Alabama Capital Network

Alabama Capital Network is thankful to announce that we have been awarded the Innovate Alabama Network designation. This designation aligns with our mission to increase access to capital for entrepreneurs and educate venture investors for our state. The purpose of the designation is highlighted below:    “Through the Innovate Alabama Network, we’re focused on developing a statewide network for innovation programming and catalyzing entrepreneurship in all of our communities, large and small,” said Cynthia Crutchfield, CEO of Innovate Alabama. “The program has become extremely competitive in this second round, with record-breaking engagement. As we continue to expand the Innovate Alabama Network, we’re eager to build on this momentum and create more resources that help foster connections among the designees.”      ACN is humbled that our organization and mission have been validated at the state level. Thank you Cynthia Crutchfield & Innovate Alabama for trusting us with this designation. ACN is honored to serve our state's innovative ecosystem and believe that Alabama's best days remain ahead.   The press release can be found here: https://lnkd.in/epiDjNgj

TGIF! As the week comes to a close, we're excited to share the memorable moments from our #WeeklyEvents. ➡️ Sara Saxner-Coughlin traveled to Birmingham this week to meet with entrepreneurs at the Innovation Depot and to attend the Alabama Capital Network's member mixer. It was a great showing of investors in the area! Benzamin Choi and Hunter Custard, along with their ACN partners and supporters like Jason Hopper and Sean Cunliffe, are fostering this community to support companies building & growing in Alabama. A bright example is Ian Hoppe, Condoit who shared his entrepreneurial story that evening. Thank you to April Mason at Burr & Forman  for hosting! ➡️ Last week, Parker W. had the opportunity to connect with several new faces thanks to the connectivity and generosity of Trenton Hughes. Founder of TRIBE HQ, Trenton is committed to bringing together founders and supporters of growing organizations and has worked diligently to foster growth in Wilmington’s ecosystem and beyond. Looking forward to the next meetup! #DualbootPartners #SoftwareDevelopment #Team #Community 

It's truly inspiring to see founders I've known since my Techstars days making a significant impact right here in Birmingham. Big thanks to Birmingham and the Alabama Capital Network for providing a supportive platform for entrepreneurs like Ian Hoppe to navigate the highs and lows of building a company. Let's keep pushing forward, Condoit and Birmingham, as we continue to drive innovation and progress in our city. Innovation Depot Hunter Custard Benzamin Choi

On April 9th, Alabama Venture Club hosted the 35th Annual Jemison Award Luncheon! Members & guests of AVC gathered to hear inspiring stories from Spencer Lacey of Jemison Investment Company, James W. Childs, Jr. of Maynard Nexsen, keynote speaker Shegun Otulana of Harmony Venture Labs  and Chris Jenkins of Founders Advisors. Congratulations to the 35th Annual Jemison Award winner, Ship OGRE's Wes Queen, & the 2nd Annual John Michael Pierce Award recipient, VeroSkills' Daniel Walsh. Many thanks to Jemison Investment Company and Founders Advisors for sponsoring the event, and thank you to our venture sponsors for your ongoing support!

At today’s Alabama Venture Club event, Shegun Otulana spoke, which is always a huge treat :) His insights on teams emphasized an important point: great entrepreneurs excel not just by recruiting top talent but by nurturing their team - including their "bench" - to a sum greater than its parts. I'm not much of a sports person, but I LOVED watching Caitlin Clark during March Madness this year. Her ability to score was captivating, sure, but so was her ability to pass and assist. In reading about her, that awareness of her team is what brought her to a whole new level during her college career - she realized that she had to rely on and influence her teammates to achieve outsize success. She is a star, but she also had supporters - coaches, teammates, family, and more - that all contributed to her ascent. And together, that changed women's basketball forever. Shegun Otulana is a star, too - not every startup even has a shot at the kind of success he enjoyed with Theranest. BUT. This community has a chance to be one of those supporting elements for every entrepreneur in the region, helping them reach higher levels than they could alone. Ask entrepreneurs what they need. Make connections where you can. Be a customer; be an advisor; be an investor. We can be the bench that helps our stars shine.

Celebrating entrepreneurship and grit with Alabama Venture Club 2024 Jemison Award keynote speaker Shegun Otulana - founder of behavioral health software company Therapy Brands, exited for $1.2B in 2021. In his remarks, Shegun shared his journey from Lagos, Nigeria to Birmingham, AL and building a unicorn company with no backing from the VC community. A few key takeaways: ⭐️ Find a big market with an inflection point and then execute like crazy ⭐️ Think & act like a sports team: think globally about talent, build a bench, use systems to turn players into stars ⭐️ Curate knowledge density ⭐️ Make decisions fast ❌ Avoid empire builders Such an uplifting day alongside Bronze Valley & gener8tor colleagues!

Congratulations to Ship OGRE 👹 for winning this years Jemison Award! Also big congratulations to all the finalists as they are all outstanding companies. Always great to hear Shegun Otulana. I learn something every time I hear him. Thanks to Alabama Capital Network for putting on a wonderful event.

Last week, The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama hosted its inaugural Investor Connector. The event brought together Alabama's fast-growing startups and seasoned out-of-state venture capitalists from across the country for two days of speed networking and relationship building. It's a no-brainer for Innovate Alabama to support this incredible event. We are excited to witness these relationships develop into potential future collaborations, investments and growth within Alabama’s thriving business ecosystem.

🚀 Exciting News! The EDPA just wrapped up its inaugural Investor Connector event, and it was a massive success! 🎉 This event was made possible through partnership with Alabama Capital Network, Franklin Advisory, Endeavor and Innovate Alabama. 🌟 The event brought together top-notch startups and out-of-state venture capitalists for two days of high-speed networking, collaboration and relationship building. 🔗 The Investor Connector event created a platform for fast-growing startups to connect with potential investors, opening up doors for incredible opportunities to fuel innovation and growth. 💡 From cutting-edge tech to groundbreaking ideas, this event was the perfect space for visionaries to showcase their potential and for investors to discover the next big thing. 🤝 We're thrilled about the connections made and the potential for future collaborations that will drive economic development and innovation in Alabama and beyond. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to build and foster these invaluable connections! 🌐 Read more about the event here📲 https://lnkd.in/epApzxAD Major thank you to our sponsors: Protective Life, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Harmony Venture Labs, Jemison Investment Company, James C. Kennemer and Timberline Management Company Food and beverage offerings were provided by BLUEROOT, Redmont Vodka and Gin, Good People Brewing Company and Tasty Town 🥳 #EDPA #StartupSuccess #VentureCapital #InnovationInProgress

Alabama Capital Network and Alabama Venture Club ended the summer on a high note at Venture Club Summer! We brought members of both organizations together for a two-part event: a VC panel discussion followed by a Startup Showcase. Thank you to our panel, Jason Hopper of Eastside Partners, Mike Goodrich of First Avenue Ventures, Matt Hottle of Redhawk VC, Mahati Sridhar of Revolution Ventures' Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and moderator Malcolm McDonald of Endeavor for your thought leadership! The Startup Showcase featured presentations from Joshua Jones, founder and CEO of QuantHub, Stephen D. Johnston, founder and CEO of GoodJob, Izzy Galante, Nicole Galante and Lee Matthews, founder, co-founder and CEO of Mosaic Instructional Planning and Daniel Walsh founder and CEO of VeroSkills. Thanks to all who made it to the event!