Live Pitch Competition is April 10
PYA is pleased to announce five finalists for the 2024 PYA Ballard Innovation Award. In its fourth year, the award is the largest gift of cash and in-kind services available to entrepreneurs and start-ups in the East Tennessee region. The first-place winner receives a $50,000 package of monetary support as well as in-kind tax, accounting, strategy, and video services from PYA.
Congratulations to the 2024 finalists:
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Learn more about the 2024 finalists in PYA’s Teknovation.biz.
The finalists were selected by a team of PYA experts and will compete for first, second, and third places in a live pitch competition on April 10. Judges for the pitch competition include:
- Drew Everett, Chairman, Bush Brothers & Company
- Maha Krishnamurthy, President, UT Research Foundation
- Jorge Sanabria, President, Expoquip
- Anca Timofte, Co-founder and CEO, Holocene
- David Youngblood, CFO, Strategic Acquisitions Group
During the pitch competition, PYA Chief Alliance Officer and the award’s namesake Tom Ballard discussed Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator, Market Square Ventures, and other entrepreneurial enterprises with Brandon Bruce, Managing Director of Techstars, General Partner of Market Square Ventures, CEO and Co-founder of Uncat, and many other ventures.
Read about iO Urology and PrepWizard, two previous winners of the PYA Ballard Innovation Award.
The PYA Ballard Innovation Award competition is open to any early-stage company in the East Tennessee area that has established a proof of concept with accompanying revenue and financial resources of at least $200,000; a business plan to optimize business operations; and evidence of an innovative spirit and a vision to empower the consumer.
