Leaders with The Company Lab announced Wednesday that they are officially taking applications for Gig Tank 2013.
“Following the success of Gig Tank 2012, we’re excited to see what 2013 will bring,” Sheldon Grizzle, founder of CO.LAB, said in a prepared statement. “As we begin the selection process, we’re looking for startup founders who want to reinvent modern life. In a sense, we’re looking for pioneers of the future.”
Leaders designed the Gig Tank competition to inspire next-generation Internet apps and businesses.
For more information or to apply to Gig Tank, visit www.thegigtank.com.
For more information on ng Connect, visit www.ngconnect.org.
Last year, they got about 150 applications from students and entrepreneurs who wanted to participate in the 100-day business accelerator and mentorship program.
Local leaders then invited eight teams of entrepreneurs and 11 students to spend three months in Chattanooga, and they developed ideas to pitch at the end of the program for a chance to win thousands in prize money.
In last summer's event, the biggest prize of $100,000 went to the entrepreneur team Banyan, a cloud-based control system for collaborative research. The product aims to make it easier for researchers at universities nationwide to share information.
This year's summer-long program starts May 13 and runs through Aug. 6. It will culminate with Demo Day, when participants pitch their startups to hundreds of investors, potential collaborators and members of the press.
The ng Connect Program, founded by Alcatel-Lucent, has become a founding partner of Gig Tank.
The ng Connect Program is a multi-industry ecosystem dedicated to the creation of the new generation connected user experience through collaboration of 200-plus technology-focused companies.
Together, these member companies develop “service concepts”—prototypes for next-generation services in entertainment, retail, health care and other industries that touch our daily lives, according to a news release.
“The member companies of the ng Connect Program have developed groundbreaking prototype connected services, such as a connected-service vehicle and cloud-based learning,” Jason Collins, vice president of emerging technology and innovation at Alcatel-Lucent, said in a prepared statement. “By partnering with Gig Tank’s entrepreneurs and leveraging Chattanooga’s fiber network, we can bring these services to life and potentially work with telecom service providers around the world to ultimately reach a broad customer base.”
Gig Tank participants will have access to a resource “toolkit,” which will include several ng Connect service concepts, as well as the various pieces of technology used to build them.
Participants will also receive between $15,000 and $115,000 of investment capital, according to a news release.
Following Demo Day, selected teams will be given the opportunity to participate in a “road show” across the country, showcasing their new ventures.
“Gig Tank has evolved quite a bit since the inaugural program last summer, but the purpose remains the same: to connect high-growth potential startups with technology, mentors, capital and customers,” Grizzle said. “Our initial partnership with ng Connect will be a strong complement to our local partners at Lamp Post Group, EPB, [Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce], UTC and many others. We look forward to expanding our network of collaborating partners as Gig Tank 2013 approaches and gets underway."
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