Memphis Is Building Venture-Backable Startups Around Its Biggest Industries: Logistics, MedTech...and Music
MEMPHIS, October 30 (Hypepotamus) - Memphis has a metro population of about 1.34 million, but its businesses help move the world’s packages and supply its operating rooms.
That industrial base is turning into a hub for new startups, with founders drawing in corporate experience in town. Founders are building software to track damaged freight, help providers monitor patients, and streamline specialized legal work.
But it is not just logistics and medical device startups that are popping up in town. From MusicTech to FinTech to LegalTech, there are a growing number of venture-backed startups scaling in the city.
So what makes Memphis a startup city to explore? Largely, it comes down to logistics, MedTech, and music.
Industry Experience Becomes Startup Experience
Memphis’ logistics reputation starts with FedEx, but its infrastructure extends well beyond air transport and larges cargo airports. Five Class I railroads serve the city, making it one of the most well-connected cities in the United States.
“We have a ton of infrastructure and large companies built up around that,” Nate Smith, of Memphis’ Epicenter, explained to Hypepotamus.
For a startup founder, that concentration creates opportunities to understand how freight moves, where shipments get delayed, and which processes still need better software. That makes it a natural hub for logistics and supply chain upstarts.
Medical devices are the other big names in town. Major MedTech manufacturers with operations in the Memphis region include Medtronic, Smith+Nephew, MicroPort, Stryker, and Olympus.
As Smith explained, “there's also a lot of senior MedTech executives who will leave and start their own company.”
For Memphis, the opportunity is to turn that knowledge into home-grown companies.
What’s Going On In Memphis?
Smith, director of programs at entrepreneurial support organization Epicenter, sees the city’s established industries as an important source of startup talent. They give prospective founders experience with the problems they want to solve, connections to potential hires, and an understanding of how customers buy.
And Smith is seeing that translating into results.
“I think the most exciting thing is just that companies that are coming from Memphis are having success at a level that I don't know if I've seen before,” he told Hypepotamus.
One prominent example comes from another industry deeply associated with Memphis: music. (It is the birthplace of rock and roll, after all). Connect Music, a Memphis-based music rights and technology company, secured $80 million in financing earlier this year. Launch Tennessee put the deal as on the largest in the state in the first half of 2026.
Other venture-backed companies are also gaining momentum in town. Graphyte, which develops carbon removal technology, announced a $30 million Series A in July 2024. Other companies that have caught investor's eyes recently are Visalaw AI, which is applying artificial intelligence to immigration legal work, and MiCare Path, which is building technology around healthcare delivery.
From Industry Connections to Paying Customers
The center of Memphis’ entrepreneurial system runs through Epicenter.
The innovation hub is home to several accelerator programs, plus the Logistics Opportunity Challenge and the Medical Device Operations Challenge, which have helped produced paid pilots that have converted into full contracts.
Epicenter also powers ZeroTo510, is a MedTech-focused program that has attracted companies from across the country.
ZeroTo510 helps early-stage founders work toward commercialization through a 13-week program covering areas such as product development, regulatory requirements, quality, and reimbursement. Its 2026 investment structure includes additional funding for companies that establish a Memphis-area location for at least 12 consecutive months.
Building the Next Generation of Founders
Sustaining that activity also means helping people make the transition into entrepreneurship.
Smith said a large portion of the founders who come through Epicenter’s doors are starting a company for the first time.
Epicenter Launch addresses that early stage through an eight-week program focused on design thinking, customer discovery, business models, and fundraising fundamentals. The goal is to help founders test their assumptions and identify practical next steps.
Muriel Vega
Innovate Xcelerate adds mentorship, technical assistance, and connections to corporate partners. EpicenterU, a new partnership with Arkansas State University, extends entrepreneurship training and support to university students across the Delta region.
For Memphis, the next test is whether those efforts consistently produce more companies that win customers, hire employees, and scale.
Maija Ehlinger
A List Of Memphis Startups To Watch
- Connect Music: A MusicTech and music rights company
- MedHaul: provides access to quality, inclusive transportation services for often overlooked populations, improving their quality of life and care.
- ShipItPro: Transportation Damage Management System that prevents cargo damage by capturing and verifying dock-level loading and unloading data
- MiCare Path: A platform that optimizes patient care through Remote Patient Monitoring
- Express Wages: An earned wages access platform
- VisaLaw AI: A platform for immigration lawyers
- SweetBio: A wound-healing company
- ConvertaTek: A medical device company developing a modular, convertible shoulder arthroplasty system
- Emotional Ideas: A sports and entertainment tech company developing “Hyper Immersive” gaming tech
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Photos provided by Epicenter
