Almost 500 people showed up to GEODIS Park on December 3 for Nashville Entrepreneur Day. The Premier Club where Impact Grant pitches happened was standing room only. Three rows of seats facing the stage—full. The first row held the ten finalists competing for $25,000, $10,000, and $5,000 in non-dilutive funding.
While other founders pitched their businesses to the room, finalists in the front row kept rehearsing. Kareem Elfoulie from Senior Shield Technologies studied his iPhone, running through his presentation one more time. This opportunity could change their business.
The Endowment: Entrepreneurs Funding Entrepreneurs
Bobby Frist, chairman of the board of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and co-chair of the Endowment, opened by reflecting on his own pitch day 30 years ago.
“Everybody wants you to do well,” he told the finalists. “It’s hard to see in the moment, but that is the truth.”
Then he explained what the endowment represents. Entrepreneurs and business leaders who had successful exits raised over $5 million for one purpose: fund the next generation of founders. Led by Sam Davidson and chaired by Bobby Frist and John Ingram, the endowment generates investment income to deploy as Impact Grants.
Frist told the finalists to look ahead ten years. After they build successful companies, eventually exit. When they reach that point, look back. Remember this moment. Give back.
Nathan Buttrey, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, reinforced state support: “Tennessee’s founders are launching real businesses, solving real problems, creating real jobs. As a state, we’re making commitments to fostering an environment where new ventures can thrive.”
Jamari Brown from Metro Nashville’s Economic and Community Development office kept it direct: “Thank you for choosing Nashville. If there’s anything we can ever do to help out—especially with red tape—please let us know.”
The Pitches: 70 Applied, 10 Competed
Sam Davidson took the stage and explained the stakes. Ninety companies graduated from fall accelerator cohorts. Seventy applied for Impact Grants. The Impact Grant committee scrutinized every application and narrowed it to ten finalists. The companies in that room had collectively raised $2.4 million in revenue. Some were pre-revenue but ready to deploy capital strategically.
Ten founders pitched.
Isebella Greathouse, founder of Mommy’s Baby Buggy, addressed grocery cart injuries that send kids to emergency rooms. Adele Health demonstrated a diabetes management platform that fits in your pocket instead of requiring multiple machines. Avenue.co explained how surgical teams make errors because they lack proper tool instructions. Senior Shield showed how a simple device alerts elder care staff when incontinence briefs need changing—preserving dignity for seniors and giving families peace of mind.
After all ten pitched, judges deliberated. Founders stood, got photos taken, shook out nervous energy.
Then Sam announced the winners.
The Winners: Three Companies Funded
Senior Shield Technologies – $25,000
Kareem Elfoulie: “We just placed first out of all ten teams. Super excited to be here today. I’m really grateful for the opportunity. We got $25,000. We will use the money to serve families and engage senior providers with our devices. We were just in the most recent Project Healthcare. This has been a transformational experience for us coming to the healthcare capital of the country, getting to interview with hospital directors and leaders in senior living. There’s no place like this.”
Adele Health – $10,000
Mark Norton: “We just won $10,000 at Entrepreneur Day. We’re gonna use that to accelerate the development of our diabetes management platform. We just got done with Project Healthcare, which has been an incredible opportunity to network with both business leaders and our other cohort members, enabling us to get LOIs, build better business relationships, and accelerate our path to market.”
Avenue.co – $5,000
Heather Utzig and Matthew Utzig: “We are so grateful for all the guidance that has been given to us over the 12 weeks, the ongoing support and participation in the EC now moving forward. Thank you so much. We’re so excited to be part of this group.”
The crowd cheered. Founders congratulated each other. Bobby Frist and Elise Mitchell from the EC board watched the first deployment of endowment capital benefit three companies ready to execute.
“Today will be the first day of this inaugural Impact Grant coming off the interest of the endowment,” Frist said. “Watching entrepreneurs get to explain their businesses to the world, and then see the award winners get their first impact grants, was one of the most exciting things that I can imagine for the Entrepreneur Center, for Nashville, and for those entrepreneurs today.”
The Showcases: Connectors Who Actually Connect
The Premier Club transformed into an expo. Founders with physical products set up tables. Macarons, waffles, chai, dairy-free ice cream. Free samples for the 350+ attendees and potential customers for the founders.
Showcase tracks started in the WeHo and Goal Post clubs.
The first rows were filled with connectors—people with experience building businesses, making introductions, solving problems founders face. Em Wilder, the Twendé program manager, watched audiences cheer loudly at three-minute pitches backed by data-driven storytelling and professional-grade graphics.
Each founder got three minutes to pitch, then explained what they needed. Connectors scanned QR codes to fill out forms explaining specifically how they could help. The EC staff collects these forms and delivers them to founders. No performative networking. Concrete next steps.
Dan Stephenson, a connector in the consumer packaged goods space: “I’ve built a couple of companies here, and now I’ve been consulting. I’ve worked with a couple of the brands that are going through the EC classes, and they are impressive. I wish I had the kind of guidance that they’re getting when I was building my first company, and hopefully I can lend some of that back. Getting to be a connector here today gives me a way to help them and see that they succeed in the same ways that I was fortunate and lucky enough to do with my last few businesses.”
Stephenson explained what connectors provide: “A connector brings people that have done it before to these founders that may not have any clue in an industry. They saw a need and a problem, and they’re solving it. Hopefully, people like myself can make introductions that may be valuable for capital, industry experience, and distributors. I can introduce them to the broker that got us into Sprouts or put them in front of a distributor that gets you into food service. Having that on-the-ground experience and having built it before is incredibly valuable for entrepreneurs, no matter the industry.”
The bar opened at 3 PM featuring Harding House Brewing—the official beer partner and Impact Grant Crowd Favorite winner.
Healthcare and Fintech: Real Businesses, Real Revenue
Around 4 PM, Project Healthcare and Project FinTech founders took the stage. Some from Nashville, some remote. Solutions included obstetric CPR training, document analysis using AI, trucking logistics optimization. These weren’t concepts. These were businesses generating revenue with direct asks for introductions or capital.
As the sun set, happy hour kicked off with Harding House beer flowing. Founders buzzed from their pitches, sharing the thrill of presenting to hundreds of people who understood what they were building. Then came the load-out—expo tables packed up, gear hauled to cars. School pickups, homework help, other networking events. Nashville Entrepreneur Day celebrates accelerator graduates, but it’s not a finish line. It’s momentum.
What Comes Next
Spring accelerator applications close December 22.
The founders who competed for Impact Grants spent twelve weeks in programs building toward this moment. They showed up for class. They implemented feedback. They built relationships with advisors and other founders. They pitched to connectors who could move their businesses forward.
Now three of them have non-dilutive capital. All of them have a network that shows up when it matters.
The next Nashville Entrepreneur Day happens in spring 2026. The next Impact Grants get awarded to founders in spring cohorts.
Bobby Frist told finalists to look ahead ten years and remember to give back. That future starts with showing up today.
Applications close December 22 at ec.co/apply.
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