2025 Annual Report — Nashville Entrepreneur Center
537
Founders
5Programs
3Memberships
3McWhorter Circle levels
100+Advisors
1,000+Alumni

In 2025, EC served more founders than any prior year. They raised capital, hired teams, landed national partnerships, and proved that Nashville is one of the best places in the country to build a company.

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2025
By the Numbers
Nashville Entrepreneur Center
537
Founders served across all programs
215
Program graduates, Spring + Fall
5 accelerators
$8.5M
Capital raised, network-wide
CY2025 · LaunchTN reported
193
New jobs created, network-wide
CY2025 · LaunchTN reported
62
Funding events — rounds, SAFEs, notes
$4.2M
Monthly revenue at program exit
Combined across cohorts
1,325
Mentor & advisor sessions
3,241
Event participants across 64 events
First-time founders
76%
of 2025 cohort members
Working full-time on their business
73%
committed full-time at entry
Combined revenue at program entry
$35.4M
2024 revenue across all founders
Founder Stories
In their
own words.

The only metric that matters is what happens after a founder walks out the door. Here's what they built.

Joey Locker
"With the help of the TakeOff program, I refined both my pitch deck and narrative… That clarity directly contributed to helping us secure $18 million in committed debt financing."
$18M in committed debt financing
Joey Locker — LSV Luxury Motorcoach Resort
TakeOff · Spring 2025
Cory Iffert
"I broke through $50K MRR within the first 6 weeks of this program!"
$50K+ MRR in 6 weeks
Cory Iffert — Iffert Media
InFlight · Fall 2025
Ryan Johnson
"At the start of this course, we were growing by 1 nonprofit every two days. We are now growing by 5 nonprofits a day."
Ryan Johnson — Bugle
InFlight · Fall 2025
Aaron Jordan
"I secured a $25K investment that is now in due diligence, and was accepted into both Pharrell Williams' Black Ambition program and the AfroTech Insider Founder's Circle."
Aaron Jordan — Pebble
Twendé · Fall 2025
Gina Sicilia
"I got into Publix! I partnered with a pasta company to launch low-carb pasta. I got a meeting with Kroger. I was on Channel 5 telling my story."
Gina Sicilia — Gina's Italian Cuisine
InFlight · Spring 2025
+85
Net Promoter Score — Fall 2025
World-class threshold is +70. EC hit +85 — meaning nearly every founder who graduated in Fall 2025 would recommend the program without hesitation.
Notable wins
$18M in committed debt financing
LSV Luxury Motorcoach Resort
Publix + Kroger meetings + Channel 5
Gina's Italian Cuisine
5× growth rate (1 → 5 nonprofits/day)
Bugle
Pharrell's Black Ambition + AfroTech
Pebble
Bonnaroo 2025 + Yelp Nashville
9Muses Henna
$1B+ brand RFP (potential Super Bowl commercial)
Walter Audio
BMI partnership
TuneHatch
Mayor O'Connell board appointment
Biocatalysis Creations
The Year in Motion
Three minutes,
three rooms.

2025 in moving picture — two Nashville Entrepreneur Day pitch competitions and the city's biggest founder celebration.

Spring 2025
Nashville Entrepreneur Day
Winter 2025
Nashville Entrepreneur Day
November 2025
NEXT Awards
December 2025 — First in EC History
$40,000 in
Impact Grants.
Zero dilution.

Funded by EC Endowment interest — not donor contributions — these grants went directly to founders doing the most important work. 70 companies applied. 10 pitched at GEODIS Park. Three won.

70
Companies applied
~500
Attendees at GEODIS Park
3
Winners
Impact Grant finalists on stage at GEODIS Park
Kareem Elfoulie, Senior Shield Technologies
$25,000
Senior Shield Technologies
Kareem Elfoulie
Wearables that alert caregivers to incontinence events. Pilot saves nurses 90 minutes per day. 11 awards including recognition from Mayo Clinic and Georgia Tech.
Mark Norton, Adele Health
$10,000
Adele Health
Mark Norton
Diabetes testing and management platform. Six-year exclusive manufacturing deal. US utility patent granted.
Heather and Matthew Utzig, Avenue.co
$5,000
Avenue.co
Heather & Matthew Utzig
Instant guidance for surgical teams. Pilot invitations from Mount Sinai & Cedars-Sinai. In talks with J&J.
Nashville Entrepreneur Day pitch event Nashville Entrepreneur Day pitch event Nashville Entrepreneur Day pitch event Nashville Entrepreneur Day pitch event Nashville Entrepreneur Day pitch event Nashville Entrepreneur Day pitch event
From the floor
Watch the moment.
First Place · $25,000
Kareem Elfoulie
Second Place · $10,000
Mark Norton
Reflection
Robert A. Frist, Jr.
"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."
Robert A. Frist, Jr. — Board Chair Emeritus, Nashville Entrepreneur Center
NEXT Awards 2025 · Hall of Fame
Three legends.
One Nashville.

Inducted at the 2025 NEXT Awards for lifetimes of work that shaped the city founders build in today.

Manuel Cuevas
The man who dressed Nashville's music legends.
Mark Deutschmann
The real estate visionary who saw Nashville's future and made it better.
Rosetta Miller-Perry
At 90, still making Nashville better — one story, one decision at a time.
Financial Aid
No founder is denied
based on cost.

In 2025, EC awarded $53,750 in financial aid to 35 companies — funded entirely by donor contributions. This is how we keep the door open for founders who have the drive to build but can't yet afford the journey.

$53,750
Total awarded in 2025
35
Companies supported
The McWhorter Principles
  • 1
    Guarantee — No entrepreneur is denied based on financial need.
  • 2
    Deliver — Essential education and a supportive community.
  • 3
    Link — Entrepreneurs to economic opportunities.
  • 4
    Find a mentor and be a mentor.
  • 5
    Act like an owner.
  • 6
    Give back.

Principles set by Clayton McWhorter, EC's founding board chair. They guide every financial aid decision and the new Impact Grants program.

Compounding
Returns.
Cumulative lifetime alumni impact
$256M+
Total revenue generated
$146M+
Capital raised
1,935
Jobs created
244
Alumni companies tracked

These aren't projections. They're outcomes from 244 companies that walked out of EC programs and built something real.

189
Active advisors
1,325
Mentorship sessions in 2025
316
Active members — Base, CoWork+, and Incubate
Thank you
for making
this possible.

The McWhorter Circle is EC's community of major donors — individuals who believe that access to entrepreneurial education shouldn't be determined by a founder's bank account. Their generosity funds financial aid, advisor recruitment, and the programs that serve every founder who walks through EC's doors.

Named for EC's founding board chair

Clayton McWhorter believed that Nashville's economic future depended on founders who had every resource they needed to succeed. The McWhorter Circle carries that belief forward, year after year.

In 2025, McWhorter Circle contributions directly funded $53,750 in financial aid to 35 companies — ensuring that cost was never the reason a great founder walked away.

To learn more or join the McWhorter Circle, visit ec.co/mcwhorter-circle.

Platinum $10,000+
Penny Austermiller
Johnny and Jennifer Anderson
Judith Bright
Dr. Michael Burcham
Beth and Randy Chase
Dan Crockett
Katie and Kevin Crumbo
Brian and Abbey Dailey
Sherry and Mark Deutschmann
Haley Devlin
Gina and Jeff Drummonds
Andy and Jennifer Faught
Melissa and Robert A. Frist, Jr.
John and Stephanie Ingram
Antonia and Rod McDaniel
Jason Moore
Carrie Nall
Linda and Art Rebrovick
Joe and Dorothy Scarlett
Saurabh Sinha
Holly and Clint Smith
Dee Anna and Hubie Smith
Leah and Jim Sohr
Abby and J.B. Spaulding
Jimmy Spradley
Jon and Kathy Yarbrough
Gold $5,000+
Jane and Greg Allen
Pamela Bollinger
Angela Bostelman-Kaczmarek
Bill Brennan
Cathy and Martin Brown
Karen and Howard Burris
Trudy and Bill Carpenter
Sam and Mary Helen Davidson
Amy and Brandon Deaton
Meg and Stephen Epstein
Susan and Jason Epstein
Nancy Allen, John Burch & Matt King (FCA Venture Partners)
Joe Galante
Christie and Landon Gibbs
Debbie Gordon
Liza and Jay Graves
Carlana and Aubrey Harwell
Chris Hefley and Christel Alvarez Hefley
Pamela and Joe Jeffries
Ann Johnson
Milton and Denice Johnson
Jessa and Jay Kelley
Coco Kyriopoulos
Jimmy and Meredith Leach
Katie Lentile and Matthew Hertz
Katherine and Jim McElroy
Stuart and Leigh Anne McWhorter
Janet and David Miller
Elise Mitchell
Richard Moscardelli
Anissa Nelson-Carlisle
Nick Ogden and Katrina Welty
Mark Parker
Robert and Tatjana Paterno
Kearstin Patterson
Pam and Phil Pfeffer
Rosemary and Wayne Plorin
Tom Raney
Jim and Laurie Seabury
Michael and Lisa Shmerling
Tim and Darlene Sinks
Michael Slavik
Nancy Stabell
Jorge Titinger
Tom Turner
Mary Glenn and Dave Vreeland
Jeremy and Melissa Wilkinson
Silver $2,500
Alexa Barnett
Tyler Cauble
Trevor and Katie Garrett
Larry and Haleigh Kloess
Vishwesh Nath and Anchita Mathur
Monique Villa
Built with Nashville's best
Growth Partners
Accounting, banking, legal, and technology expertise delivered directly to EC founders.
Pinnacle Financial Partners
RJ Young
Baker Donelson
CliftonLarsonAllen
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Supporting Partners
Philanthropic investment that fuels EC's mission and keeps the door open for every founder.
Amazon
Casella Interiors
EO Nashville
Judith Bright
LaunchTN
LBMC
PNC
Proof
Relationary Marketing
Piedmont Natural Gas
Haslam College of Business
Harding House
Alumni Circle Partners
Old National Bank
HCA
Community Partners
Comstasis
Governance
The Board.

The people who set EC's direction, hold the endowment, and keep the lights on so founders can get to work.

Leadership
Saurabh SinhaChair · Emids
Brian FoxVice Chair · Confirmation.com
Rod McDanielSecretary · S3 Recycling Solutions
Kevin CrumboFinance Chair · Pine Haven Family Office
Jessa KelleyDevelopment Chair · Thyme Care
Robert A. Frist, Jr.Endowment Governance Chair · HealthStream
Committee Chairs
Michael BurchamExternal Relations · Shore Capital
Stacey Garrett KojuGovernance · Spencer Fane LLP
Johnny AndersonProgram · EC Entrepreneur in Residence
Directors
Gil BeverlyPlayfly Aspire
Marty BonickArdent Health
Judith BrightJudith Bright Jewelry
Beth ChaseBoard Chair Emeritus · Ankura (retired)
Sam DavidsonCEO · Nashville Entrepreneur Center
Mark DeutschmannCore Development
Shani DowellPossip
Adel ElmessiryAlphaFin
Max GoldbergStrategic Hospitality
John IngramBoard Chair Emeritus · Ingram Content Group
Craig KlopatekHumana
Coco KyriopoulosRich Products Corporation
Chase MichalekVSx Veterinary Surgery
Elise MitchellVelocity Creative
Andy MoatsPinnacle Financial Partners
Tatjana PaternoBass, Berry & Sims PLC
Kearstin PattersonHCA Healthcare
Courtney RossAmazon
Steve SchnurElectronic Arts
Michael SlavikCLA Nashville (retired)
Chris SloanBaker Donelson
Jorge TitingerTitinger Consulting
Ex-Officio
Mark BlazeNashville Technology Council
Jamari BrownNashville Mayor's Office
Apryl Childs-PotterNashville Health Care Council
Stephanie ColemanNashville Area Chamber of Commerce
Colton MulliganEO Nashville
Looking Ahead
Building
toward 1,000.

2025 proved EC can serve more founders than ever without sacrificing quality — a +85 NPS is the evidence. Now we scale. The goal: 1,000 founders served annually by 2027, with 300 active advisors and 500 members supporting them.

Impact Grants return for Spring 2026. The programs that work keep running. The ones that can grow, will.

Explore ec.co
  • Founders served
    2026 target
    800
  • Founders served
    2027 target
    1,000
  • Active members
    2027 target
    500
  • Active advisors
    2027 target
    300