About Start
Start, an accelerator and incubator program founded in 2008, is based in Memphis, United States. With a presence in 3 countries, it has supported around 62 startups in sectors like Consumer, Enterprise Applications. As of May 2026, Start has witnessed 5 portfolio exits. Most notable companies in
its portfolio include Cloud for Good, Preteckt and Rhodes. The program primarily supports Seed startups based in United States. Its latest investment was a $3.3M Seed round in Mamotest on Mar 27, 2023, which also saw participation from Johnson & Johnson and Sonen Capital.
Key Metrics
Founded Year
2008
Location
Memphis, United States
Portfolio Companies
Sectors of Investment
Stages of Investment
Seed & Angel
Locations of Investment
Start's List of Top Investments
Start has a portfolio of 62 companies. Their most notable investments are in Musistic and Musistic.Their portfolio spans across United States, Argentina and United Kingdom. They have invested in Consumer, Enterprise Applications, Auto Tech and 20 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Angel stages. Here is the list of top investments by Start:Cloud for Good works with non profit and educational organisations to implementation of strategic salesforce solutions and customizations. It helps organisations to input, track and report constituent/client data through customized CRM solutions and maintain,optimize the solution.
Key facts about Cloud for Good
- Founded Year: 2010
- Location: Asheville (United States)
- Stage: Seed
- Employee Count: 304 as on Apr 30, 2026
- Investors: Tailwind Capital, Backed and 3 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Mar 26, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Preteckt
Predictive maintenance & remote diagnostics of vehicles. It provides truck owners with sensor units that record data from different components within a vehicle and sends it to the cloud. The data is then analyzed to monitor & predict the health of the vehicle and provide alerts to the fleet owners/drivers.
Key facts about Preteckt
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: Memphis (United States)
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $6.98M
- Employee Count: 12 as on Apr 30, 2026
- Investors: XG Ventures, Las Olas and 10 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Apr 05, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
3. Rhodes
Key facts about Rhodes
- Founded Year: 1848
- Location: United States
- Stage: Acquired
- Employee Count: 681 as on Dec 31, 2021
- Investors: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Military Health and 6 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Grant (prize money), Dec 15, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
Memphis brewery crafting unique beers, hosting events, and offering taproom experiences. Brothers Davin & Kellan Bartosch established this brewery to deliver a top-notch brewing experience. They offer a diverse beer library, including their popular Sky Dog light lager. The brewery operates multiple locations, including a downtown headquarters, Little Bettie, and OG Broad Avenue taproom, each offering distinct atmospheres and events. They provide options for on-tap enjoyment, beer delivery, and keg requests. The brewery focuses on community engagement through event hosting and charitable giving. They offer merchandise and maintain an active presence on social media platforms. The brewery is committed to accessibility and operates with a privacy policy.
Key facts about Wiseacre Brew
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: Memphis (United States)
- Stage: Funding Raised
- Employee Count: 27 as on Apr 30, 2026
- Investors: Kemmons Wilson Companies and Start
Government procurement solutions connecting purchasers and vendors with bid management. This platform offers procurement solutions for local purchasers and local government bids for vendors. It provides a vendor management platform for public purchasers in cities, counties, school districts, utilities, colleges, and universities. Vendors can find hand-coded government bids with real-time bid alerts to grow their business nationwide. The platform offers features like vendor management, bid alerts, and government procurement solutions. It aims to streamline the procurement process, connecting purchasers with vendors efficiently. The website uses cookies to improve user experience and offers options to manage consent. It provides essential, functional, analytics, and marketing cookies. The platform offers resources like whitepapers, webinars, and tutorials. It is a B2B platform offering SaaS solutions.
Key facts about Vendor Registry
- Founded Year: 2011
- Location: Knoxville (United States)
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $1.8M
- Employee Count: 11 - 50 as on Jul 01, 2024
- Investors: VentureSouth, Allos Ventures and 4 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Feb 01, 2017, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
Start's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Start has invested in 62 companies over the last 15 years, with an average of 0 new investment annually in the last 10 years. Its most recent first time investment was in Mamotest and most recent follow-on round was in Preteckt.Start's Investments by Stage
Start has made 31 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $219K and 1 investment in Angel stage with an average round size of $250K.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 31 |
Angel | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Start's Investments by Sector
Start has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Consumer, Enterprise Applications, Media & Entertainment, Retail and FinTech. Notably, it has invested in 39 Tech companies, 29 Consumer (B2C) companies, 22 Enterprise (B2B) companies and at least 21 companies focusing on Software.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Consumer | 16 |
Enterprise Applications | 8 |
Media & Entertainment | 6 |
Retail | 6 |
FinTech | 3 |
Others | 19 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Start's Investments by Geography
Start has made most investments in United States (30), followed by Argentina where it has made 1 investment.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United States | 30 |
Argentina | 1 |
United Kingdom | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Start's recent investments
Start has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by Start:
Date | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 27, 2023 | Argentina | Seed | 9259 | [+3] | |
Feb 02, 2016 | United States | Seed | 3445 | - | |
Aug 14, 2015 | United States | Seed | 2344 | - | |
Aug 13, 2015 | United States | Seed | 5176 | - | |
Jun 2015 | United States | Seed | 6237 | - |
Acquired companies in Start's Portfolio
5 companies from Start's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Preteckt in Feb 2025 by Diesel Laptops for $*****.Here are Start's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Feb 10, 2025 | May 12, 2015 | Seed | 1578 | |
Nov 02, 2020 | - | - | 2903 | |
Jul 19, 2018 | May 17, 2013 | Seed | 1482 | |
Dec 01, 2016 | - | - | 1177 | |
Nov 05, 2007 | - | - | 6510 |
Co-investors of Start
Over the past 15 years, 14 investors have co-invested in Start's portfolio companies. This includes only funds.
- Top Co-investors of Start: 4 investors entered a company along with Start. These include investors like Johnson & Johnson (1 company).
- Invested after Start: A total of 10 investors have invested in Start's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include 500 Global (1 company) and Launch Tennessee (1 company).
Recent News related to Start
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ServiceMaster and Start Co. team up to find home services disruptorsThe Business Journals•Feb 20, 2018•ServiceMaster, Start
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Startup Preteckt helps keep distribution smooth « Innova MemphisInnova Memphis•Dec 13, 2017•Preteckt, Start
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Logistics startup raises big bucks for software development « Innova MemphisInnova Memphis•Dec 13, 2017•Preteckt, Start
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Demo Day Brings Together Start Co., ZeroTo510 Entrepreneurs - Memphis Daily News
Daily Memphian•Aug 14, 2015•Capital C, Start
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Upstart Memphis Begins Hatching Women-Led Startups - Memphis Daily News
Daily Memphian•Jul 29, 2013•Kids360, Start
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