The Enterprise Center announces sixth annual Technology Transfer Conference

The Enterprise Center announced that the sixth annual Technology Transfer Conference will be held at the Chattanooga Convention and Trade Center on Wednesday, April 17. 

“Technology and entrepreneurship are transforming our region,” Wayne Cropp, president and CEO of The Enterprise Center, said in a prepared statement. “The conference is about continuing to nurture an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Chattanooga and build on the existing excitement about opportunities in the area. It also allows regional technology companies that are having an impact on the global economy to share their success stories.”

The conference is a one-day showcase of the process of transferring and maturing inventions and patents developed at laboratories and research universities into technologies that can be utilized by the commercial market for entrepreneurial purposes.

Using speakers, exhibits and the Chattanooga Venture Forum, the Technology Transfer Conference provides opportunities for education, networking, buying and selling new technology products, and pursuing capital.

Participants will also learn about The Enterprise Center, including access to technology, research and assets for use in stimulating economic development, and creating jobs. 

Newly commercialized products and product development practices will be on display during the technology exhibit part of the conference. 

“This conference validates the energy and enthusiasm of Chattanooga’s entrepreneurial community and reiterates the close technology and research partnerships within the entire region,” Cropp said.

The Chattanooga Venture Forum will be featured in the afternoon session, where local technology companies present their business models to investors for potential capital. The event is intended to assemble a select group of business visionaries, entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists and investment professionals. In 2012, eight startup companies from medical, aviation, logistics, social media and hospitality industries pitched their ideas to more than 25 investors and raised more than $3 million in funding. 

“The forum is a unique chance for companies to raise investment capital and to educate future entrepreneurs on the path to funding and access to capital,” Chris Daly, The Enterprise Center's director of technology development and transfer, said in a prepared statement. “Attendees will see early, later-stage and emerging growth investment opportunities throughout the Tennessee Valley corridor.”

 There were more than 300 attendees from all around the country at last year's conference.