Taking TBED on the Road: Launch Tennessee's experience at Austin’s SXSW

A handful of showcase events across the country are known widely by mere nicknames, gather lots of media attention, and attract tens of thousands of people or more each year. Can a state’s lead technology-based economic development stand out in this kind of crowd? Is it worth the investment to try? 

For Lindsey Cox, CEO of Launch Tennessee, the answer has been a "yes" for the past two years and likely will be again in 2026. She led Tennessee's participation in SXSW (South by Southwest), an annual conference in Austin, Texas, that features tech, film, music, education, and culture. Launch Tennessee took over a centrally located event space, transforming it into Tennessee House with Tennessee-branded decor and programming.

The programming at the Tennessee House provided a reason for SXSW attendees to want to check it out and to, while they were there, meet the Launch Tennessee team, the startups Launch Tennessee brought with them, and representatives from the partner business and civic organizations. Programing ranged from informational panel discussions and keynote addresses to fun-filled Tennessee-relevant activities, such as “Nooga in the Morning (including a localized Chattanooga trivia game) and “Meet Memphis at 901 Day (including a pitch competition for Memphis startups). “You need to think about programming in this holistic way of showcasing your innovators but also understand that it just can't be all talk, talk, talk," said Cox.

Having attended SXSW (or South-by) previously and prior to making the leap to such a full-scale investment of time and resources, Cox scouted the best options for Launch Tennessee during SXSW by seeing what else worked and didn’t. She knew of other similar organizations that had benefited from being part of it, such as Midwest House, which had 9,000 visitors in 2024, according to its website. 

One thing that stood out to Cox during these visits was the composition of the crowd attending SXSW. She concluded it was comprised of enough people to whom she could deliver the organization’s message about Tennessee being a place that is "passionate" about startups to make a big marketing effort with the investment.

Cox saw that the corporations that attended SXSW were showcasing their innovations, and attracting the same audience that would be interested in innovative startups. The corporate attendees themselves also are looking for innovative startups, such as those Tennessee House has featured. Another important group of visitors, Cox noted, was potential investors coming in to meet with startups.

Attendees also included alums from Tennessee universities, federal agencies, and major research universities.

Importantly, Cox saw that the mix of interests that draw people to SXSW—tech, film, music, education, and culture—made for a mix of attendees that cannot be found at other events.

Based on what she saw, Cox concluded that participating in the event could meet the following objectives:

• make a significant number of new connections—ones that were rarely this concentrated in one location—for her organization, startups and the partners in the Launch Tennessee innovation network;

• connect Tennessee startup companies to investors;

• expose startups to corporations who may be potential customers or buyers;

• raise the visibility of Tennessee and its cities, regions, and industries and reinforce its reputation for being supportive of startups;

• promote the specific R&D, innovation and cultural offerings of Tennessee and its cities and regions; and,

• position Tennessee as a place to consider when relocating or starting a business.

So, when Cox had some budget from the state for recruitment initiatives, she decided to give SXSW a try.

The total event cost for 2025 was $400k; Launch Tennessee provided about $150,000 and fundraised the rest. As she reached out to potential partners, Cox discovered that the organizations considered more traditional beacons of economic development (such as chambers of commerce) were very receptive to partnering for this new experiential marketing attempt. Cox "sold" the idea by reiterating the above-listed objectives she expected the event to achieve. Incidentally, one of Cox's most significant selling points was that partnering with Launch Tennessee would not be a "super-heavy lift" because Launch Tennessee would handle the planning and execution.

Did Tennessee Launch meet its objectives in 2025? Yes, said Cox. The numbers for Tennessee House in 2025 are impressive:

• Total attendees: 3,922 (an 80% increase over 2023). Cox estimated that Launch Tennessee would have to attend eight conferences to make contact with the close to 4,000 that visited their venue during the two and one-half days it was open.

• Total program RSVPs: 13,412 (a 68% increase over 2023)

• Countries represented by visitors: 28 (17% over 2023)

• U.S. States and Washington, D.C. represented by visitors: 40

• Top four originating countries after the United States: Brazil (75), Canada (33), Korea (19), and Japan (16)

• Over 100 notable corporate and R&D brands visited Tennessee House over the two and one-half days of programming, including: Google (manager), Nielsen (lead), Yale University (lead), Towson University (director), BBC (exec. producer), Meta (creator), Muir Station Capital (senior/vice), and more.

Cox has many “soft examples” of how Launch Tennessee having a significant presence at SXSW has boosted startups from Tennessee. One had been trying, with no luck, to connect with a senior member of AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force. "They met that person on-site at Tennessee House during South-by last year, which led to a $34 million contract this year," said Cox. She acknowledged that the company may have eventually made the connection elsewhere, but Tennessee House helped make it happen in this case. 

Another Tennessee startup in the beauty industry met with a senior executive for Ulta Beauty at the event. "It’s unlikely they would be able to get ahold of this person to visit them in Tennessee," Cox said, "but they could connect at South-by. There are valuable people here to connect with."

The feedback from her partners for both years was enthusiastic. One partner, which kicked off conversations with a potential company relocation candidate during South by Southwest in 2023, told Cox that being affiliated with Tennessee House helped demonstrate to the AI-related company that Memphis is serious about innovation.

“There are many ways to lean in and make this a good situation, but it does require a little bit of pre-work," said Cox. "It's been quite a high-impact initiative for us."

NOTE: If you would like to discuss more details of hosting a venue at SXSW, you are welcome to connect with Lindsey Cox via LinkedIn.