Renaissance Nashville Hotel

Located in the dynamic heart of downtown Nashville, Tennessee—Music City—the Renaissance Nashville Hotel offers an ideal setting for the Southeast Venture Showcase 2026 (SVS), blending modern sophistication with the city's vibrant energy. This premier 4-star Marriott, standing 31 floors tall since 1987, features 697 stylish guest rooms and suites with plush bedding, spacious workstations, and stunning views, perfect for entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators attending SVS.

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech, a leading public land-grant research university in Blacksburg, Virginia, is renowned for its innovative integration of technology across all disciplines. With over 30,000 undergraduate students and a research portfolio exceeding $531 million, the university fosters a collaborative environment that drives impactful solutions for the commonwealth, nation, and world.

Brown Advisory

Brown Advisory, an independent investment management and strategic advisory firm with approximately $172 billion in client assets under management, empowers entrepreneurs, growth-stage companies, and venture investors across the Southeast and beyond to achieve sustainable success through tailored investment strategies and forward-thinking guidance.

Baker Donelson

Baker Donelson, a leading national law firm with deep roots in the Southeast, serves as a strategic partner for startups, emerging companies, and venture investors driving innovation across the region. Their specialized Emerging Companies team supports entrepreneurs from formation through funding, scaling, and exits, offering expert guidance in intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and regulatory matters tailored to high-growth sectors like technology and healthcare.

Alex Kopelyan

Image of Alex Kopelyan, Senior Director and Partner at SOSV

As Senior Director and Partner at IndieBio, Alex is responsible for managing all of the day-to-day operations associated with the program, demo day, and the alumni network. He works closely with teams during the program on customer discovery and sales, and with investors, press, and partners to build and sustain the IndieBio ecosystem.

Jennifer T Caldwell

Image of Jennifer T Caldwell, Director, Technology Transfer

Jennifer Caldwell is Director of Technology Transfer. Previously, Caldwell led the Technology Commercialization Group in the Partnerships Office at ORNL, which is operated and managed by UT-Battelle, LLC.  She manages the Technology Commercialization Group which is responsible for intellectual property portfolio management, licensing, and technology transfer.  Caldwell works closely with businesses in our community and nation-wide to bring emerging technologies from research institutions to the marketplace. 

Alan Bentley

Image of Alan Bentley, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Technology Transfer & Intellectual Property Development

Bentley joined CTTC in June 2011 and is responsible for directing all aspects of the office, focusing on faculty service and transactional efficiency. Prior to Vanderbilt, Bentley served for five years as the director of commercialization for Cleveland Clinic Innovations, that health care center’s technology commercialization function. Before the Cleveland Clinic, he served as the associate director of the University of Virginia’s Patent Foundation. Bentley received his M.S.

Mary Albertson

Mary Albertson, Director of Technology Licensing at Georgia Tech

Mary Albertson is responsible for directing the team that manages intellectual property created at Georgia Tech. She is an internationally recognized leader in the field of technology transfer. For most of her career, she was with Stanford University, where she culminated her 26 years there as Associate Director of Operations for the Office of Technology Licensing.

Dr. Todd Sherer

Dr. Todd Sherer, Associate Vice President for Research Administration

Todd is the Associate Vice President of Research and Executive Director for the office. He leads the team who focus on creating value from intellectual property developed by Emory researchers. Todd has worked extensively with researchers to translate their promising scientific and medical discoveries into new products that benefit society. This crucial activity helps assure that research is translated into practical applications, including new life-saving medical products that benefit the public who helped to fund it.

Chris Sloan

Image of Chris Sloan, Shareholder at Baker Donelson

Chris Sloan is the co-chair of the Firm’s Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Group, focusing on corporate structure and governance, venture capital financings, M&A, contract law, and IP protection for early-stage, high-growth businesses. He advises technology and healthcare companies on complex IT transactions and emerging technologies like AI, digital health, and blockchain.

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