In the first-ever full-day 865 Fest, formerly known as Knoxville’s Startup Day, about 300 people gathered inside Bridgewater Place in West Knoxville. The day-long programming included conversations about the collaborative efforts on the Covenant Health Park stadium downtown, keynotes from Mark Pancratz and Jordan Harper, and breakout sessions on valuation, relational equity, and more.
But perhaps the most anticipated event of the day was the Startup Pitch Competition, which featured six of Knoxville’s fastest-growing companies.
The founders included Simba Jonga from Laborup, Joel Smith from Teachcraft, Kimberly O’Neal from Modern Working Moms, Lance Adler from Witching Hour, Brian Washington from Aluminairy, and Dustin Bainbridge from Unified Track.