th – Public announcement of selected companies
July 13th – Kickoff Happy Hour
July 15th – BrandCamp (Full-day session)
September 9th – Demo Day @ Square Room
Full Schedule
The WORKS Summer Accelerator runs from July 13th – September 9th.
Each Monday will include a 2 hour virtual session from 2-4 PM to revisit the previous week’s topic and homework. 3 hour in-person sessions will be held every Wednesday from 1-4 PM at KEC and topics are listed below. Founders will additionally spend at least an hour with their mentor each week.
- Business Model Canvas review
- Primary and secondary customer identification
- Investable slide deck overview
- Intro video on platform navigation
- Location in downtown Knoxville
- 1.5-hour informal networking session
- Founders, mentors, and community gather to connect
- Overview of program structure and expectations
- Welcome and program overview
- Founder introductions using Business Model Canvas
- Branding foundations and brand personality exercise
- Customer and competition interactive discussion
- Introduction to the investable pitch deck
- Deliverables: Updated brand strategy and customer personas, Investable pitch deck framework
- Customer journey mapping and five stages of customer experience
- Guest speaker(s) on customer discovery and validation
- Role-play and mock interviews to practice customer insights
- Deliverables: Customer interview plan and initial insights
- Positioning, messaging, and building a repeatable go-to-market engine
- Guest speaker(s) on customer acquisition, sales strategy, and growth channels
- Peer feedback and exercises to refine offers, funnels, and sales approach
- Deliverables: Core messaging framework, sales pipeline outline, and growth KPIs
- Systems, workflows, and infrastructure needed to scale efficiently
- Guest speaker(s) on operational excellence, automation, and smart tech stack decisions
- Peer discussion and working session to identify bottlenecks and process gaps
- Deliverables: Operations roadmap, recommended tech stack priorities, and key metrics dashboard
- Public speaking workshop focused on clarity and engagement
- Pitch practice and feedback with guest experts
- Deliverables: First full draft of the five-minute pitch
- Investable pitch deck and business model deep dive
- Fundraising, revenue models, and capital strategy overview
- Q&A on funding readiness and investor expectations
- Deliverables: Revised financial model and pitch deck
- Conversations with a panel of investors
- Deep dive into what investors are looking for and how you can prepare to communicate your financials
- Deliverables: Experience with Investors and information to shape how you communicate your financial model
- Founders will take turns pitching to one another and their pitch coach
- Deliverables: A polished pitch heading into Demo Day
- Founders pitch to a packed house of investors, mentors, and peers
- Guest speakers and community celebration
- Afterparty TBD
- One-month, three-month, six-month, and one-year check-ins
- Continued mentor and investor engagement
- Tactical support for fundraising and scaling
Meet our Partners
Benefits of THE WORKS
Deep Customer Understanding
Expert-led workshops and field trips centered on customer journey, experience, and SALES.
Industry Connections
KEC’s superpower is connections, and we bring that in full force for THE WORKS. Meet mentors, industry leaders, and world-class funding professionals.
Pitching & Storytelling
You’ll build a powerful pitch deck to answer the big questions that any investor, and CUSTOMER, will want to know: Why now? Why you?…and How do you make money?
Community Support
A structured mentorship model, coupled with industry and community leaders, with ongoing check-ins post-program.
Brand & Market Positioning
Strategies to develop a compelling brand identity, differentiate in competitive markets, and establish a strong, scalable presence.
Investment Readiness
Expert-led sessions on go-to-market strategy, raising capital & understanding your market
Since 2013, Knoxville Entrepreneur Center has worked with a broad range of startups, including everything from Medical Data Technology, Retail POS integration, Accounting, and Storage Unit Management. 100 companies have participated in KEC accelerator programs and have raised over 160 million dollars in private capital.
Meet a few KEC Accelerator alumni companies:
Frequently Asked Questions
Ideally you should be producing revenue, but your company should have at least have a product or service in the market that is on a path to producing revenue.
THE WORKS is the Ultimate Startup Accelerator for early-stage software technology and tech-enabled companies ready for scale. This includes:
• SaaS
• MedTech
• FinTech
• Logistics
• Communication
• Project Management
• Marketing
• Research
• Information Technology
• There’s more, but this is already a long list. If you’re curious, please reach out to chris@knoxec.net.
This is gonna be a busy summer. Three hours per week in-person at KEC, two hours for virtual homework review on Mondays, as well as at least an hour/week spent with mentors, and additional time with Subject matter experts. You also need to be available for pitching at Demo Day on September 9th.
The sessions ARE in-person @ Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, 17 Market Square #101, Knoxville, TN 37902, but review on Mondays from 2-4 PM are virtual. Demo Day will also be in-person at a location TBD.
*Necessary acommodations will be made if unable to attend a session.
Yes! Bring your team to as many sessions as you’d like – as long as we have one primary contact.
Knoxville Entrepreneur Center does not currently have a fund, so we do not invest directly in companies.
You should already have a pitch/sales deck to submit with your application. BUT this is a major deliverable of the program, so even if it’s in the beginning stages, we want to see how you are presenting your company to clients, customers, and/or investors.
It does not, but companies based in East Tennessee are better suited for the in-person sessions.
For questions about the program curriculum and mentorship, contact Courtney Hendricks at Courtney@knoxec.net.
For questions about location, accommodations, or schedule, contact Delaney Boyd at delaney@knoxec.net
