Johnson City becomes host site for Startup World Cup

The region's startup ecosystem has gained some international attention. Johnson City has been selected to host the Tennessee regional qualifier for the Startup World Cup, one of the world's largest startup pitch competitions, during the fourth annual return of FoundersForge's Startup Mountain Summit. "People compete at these regional qualifiers like in Paris, France and Dubai, [and] they're in Tokyo, Japan," said David Nelson, FoundersForge executive director. "Also in the states this year they'll be in Houston and Miami, Las Vegas, San Fransisco, and we've announced it'll be in Johnson City, Tenn. for the first time." Nelson explained the Startup World Cup is a competition where startups from around the world can compete for a $1 million investment from Pegasus Tech Ventures. The competition, according to its website, has more than 100 regional events internationally, and finalists from those events will compete at Silicon Valley in San Fransisco for the final competition and a chance to win the investment prize. Nelson said the success of last year's Startup Mountain Summit made quite an impression on its attendees, with people commenting on the summit's Pitch competition and generating multiple facets of praise on social media. This positive reaction to the Startup Mountain Summit gained the attention of Pegasus Ventures, who reached out to Nelson and his team toward the beginning of the year to ask about the next summit becoming the site of one of the Startup World Cup's qualifying rounds. "I was sitting there in my office, and all of a sudden I got this email from the Startup World Cup," Nelson said. "When I saw that come in, I just kind of read it and went, 'No way.' The whole office stopped and looked at it. It was just like, 'Oh my gosh, I can't believe this!'" Nelson said along with the public's reaction to last year's Startup Mountain Summit, the growth in the entrepreneurial and startup industry of Johnson City is what attracted Pegasus Ventures to reach out and ask for Johnson City to be a host site. "It's really a great honor to host this, and it's just a big deal for places like Johnson City," he said. "Mid-size communities typically don't get these types of honors, but this proves that you can." Nelson added the Startup Mountain Summit also will have its typical events, such as keynote speakers and workshops, as well as venture networking. The Pitch competition, though, will have some slight changes, such as being in the forum of the Startup World Cup rather than its typical layout at the summit and the Startup World Cup making the final decision on the judges for the competition. Despite the small alterations, Nelson said meeting the competition's curriculum has led to more opportunities for partnerships and showing the growth of the region's startup ecosystem. "We are on the national startup map," Nelson said. "We're definitely growing in the southeast ecosystem, and Johnson City is a key player for startups. If somebody wants to startup and start a company and live in a place that's amazing to be, this is a great place to bring your company. I think that's getting to be more and more evident." The Startup Mountain Summit will kick off Oct. 12. As Nelson and his team prepare for the competition later this year, he said he is excited about the possibilities that will come from the Startup World Cup for the region and the entrepreneurs within it. "It's such a validation of everything we've been trying to build as well as the validation to the startups that are here," he said. "If you're in Appalachia – and Johnson City is a little better now – it can feel like you're an underdog without the opportunities out there. This should be that validation of no, the opportunities are coming, if they're not here already, and I think that's the part I'm most excited and proud of."