GigTank now year-round program
Focus is on healthcare, 3-D printing
GigTank, the startup accelerator that gave rise to Feetz and Branch Technology, is expanding to become a year- round program, The Company Lab announced Wednesday.
“GigTank 365” will offer a summer cycle as it has in years past, in addition to spring and fall cycles.
“It’s Co.Lab’s job to help support aspiring entrepreneurs all the time,” said Mike Bradshaw, the nonprofit organization’s executive director. And Co.Lab’s research shows that there’s demand for it from startups with high-bandwidth business applications, GigTank’s sweet spot, he said.
Plus, continuity will make GigTank more “efficient and effective,” Bradshaw said. The program relies on many established businesses and professionals. “It’s better to keep a perpetual engagement with these partners than it is to spin it up for the summer, and then bring it down,” he said.
GigTank 365 will focus on three tracks — healthcare, 3-D printing and SDN (software defined networking) — along with a general gigabit business track.
One more change: municipal power distributor EPB will provide its new 10 gigabit-per-second Internet service to Co.Lab’s new location in the Edney Innovation Center, where GigTank 365 will take place.
A prototype of GigTank 365 launches this month, the spring cycle. There will be space for about eight startups. Co. Lab already has candidates lined up for several of the spots, but admission is still open, Bradshaw said.
One company that’s participating is Collider, a 3-D-printing
startup founded by Graham Bredemeyer — who worked with Co.Lab on its GigTank 3-D program in the past. Another is ProviderLinc, on the healthcare track.
Co.Lab picked the three industry tracks believing they are “particularly ripe for transformation.” GigTank has highlighted 3-D printing in the past, so it’s no surprise it remains a focus.
“That really nascent sector requires feeding, supporting it, year round,” Bradshaw said.
Co. Lab added the healthcare track after requests for its inclusion arose. Dr. Keith Helton, CEO of One to One, a local physician network, approached Bradshaw last year and asked why Chattanooga didn’t have a healthcare accelerator.
“I said, ‘ because I’m not a doctor. I believe it needs to be led by the healthcare community,’” Bradshaw recalled. Then he lobbed the question back at Helton, who responded that he didn’t know who to run an accelerator.
One to One is now GigTank’s partner for the healthcare track.
“Pairing technology- minded startups with experienced physicians can be a launch point for exciting changes in medicine that
-will increase access to care and deliver a better healthcare experience,” Helton said Wednesday.
GigTank 365 will officially launch with its summer cycle in May. Applications are now being accepted. As usual, free housing will be available to participants, courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
The extended program is a boon, according to Charlie Brock, president and CEO of Launch Tennessee, the public-private partnership under which Co.Lab operates.
“This structure will enable more entrepreneurs who are working on innovative, high-bandwidth applications an opportunity to benefit from mentorship, connections and access to the only 10 Gig network in the country,” he said.
GigTank began in 2012, asking innovators to answer the question, “If you had the world’s fastest Internet, what would you do with it?” The challenge was relevant, given Chattanooga’s unique standing as the first, and for some time, only, place in the western hemisphere with 1-gigabit-per-second service.
Mitra Malek writes about innovation, with a particular interest in the environment and wellness. Contact her at mmalek@times freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @MitraMalek.