These 5 founders will be on stage for the 3686 pitch competition this year

Athlete-specific tele-mental health solution Onrise won last year’s pitch competition and went on to secure funding from LaunchTN’s $70-million equity investment fund, InvestTN.

These 5 founders will be on stage for the 3686 pitch competition this year
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Founders from across Tennessee will be on stage next month for the pitch competition taking place during 3686, Nashville's prime entrepreneurial conference.

The five selected startups, representing everything from HRTech to HealthTech, will compete for a $10,000 cash prize, plus in-kind services valued at up to $5,000 from The Operations Guide.

Just in, this year’s pitch competition contestants are:

  • Adele Health (Founder: Mark Norton)A diabetes management platform that makes it easy for patients to measure and understand their health
  • Express Wages (Founder: Alfred Milan) Cutting edge platform designed to revolutionize how businesses manage payroll and wage distributions
  • Folx Table (Co-founder: Emma McCallie) A platform that helps communities spark real connection through small-group, in-person conversation at local restaurants
  • JamJuice (Founder: Matthew Romero) - An AI-powered live entertainment booking platform that simplifies finding, scheduling, and paying musicians by offering vetted talent, payment processing, and organizational tools in one place
  • Spikey (Founder: Abigail Goddard) - Provides keychains equipped with clinical-grade test strips that detect common date-rape drugs (GHB, Ketamine, Scopolamine, other amine-based drugs) with 98% accuracy in seconds, helping prevent drink spiking and sexual assault.

Judging this year's pitches will be:

  1. Mike Dirla, Edison Partners
  2. Jay Teamer, Launch Tennessee
  3. Ian Villa, Whisper Aero
  4. Haley "Zap" Zapolski, The Lighthouse

Last year’s winners

Athlete-specific tele-mental health solution Onrise won last year’s pitch competition and went on to secure funding from LaunchTN’s $70-million equity investment fund, InvestTN.

Bi-lingual tax refund company MasRefund was the audience choice pick. Founder Dr. Simon Karmarkar created the app to help users overcome barriers they face when filing taxes.

Tickets and more information about 3686 can be found here.