JACKSON, Miss. — [7/15/25] — Mississippi is opening the door to national and regional venture capital funds with the launch of the InvestMS Funds Program, a key component of the state’s $86 million SSBCI strategy to expand access to early-stage capital for Mississippi-based startups. Managed by Innovate Mississippi, the InvestMS program is…
Innovate Mississippi was thrilled to join the Mississippi Gulf Coast Business Council and Mississippi SBDC for the inaugural StartUp Gulf Coast Pitch Competition, which took place on June 10 at MGCCC's Hospitality Resort Management Center in Biloxi. This high-energy event brought together nine innovative startups drawn from across the Gulf Coast,…
Innovate Mississippi was delighted to partner again with the Oxford‑Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation, the University of Mississippi, and the Mississippi Small Business Development Center Network for the fifth annual Oxford Pitch Competition, held Thursday, June 12, at the Oxford Conference Center. And we thank the Oxford Eagle for once again…
Maranda Joiner wears many hats—entrepreneur, speaker, author, and now lead facilitator for the Founders Plus program at Innovate Mississippi. A native of Jackson and co-founder of Succeed and Elevate, a non-profit dedicated to helping entrepreneurs, Maranda brings her professional expertise and personal commitment to helping women and minority entrepreneurs thrive in the startup…
Twenty-three Mississippi entrepreneurs reached a significant milestone in May, graduating from the inaugural Mississippi cohort of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses (10KSB) program. Held at the Old Capitol Museum, the ceremony celebrated small businesses' growing energy and impact statewide. We're especially proud to celebrate two Innovate Mississippi alums who…
Innovate Mississippi is pleased to have supported the 2025 MSU Spring Startup Summit—a dynamic showcase of innovation, entrepreneurship, and collaboration. Held on April 24th and 25th, this year's summit welcomed over 75 startups nationwide and awarded nearly $100,000 in prizes to emerging businesses. We also thank the MSU communications team and Emma McRae…
Big thanks to Roslyn Anderson and the WLBT team for shining a spotlight on Mississippi’s rising entrepreneurs at The Bean Path's recent pitch competition. The competition offered two tracks "Innovation and Technology" and "Small and Diverse Business." The Tech & Innovation track focused on businesses that could be high-growth companies…
In 2020, Mississippi musician-turned-founder Seth Power launched Tribly to help musicians build direct relationships with their fans, bypassing the algorithms that dominate today's music marketing. While early iterations of the product leaned into blockchain and NFTs during the crypto boom, a market crash pushed the company to rethink its foundation.…
Mississippi State University at MCITy is calling on aspiring entrepreneurs and early-stage startups to step into the spotlight at Dawg Tank, a regional pitch competition and official qualifier for the CoBuilders statewide accelerator program. The event will take place on Thursday, June 26 at 12 p.m., on the second floor of MCITy…
One of the best parts of my role as Marketing Manager at Innovate Mississippi is spotlighting founders who are solving real problems—often creatively—right here in our state. Most days, I tell the stories of startups with big visions and plans to scale. But sometimes, a founder walks in with an…