Raising + Rising 2023
Meet the Raising + Rising 2023 Participants As a special part of Innov865 week, Raising + Rising will showcase seven entrepreneurs’ businesses in a room full of investors, industry experts, and local Knoxville companies. The Knoxville Entrepreneur Center is excited to announce the seven participating companies in the 2023 Raising and Rising showcase! Raising […]
Brandcamp 2023 Recap
Brandcamp 2023 Recap This past month, 13 entrepreneurs and founders participated in Brandcamp, a KEC program which provides entrepreneurs with the tools and knowledge necessary to develop a successful brand plan. The business owners and founders heard from a variety of guest speakers and panelists, who imparted their knowledge while candidly discussing branding topics with […]
Big Ideas Welcome Season Two!
Season Two of the Big Ideas Welcome Podcast launches today! Since 2022, the Big Ideas Welcome Podcast has shared over 50 episodes of stories from entrepreneurs. Heading into the next season of the podcast, host, Chris McAdoo, wanted to do something different. Up until now, episodes existed as long-form interviews and conversations. The newest season of the […]
Happy 10th Birthday KEC!
Happy Birthday KEC! As April comes to a close we want to look back on how much fun we had celebrating our 10th birthday earlier this month. It has been 10 years of the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center and team KEC threw a big party to celebrate. So many familiar faces came to say hello as […]
What’s the Big Idea Pitch Competition 2023
7 BIG TEAMS. 7 IDEAS. $10,000 ON THE LINE. Over the last few weeks, 28 pitch videos were submitted, over 6000 public votes were cast and 7 finalists moved forward to participate in the Shark Tank/ Accelerator-style competition. Each finalist had 5-minutes to “pitch” their big idea, and another 3-minutes to answer questions from the judges. […]
What’s the Big Idea Pitch Competition 2023 Program
7 BIG TEAMS. 7 IDEAS. $10,000 ON THE LINE. Over the last few weeks, 28 pitch videos were submitted, over 6000 public votes were cast and 7 finalists moved forward to participate in the Shark Tank/ Accelerator-style competition. Each finalist will have 5-minutes to “pitch” their big idea, and another 3-minutes to answer questions from the […]
What’s the Big Idea Pitch Festival 2021
5 BIG IDEAS. 5 BANDS. $10,000 ON THE LINE. This year’s virtual competition brought together five teams with five big ideas, along with a little help from some of Knoxville’s most loved bands to create a live-streamed experience like none other. Hosted by our own Chris McAdoo (with a few special guests!) via Lunchpool, the […]
2019 What’s The Big Idea?! 48-Hour Launch
What’s The Big Idea?! 48-Hour Launch Hear about KEC’s annual competition straight from previous contestants and mentors. KEC talked with previous WTBI contestant, Samantha Lane of Origami Day, and WTBI mentor, Jeff Gotcher of ResQue, to get their takes on the weekend-long accelerator program. Check out what they had to say about their experience […]
One Year and $10,000 Later, (how “Big Idea” changed my life) by Douglas McDaniel
Farm Spotter: 2016 What’s the Big Idea Competition By Douglas McDaniel, CTO, Farmspotter Click here to apply to What’s The Big idea 2018 Now! (Deadline is March 11, 2018.) It was a cold night in December 2015, and I was heading out of town on business, but first meeting my friend Jason Hanna for a […]
Paradigm Challenge Photo Gallery
[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default”][vc_column_text]On Saturday, June 17th, the Paradigm Challenge took place at the Eternal Life Harvest Center in East Knoxville. Eight entrepreneurs in three categories competed for the chance to win $10,000 for their business. The Paradigm Challenge is a place-based competition that challenges […]
