# Knoxville Entrepreneur Center

> Knoxville Entrepreneur Center is a nonprofit business accelerator and entrepreneur support hub serving Knoxville and East Tennessee. It connects aspiring business owners, makers and technology founders with education, mentors, community programs and outside capital resources.

- **Founded:** 2013
- **Headquarters:** Knoxville, United States
- **Products:** Starting Your Business 101, THE WORKS, What’s the Big Idea?, BrandCamp, 100Knoxville
- **Notable:** Opened in April 2013 and marked its tenth anniversary in April 2023., 2026 accelerator page reports 100 participating companies since 2013 and more than $160 million in private capital raised by participants; this is a cumulative self-reported alumni metric, not KEC funding., Six companies completed the 2026 WORKS cohort.

## Products & services

- **Starting Your Business 101** — Five-week introductory business course; advertised Fall 2026 fee is $150 including materials, non-refundable. Weekly three-hour evening sessions cover customers, marketing, pricing, finances and legal basics.
- **THE WORKS** — Accelerator for early-stage technology and tech-enabled companies. The 2026 edition ran nine weeks with customer discovery, operations, sales, capital preparation, mentoring and a demo day.
- **What’s the Big Idea?** — Regional early-stage pitch competition and intensive launch weekend; advertised award is $10,000. Eligibility and reimbursement conditions depend on the published rules.
- **BrandCamp** — Brand strategy and content training; a founder-only cohort began in 2020 and an expanded online course sold out in 2022.
- **100Knoxville** — Launched in spring 2021 to support Black-owned businesses with a five-year $10 million growth goal. Historical grant cohorts paired five founders with five mentors for five weeks; later programming advertised $10,000 per completing business. Current homepage focuses on alumni and continued support.
- **The Maker City** — Maker community support including learning sessions, meetups and an annual summit.
- **Women in Entrepreneurship** — Recurring forum for women entrepreneurs with education, conversation and networking.
- **AgTech Mentor Network** — Partnership with AgLaunch and Launch Tennessee connecting agricultural ventures with relevant expertise.
- **Made for Knoxville** — Founder storytelling and community visibility initiative launched in late 2020.
- **Mentoring** — Connections with executives-in-residence and subject specialists in finance, marketing and operations.
- **Big Ideas Welcome** — Entrepreneurship interview podcast hosted by Chris McAdoo; public page includes a YouTube playlist.

## Achievements

- Opened in April 2013 and marked its tenth anniversary in April 2023.
- 2026 accelerator page reports 100 participating companies since 2013 and more than $160 million in private capital raised by participants; this is a cumulative self-reported alumni metric, not KEC funding.
- Six companies completed the 2026 WORKS cohort.
- BrandCamp’s expanded online offering sold out in summer 2022.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — WORKS completed its nine-week 2026 cohort; six companies participated, and demo day included alumni Jenna Johns and Joel Smith.
- **2026-10** — KEC advertises the Fall 2026 Starting Your Business 101 course for October 22-November 19, priced at $150.
- **2026-03** — What’s the Big Idea? scheduled its 2026 competition weekend for March 20-22 and listed seven finalists.

## Links

- Website: https://knoxec.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/knoxville-entrepreneur-center/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/knoxstartshere
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjJkiOkJYo2DUuZuk9LLGAmgWyZlvsVCw
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knox_ec/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knoxstartshere/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/knoxville-entrepreneur-center
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-08