Launch Regional Partnership

Congratulations to our 2026 Singing River Trail Launch Tank winners! 👏

🥇 First Place ($10,000): CastOff (Anglr)
🥈 Second Place ($5,000): Gather & Grow Play Cafe
🥉 Third Place ($2,500): The Walker Ranch

Following a morning of live pitches from eleven local entrepreneurs, judges awarded shares of $25,000 in non-dilutive funding among this year’s finalists, with the top three winners receiving the largest awards to help move their businesses forward.

The other eight finalists received $1,000 each: Smart Brick, SetaTech, The Cove: Center for Health & Hormones, ConectaCore, Valley Emergency Response Solutions, OptiLif, BayleeCo, and SkyFusion.

Today was a strong showing across the board! Every one of the eleven finalists delivered, pitching their small business ideas to a packed room and our panel of judges.

Thank you to Innovate Alabama for partnering with us to provide non-dilutive funding to these entrepreneurs and help move their ideas forward.

And a big thank you to everyone who showed up and made it a fantastic day!

The results are in! 🎉

After a competitive review process, we’re excited to announce the 11 finalists for this year’s Singing River Trail Launch Tank!

Meet the finalists:
✨ Anglr — Hayden Blakely, Florence
✨ BayleeCo — Baylee Corsbie, Muscle Shoals
✨ ConectaCore — Kaleigh Domingo, Fort Payne
✨ Gather & Grow Play Cafe — Jordan Eastman, Athens
✨ OptiLīf — Mandi Michelle Allen-Bell, MD, Scottsboro
✨ SetaTech USA Inc — Blair Blacker, Huntsville
✨ SkyFusion by Pyro Patriot — Bobby Hyde, Hartselle
✨ Smart Brick, LLC — Clint Carter, Tuscumbia
✨ The Cove: Center for Health & Hormones — Adrienne N. Garbarino, Huntsville
✨ The Walker Ranch — James Walker, Florence
✨ Valley Emergency Response Solutions, LLC — Harvey Hitt, Courtland

Join us in cheering on these finalists as they compete for a share of $25,000 in non-dilutive funding. The competition begins at 9:00 a.m. on April 21 at Singin' River Live in Florence, AL.

Learn more & reserve your spot here: https://launchtnvalley.org/entrepreneurship/launch-tank/

Thank you to everyone who applied for the competition. This year brought an incredible response, and we’re grateful to every entrepreneur who shared their vision, hard work, and commitment to building something meaningful in North Alabama.

We are proud to announce the newly appointed co-chairs of the Launch Workforce Pillar, Ms. Jamie Blackmon and Dr. Harry Hobbs.

Jamie Blackmon brings a deep passion for workforce development, strong statewide relationships, and outstanding leadership through her role as Regional Workforce Liaison for the Alabama Department of Workforce.

Dr. Harry Hobbs offers extensive leadership experience, a strong commitment to underserved communities, and valuable insight through his work with Huntsville Utilities, the Alabama Workforce Board, and the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.

We are excited to welcome Jamie and Harry to these important leadership roles and look forward to the impact they will make as Launch’s work in regional workforce development continues to grow.