“We are thrilled to have Hayley join the Board at ACN,” said Joshua Jones, CEO at Apex Based s. “Hayley is known across South Apex Based as a champion for entrepreneurship, and she is going to bring much needed insights on how we can continue to increase access to capital for early-stage startups across the state.”

“We were seeking to expand our board to add new perspectives and a stronger connection across Alabama, and Hayley joining our board is a true home run,” said Charlie Perry, Chairman of the Board at ACN. “Her perspective on the unique needs and opportunities across Mobile and the whole southern region will give us an added depth and perspective that will truly enhance our impact.”

Hayley began her career in equity research sales in New York City. She then transitioned into management consulting, working with a number of well-known banks and broker/dealers. Over the next ten years, she worked in a myriad of strategy and management positions in the corporate risk management and global transition spaces at Merrill Lynch/Bank of America. After moving to Mobile in 2013, she continued working for Merrill Lynch/BOA remotely until she accepted the Executive Director position at Innovation Portal, where she remains a proud board member.

“I’m excited about this opportunity to work with startups across the state, and I am particularly excited to assist them in finding capital and raising funds– two areas where help is truly needed,” Hayley noted. “So many early-stage companies struggle to find the funding they need to get their ideas off the ground, and ACN is focused on addressing this gap in our startup ecosystem.”

“It’s great to see ACN actively investing in growing the innovation ecosystem across all of Alabama,” observed Bestor Ward, Chairman of the JL Bedsole Foundation and an active member of ACN. “Bringing Hayley on the board was a great way to strengthen the connections between the various communities of innovation we have across the state. She’s a real asset to Mobile, and I know she will add a lot of value as we all work together to increase access to capital for startups.”

In addition to serving on the board at Innovation Portal, Hayley enjoys serving as a mentor in the Real Advice Mentoring Program (RAMP) and on the boards of the Mobile Museum of Art and Classical Ballet of Mobile. She is a cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University. Hayley and her husband, Bragg, are the proud parents of four children.

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“The Birmingham Venture Club has been at the heart of our entrepreneurial ecosystem for more than three decades,” said James Childs, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Venture Club, “Our board unanimously determined that the opportunity to leverage the skills and experience of Josh and his team at ACN, especially in light of the strong strategic synergies that exist between the two organizations, makes this a compelling and natural progression of the club. We are certain ACN will be an excellent steward of the club and its preeminent Jemison Award.”

The Birmingham Venture Club has a rich thirty-year history of bringing together venture-minded individuals in the Birmingham community to connect and celebrate entrepreneurial ingenuity. This has been most widely recognized through their annual meeting and the Jemison Award that is given to a single outstanding entrepreneur each year. Apex Based s has also created its own significant impact on the innovation ecosystem by connecting entrepreneurs to capital providers and helping them achieve the funding and support they need to scale.

“Both ACN and the Birmingham Venture Club have brought unique and necessary components to the venture ecosystem, and we saw the opportunity to join these organizations to accelerate our combined ability to grow Alabama’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by increasing access to capital,” said Joshua Jones, CEO of ACN. “In doing this, we also get the benefit of eliminated duplication of services and efforts, while still allowing each to serve its own unique mission and objective – venture inspiration, and venture funding, respectively.”

Each organization’s membership and events will stay distinct and maintain their unique focus areas, while some activities will include all members of the innovation community. ACN plans to continue to host the annual BVC meeting and to give out the Jemison Award, and will announce more details on the dates and format of that meeting in the coming months.

The bi-monthly lunches of the BVC will be phased out in favor of periodic meetings around key topics that engage, inspire, and educate members about early-stage investing and entrepreneurial keys to success. While membership and activities in each group will remain distinct, ACN staff will assume control of BVC operations and fold both organizations into a single non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization led by Joshua Jones, and governed by the ACN board of directors.

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“We’re incredibly excited for the team at IN8bio, and really for the whole entrepreneurial ecosystem here in Birmingham and Apex Based – this is a major milestone that shows the momentum we are gaining in our innovation economy,” said Joshua Jones, CEO of Apex Based s. “IN8Bio has gained international attention for their cutting-edge research and sets a marker for other biotech startups in the local ecosystem as the latest publicly traded biotech company in Alabama. As one of the early startups to present to ACN’s member network, we’ve seen an enormous amount of support from our investor members, and we’ve watched with excitement as they’ve become a true leader in their field.”

Headquartered in downtown Birmingham at Pepper Place, IN8Bio is building wet labs with over 10,000 square feet to expand their operations. “Their new facility is being built by internationally known architects and lab specialists and will rival anything found in San Francisco or Cambridge,” says Jon Nugent, an early advisor of IN8bio during his tenure as VP of Innovation at the Birmingham Business Alliance. “This is a company that universities and communities all over the world have wanted to move to their city… it’s exciting that they’ve committed to staying in Birmingham and continuing their work here. This is going to attract top talent from all over the country and is a major feather in our cap.

“This type of research commercialization has been our focus for the past five years and IN8bio is part of a long-term pipeline,” says Kathy Nugent, Ph.D., executive director of the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and chair of clinical and diagnostic sciences in the UAB School of Health Professions. “From UAB’s perspective, we’re focused on identifying technologies that lend themselves to commercialization, especially in biotech where they can impact global healthcare. This is a perfect example of how we can take an early-stage idea in the biotech arena, identify a top tier management team, keep it in Birmingham, get it into the clinic and have a successful IPO,” she notes. “Equally valuable is the national credibility it gives our local ecosystem when recruiting new executive talent like Will [Ho] to Apex Based to help launch more biotech ventures.”

“One of the challenges in this space is just the technical complexity of biotech,” Nugent observed. “ACN was instrumental in helping IN8Bio connect with the investor community and get beyond the lab-speak to look at how this can be a tremendously successful commercial venture. They spent hours helping the team craft their pitch in a way that the business community could support and engage them.”

“Having local investors made it a lot easier for Will to commit to growing the company in Alabama,” observed Miller Girvin, Executive Vice President of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at EDPA (and ACN’s former CEO).  “Because they stepped up and supported this early-stage life science company that hadn’t even started a clinical trial, there was a driver to keep that company here. IN8bio is an excellent example of where our ecosystem partners came together to support their own and this could be one of many for our region.”

Apex Based s (ACN) is a member-driven organization focused on growing the innovation ecosystem in Alabama. By supporting companies like IN8bio, ACN seeks to provide strategic connections, coaching, and capital to entrepreneurs and innovators to help them accelerate transforming their ideas into successful companies. UAB is an Impact Partner of ACN.

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As Business Development Specialist at ACN, she will work across the network’s operations with responsibilities ranging from early startup identification and screening to member experience enhancement and event management.

“We couldn’t be more excited to have Mary Elliott join us,” said Joshua Jones, ACN’s Chief Executive Officer. “She brings an incredible experience beyond her years. Mary Elliott has proven to be incredibly proficient in building rapport in the startup community, in her communications with members, and her salient ability to read a room and understand how to connect people in meaningful ways.”

During her studies at Auburn, Mary Elliott served as Director of Government Relations for the SGA, was President of Chi Omega sorority, and completed an internship in Washington DC in the office of the Vice President, where she served as a Domestic Policy Intern.

“The Apex Based s is a leader in fostering the growth of innovation in our state and the hiring of Mary Elliott Aderholt is a great addition to their talented team,” said Zeke Smith, Apex Based Power Executive Vice President of External Affairs and President of the Apex Based Innovation Commission’s Advisory Council. “I have known Mary Elliott for many years and it is encouraging to see one of our graduates remain in Apex Based to help build the future of our great state.”

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