Agenda
For information about our speakers and panelists, click HERE.
 | Description |
|---|---|
| 9:45 a.m. | Registration Opens |
| 10 – 10:15 a.m. | Welcome & Opening Remarks |
| 10:15 – 11 a.m. | Panel #1: From Pitch to Partnership: The Investor Story This moderated conversation features two investor-founder pairs sharing real-world lessons from both sides of the investment relationship. Panelists will explore what it takes to identify the right value-add investors, build trust, navigate due diligence, and successfully close a deal. The conversation will then shift to what happens after the investment, how founders and investors communicate, navigate challenges, and leverage expertise, networks, and relationships to build and scale the business. Along the way, panelists will candidly share what works, what doesn’t, and lessons learned. Panelists: Charlie Pond and AJ Singhal – Charlie Pond, Executive Director of the Alabama State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) – AJ Singhal, Founder/CEO, Kalm Therapeutics Joe Salls and Trevor Perrott – Joe Salls, Chief Revenue Officer, Censys Technologies – Trevor Perrott, CEO and Co-Founder, Censys Technologies Moderator: Nelson Chu, Managing Director, Kinetic Ventures |
| 11 – 11:45 a.m. | Panel #2: The Founder Reality: What Entrepreneurs Need Now Turning Entrepreneur Needs into Action – The most effective entrepreneurial programming starts with listening to entrepreneurs themselves. This panel will highlight new programs and initiatives being launched in direct response to the needs founders consistently identify as barriers to starting, growing, and scaling their companies. Panelists will share how organizations are turning founder feedback into action, including a statewide initiative designed to help entrepreneurs identify and connect with customers, the expansion of early-stage capital by the North Alabama Angel Network, and the launch of the Primer Lab incubator providing entrepreneurs with the technically equipped space and resources needed to develop their companies. The conversation will explore not only these new initiatives, but also how entrepreneurial ecosystems can remain responsive to founders, building programs around demonstrated needs rather than assumptions about what entrepreneurs need.. Panelists: Lauren DeWitt, PhD, Innovation Programs Manager | Innovation & Economic Development, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology Larry Lewis, Founder BizTech N. AL Angel Investors Jackson Pruett, Director, Technology Company Business Attraction, Economic Development Partnership of Alabama Moderator: Austin Goble, Senior Director, Programs & Partnerships, The Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship |
| 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Keynote Luncheon: Allyson Eman, CEO, Venture Atlanta Conference Read the article appeared in the Initiatives magazine. |
| 1 – 1:45 p.m. | Panel #3: Start Smart: Using AI to Launch, Grow, and Scale Your Business Artificial intelligence is changing not only how entrepreneurs start and grow businesses, but also how companies build new products, automate workflows, and solve complex enterprise challenges. This panel will bring together founders, AI practitioners, and companies developing AI-powered tools and platforms to explore both how businesses can use AI and how AI solutions are being built for the enterprise. Panelists will share practical examples of using AI for market research, business planning, marketing, customer engagement, content creation, software development, workflow automation, and day-to-day operations. The discussion will also highlight emerging enterprise AI platforms—such as AI-assisted development environments and intelligent business tools—that are enabling organizations to build, deploy, and scale solutions faster. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas, recommended tools, real-world use cases, and guidance for using AI responsibly—whether they are launching a startup, growing an existing business, or exploring opportunities to build AI-enabled products and solutions. Panelists: Carl Holden, Founder, Zellus Josh Rasberry, Principal AI Consultant, Meaningful AI Jason Baird, Founder, Skinny R&D Moderator: Rigved Joshi, Assistant Vice President – Innovation & Entrepreneurship / Director – Invention to Innovation Center (I²C), The University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| 1:45 – 2 p.m. | Break |
| 2 – 4 p.m. | Pitch |
| 4 – 4:15 p.m. | Break |
| 4:15 – 5 p.m. | Fireside Chat: The Power of Innovation Innovation thrives where groundbreaking research, technology, and entrepreneurship come together. This fireside chat brings leaders from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology together for a conversation about how scientific discovery moves beyond the lab to create real-world impact. Speakers will explore emerging areas of innovation, the role of research institutions in supporting entrepreneurs and new ventures, and what it takes to build environments where transformative ideas can become technologies, companies, and solutions. Panelists Neil Lamb, President, Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology Moderator Dillon Fritz, Vice President for Economic Development and Commercialization, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology |
| 5 – 7 p.m. | Awards Reception |
FOR ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT:
Ashley Engles-Ross, IOM
Vice President, Small Business
256-535-2043
Contact Our Small Business Team
