Hypepotamus Newsletter: Vanderbilt’s Innovation Play

With the new school year now underway, it’s only appropriate that we take a look at some innovation news happening around local campuses.

Today’s top headlines:

Vandy moving forward with new innovation neighborhood
Fintech fueling the Georgia Bulldogs
the top events of the month

Let’s get reading…

This edition of Hypepotamus is brought to you by Live Oak Bank.

The Big Headline: Vanderbilt’s Innovation Neighborhood gets the green light. The university now has approval to transform 40+ acres near its Nashville campus, which today is mostly surface-level parking lots, into a new mixed-use neighborhood that will include space for research, startups, and corporate R&D. The ambitious project could reshape the city’s innovation ecosystem, but it will take decades to fully come to life. Read what approved last night.

Startup To Watch: What started as a napkin sketch created at a bar in Athens, Georgia has grown into Purpose Payment, a UGA-born startup using lower-cost, pay-by-bank payments options to help local businesses save money while supporting athletes on campus. Now, the student founders are taking the idea beyond the classroom. What might this Fintech look like during college football season? Contributor Wilson Harmond writes more here.

Community Events: Where is the Southeast tech crowd going next? September brings startup summits, hackathons, and conferences to Nashville, Atlanta, Wilmington, and beyond. We pulled together the events to know.

Live Oak Bank’s (NYSE: LOB) Venture Banking team provides non-dilutive growth financing that complements equity, along with tailored banking solutions, for venture-backed B2B software and healthcare companies at every stage of their financing journey. We understand entrepreneurs because we are entrepreneurs. Member FDIC.