Nashville EC's Inaugural Music & Entertainment Program

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Nashville, Tenn. (May 4, 2021) – The Nashville Entrepreneur Center (NEC) today announced the inaugural cohort of its expanded Project Music & Entertainment (PM&E) program. PM&E focuses on accelerating the development of entrepreneurial companies that are taking risks to solve many industry challenges. Through the 12-month program, companies gain access to the NEC’s curriculum and extensive network of C-Suite executives, entrepreneurs and industry connections to foster innovation, nurture growth and drive the future of the music and entertainment industry.

These 14 nationwide businesses in the 2021- 2022 cohort, which kicks off this week, includes:

• All Access Advance Timothy Burkhead, Matt Eldridge, Brandon Jazz, Tamer Elsherbeni Nashville, TN, Music – The All Access Advance is a SaaS platform managing live events for touring artists, venues, and events in real-time from a single dashboard.   

• BeatConnect Alexandre Turbide, Montreal, QC, Music – BeatConnect connects musicians and producers in an innovative shared environment that allow for synchronous and asynchronous collaboration, regardless of your instruments and tools.

• Collyde Marcell Hilliard, Los Angeles, CA, Sports – Collyde brings the power of live social media engagement for organizations to own and monetize their audience.

• Ewagers Noah Fulk, Carbondale, IL, Esports, Gaming – Ewagers is an online wagering platform specifically focused on Esports (video games) offering new unique patent pending wager types!

• FanFix Simon Pompan, Los Angeles, CA, Influencer, Fan Engagement – FanFix allows influencers to better monetize their platform and gives fans more exclusive, intimate access to premium content via subscription.

• FanKave Sashi Parthasarathy, Santa Clara, CA, Fan Engagement – Fankave’s goal is simple – bring magic to brands by transforming social content into brand-safe, visually rich stories across digital channels.

• LabelRadar Ed Brew, Derek Clark, Boston, MA, Music – LabelRadar is an award-winning music submission platform that eliminates headache on all sides, putting artists back in the driving seat, whilst saving decision-makers countless hours through a revolutionary reviewing tool.

• Pass It Down Chris Cummings, Chattanooga, TN, Sports, Museums – Pass It Down is a digital exhibit design platform that helps cultural institutions create engaging visitor experiences. SportsStory helps teams engage their fans with our interactive hall of fame and digital Game Day Platform.

• Quicc Mike Mathia, Wichita, KS, Sports – Quicc makes EVERY moment in a large video library retrievable in seconds allowing creators and creative teams to clip and repurpose their desired content for rapid distribution to a target audience.

• Renaissance Arpan Deol, Nikita Jaspal, Devon Ulrich, Vancouver, BC, Music – Renaissance is a fan engagement app that helps music labels and artists amplify the early traction needed to land on popular playlists and tap into a community of their superfans.

• Sounds Sphere Keller Medlin, Franklin, TN, Music – Sounds Sphere helps artists and songwriters create great songs faster and with less cost.

• StatStak Elijah Herrick, Antioch, TN, Sports – StatStak is essentially a centralized bank for sports data. We standardize the collection, distribution and communication of next-gen sports data.

• TotalVu Amy Chacon, Marina Del Rey, CA, Sports, Musi – TotalVU is a Video Experience Platform for your venues and producers seeking new and expansive ways to delight your audiences.  In-venue or remote, your audiences are further engaged with the “best seats in the house” viewing,  enhanced by multi channel, immersive, interactive and personalized experiences. The platform offers you extend reach and presents new revenue opportunities.

• Vyrill Ajay Bam, San Francisco, CA, Fan Engagement – Vyrill is a ‘Google’ for fan/user generated video with the most powerful, AI driven ‘in-video’ search to help brands and retailers increase revenue and find new customers by leveraging authentic fan video such as reviews, shout-outs, unboxing, how-to etc for insights and video commerce.

“We are elated to welcome this mature and impressive group of entrepreneurs and their businesses to the inaugural Project Music & Entertainment program,” said Jane Allen, CEO of the EC. “In addition to broadening the industry sectors for this year’s program, we’ve accepted a cohort with an average revenue 5x that of the previous cohort, and we’re thrilled to support their efforts to help bring innovative solutions to our business community.”

The program will be led by NEC Vice President of Operations and founding member of PM&E Heather McBee. AmpliFLY Entertainment founder Stephen Linn will return as the cohort’s entrepreneur-in-residence for the fifth year, and advisors-in-residence will support sector groups throughout the program. 

The PM&E cohort will be introduced on May 6, 2021, at 1:00 PM CT via a partnership with Who Knew and their “Smartest People in the Room” virtual event series. Each PM&E founder will provide a one-minute elevator pitch and engage in a Q&A with the audience. For more information on the event and how to register, click here.

Originally founded by the NEC and CMA, the program continues to be made  possible through the support of program partners including Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, Bonnaroo Works Fund, Big Machine Label Group, First Horizon, Launch Tennessee, Pinnacle Financial Partners, SESAC and Who Knew. 

To learn more about the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and its programs, visit their website here. 

About Nashville Entrepreneur Center

The Nashville Entrepreneur Center (NEC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) founded in 2010 by business leaders who wanted to support the next generation of entrepreneurs and to celebrate the spirit and tenacity of the entrepreneurial community. The NEC serves as Nashville’s center for entrepreneurship, supporting visionaries—from every background, in any industry, and at all phases—by connecting them to critical resources and championing their desire to change the world. Learn more about the NEC by following us @entrecenter on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at www.EC.co.

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About the Author

Ajay Bam is the CEO and Co-founder at Vyrill, a first-of-its-kind video intelligence company launched in 2017 through UC Berkeley’s Skydeck Incubator program. Vyrill helps brands and shoppers find the “moments that matter” inside videos. Its AI-powered “In-Video’' search technology analyzes & shares insights hidden within videos to improve personalization, SEO, and conversion. Before Vyrill, Ajay launched Boston-based, mobile shopping app company Modiv Media. He is a proven and accomplished product management professional, entrepreneurial thinker, and innovator with more than 13 years of experience leading startups and world-class brands.

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