Rise of the Rest was founded by AOL co-founder Steve Case as an initiative to support entrepreneurial hubs outside of Silicon Valley. The tour will visit CHA and host a $100K startup pitch competition on May 10th. Click link to read more and RSVP to attend.

RootsRated, a Chattanooga-based outdoor media platform, raised $2.5m in Series A funding. The company was selected to pitch at both 36|86 and Venture Atlanta in 2015.

LaunchTN will host 36|86, its annual southern culture and entrepreneurship conference, on June 6-7, 2016 at the Schermerhorn Symphony in Nashville, Tennessee.

In its second year, Startup Week Chattanooga comprised over 80 events across three tracks: tech, social and creative.  This year’s weeklong celebration and showcase included keynotes from Gary Vaynerchuk, founder of Vayner Media and Andrew Hyde, founder of Startup Weekend.

Chattanooga hosted its first Angel Summit conference October 13-14, 2015 bringing together investors, entrepreneurs, and community and business leaders from across the country.