The Southern Startup Report is a bi-weekly publication with curated news and information to support the southern startup ecosystem.
Venture Atlanta just wrapped, DelTech is winding down in Memphis, and pitch season across the South is officially in full swing. This issue brings two fresh Miami raises, an acquisition reshaping Wilmington’s IT scene, a Knoxville founder headed to San Francisco with a shot at $1 million, and a calendar that’s filling up fast through November. Here’s what’s new since our last issue.
The Southern Startup Report is a bi-weekly publication with curated news and information to support the southern startup ecosystem.
Louisiana
Brain health takes center stage in New Orleans this month. Six finalists will compete for $100,000 at the New Orleans BioInnovation Center’s 2026 BioChallenge on Oct. 29, and every one of them is already in or near the clinic. Cenna Biosciences has FDA clearance to start its first human trial of an Alzheimer’s drug candidate. PathMaker Neurosystems’ FDA Breakthrough-designated device is in its second ALS trial. Rounding out the field are Cleaved Diagnostics, Moleculera Biosciences, Nervosave Therapeutics, and Parley Neurotech, with several finalists flying in from California, Boston, and France. The event is open to the public. Elsewhere in the city, Prokeep launched Order Pro, a set of AI agents for wholesale distributor counter teams. The company serves more than 1,700 distributors. And 504GOOD’s Squeeze the Juice kicked off Season 5 of candid leadership conversations hosted by Tim Williamson.
Founder Office Hours
Raising your first round, planning your next one, or starting to think about an exit? SSR partner Cara Stone, LLP has helped companies across the South raise capital, scale, and exit, and its team is offering free office hours for founders who want a sounding board. Bring questions about fundraising strategy, investor introductions, deal terms, or what investors in your space are looking for right now.
Reach out here to grab a time.
Alabama
Alabama’s workforce leaders are planning early for 2027. The fifth annual Alabama Summit on Talent Retention & Work-Based Learning lands Feb. 10-12 at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center. It’s co-hosted by the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship, the Alabama Community College System, the Alabama Department of Education, and FuelAL (a program of EDPA). Expect three days of practical sessions on apprenticeship, FAME, and career pathways that Alabama employers are using right now to hire, train, and keep people. It’s also a rare chance to get employers, educators, and economic developers in the same room. Early bird registration is $300 through Nov. 15. Meanwhile, Hypepotamus put Alabama in the middle of the Southeast’s defense tech moment. The piece points to military drone testing sites in the Wiregrass and a growing cluster of Huntsville companies like Skyfire AI and Outpost Technologies.
Arkansas
Arkansas makers had a big night in Bentonville. The Reel Advanced Manufacturing Program graduated its inaugural class of 25 Arkansas manufacturers on Oct. 8, capping six months of training on capital, SBA lending, and government contracting with a pitch competition. Pink House Alchemy, Jamm Fabrication, Say McIntosh Restaurants, and TechRoll Manufacturing each took home $2,500. Keynote speaker David Brogdon, a founding member of Batesville’s Bad Boy Mowers, reminded the room that the company built 262 mowers in its first year and now builds close to 200,000. Next up on the Arkansas calendar, Onward FX brings founders and funders together in Little Rock on Oct. 27.
Florida
Miami’s young founders are raising real money. Zach Yadegari, the 19-year-old who sold calorie-tracking app Cal AI to MyFitnessPal in March, raised $10 million for his new startup Persona, an AI assistant that lives in iMessage and on a $179 wristband. Vine Ventures led the round, with WHOOP and Eight Sleep among the participants, and wristbands start shipping in December. Dapta, founded in Miami by Colombian-born Nicolás Rojas, closed a $6 million seed round led by Chingona Ventures for its no-code AI agents that answer calls, qualify leads, and book appointments for law firms, insurance brokers, and home services companies. The company has passed 200,000 users, expects more than $4 million in revenue this year, and plans to grow its South Florida team in 2027. Statewide, Ambition Accelerated kicked off its new accelerator with 19 South Florida startups in the mix.
Georgia
Atlanta’s student founders are getting a bigger stage. Georgia Tech grad Yamil Quispe Silva and co-founder Yassin Reda moved HackerHouse out of a campus frat house and into a shuttered Midtown nightclub to make room for 50 founders, and they plan to bring the model to UT Austin, Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, and Penn next. Their Not A Career Fair debuted at Georgia Tech on Oct. 13, with 30+ startups booking interviews in advance and aiming to hire on the spot. In Roswell, Cory Yates’ sports analytics startup Reel Analytics placed third at the Startup World Cup regional qualifier in Johnson City. And Georgia Southern University’s Dr. Sheffie Robinson, director of business incubation, was named to the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) Board of Directors, starting a three-year term on Oct. 1.
Mississippi
CoBuilders, Mississippi’s statewide startup accelerator, hit its halfway mark with a Midpoint Day at The Capitol Club in Jackson on Oct. 6, where the 2026 cohort ran training and practice pitches before a rooftop reception. The eight startups, each backed by a regional partner, are Clarus Labs (MSU E-Center), Sixer (MPI), CodifyAI (GCBC), CardFlow (The BeanPath), Beibeaux Sol (MSU Vicksburg), Precision Heat (Olinc), ProSentra (GCBC), and TaxAssembly (CDF). Next stop is CoBuilders Pitch Day at the Accelerate Conference in Flowood on Nov. 10.
North Carolina
Wilmington had a busy few weeks. Raleigh-based Celito Technologies acquired two Wilmington IT firms, CloudWyze and Atlantic Computer Services. Celito plans to keep hiring locally, and CloudWyze founder Shaun Olsen joins as VP of strategy. Business North Carolina also spotlighted Startup Buzz, the investor event from the Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington. It drew 300+ people from 19 states and featured coastal drone-mapping startup Rcoast announcing $945,000 in funding. (Editor’s note: This coverage is the result of our media relations work for the Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington.) Next up, the NC IDEA Ecosystem Summit comes to the Wilmington area Nov. 12-13, kicking off a packed November across the state (see the calendar below).
South Carolina
South Carolina’s news cycle was quiet this stretch, but the next few weeks will make up for it. SCRA’s InnoVision Awards Celebration crowns this year’s winners on Nov. 5 in Greer, and Charleston founders have the Catalyst by Beemok Pitch Competition on Nov. 12.
Tennessee
Knoxville is sending a founder to San Francisco. Dustin Bainbridge’s Unified Track, which sits on top of school district data so educators can ask plain-English questions about attendance, grades, and test scores, won the first-ever Startup World Cup regional qualifier in Johnson City, hosted by FoundersForge at the Startup Mountain Summit. Bainbridge, who previously sold Horizon Education to private equity, took home $3,000 and will compete for a $1 million top prize in November. Unified Track already works with 50 school districts and has topped $1 million in revenue over the past 14 months. Also in Knoxville, UT spinout Nutrode, part of the 2026 Spark Accelerator cohort, says its electrode design uses about 90% less platinum and iridium than conventional electrolyzer components and cuts manufacturing from ten steps to three, with industrial-scale production targeted for 2028. Upper Cumberland founders have until Oct. 28 to apply for BizFoundry’s Start Here Pitch Competition, with $10,000 on the line on Nov. 18 in Cookeville.