Unless you're a native of the region, if you think of Chattanooga, Tennessee at all, you probably picture a sleepy Appalachian city known for its impressive natural scenery and not much else. There's no arguing that the area is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, but if you think that's all Tennessee's fourth-largest city has to offer, you're in for a surprise.

All of us know that you have to be a little crazy to be an entrepreneur. Launching, let alone sustaining, a new enterprise can be challenging along almost every dimension − mentally, emotionally, and often financially. Historically, this reality has been even more sobering in the health care sector, where the typical hardships experienced by any start-up have been amplified by numerous industry-specific challenges: Extensive regulation, entrenched players with a strong grip on the status quo, confusing paths to entry, and an even more opaque path to payment have made health care a particularly treacherous territory for entrepreneurs.

Tennessee early-stage companies have secured more than $430 million in capital investment over the past two years. This represents a nice growth curve over prior years and has really been a product of several factors: public funding initiatives such as TNInvestco and INCITE, more activity from in-state venture capital firms, the development of more angel funds throughout the state and, finally, more investment from out-of-state venture capital firms. With the myriad activities supporting entrepreneurship and innovation statewide, our entrepreneurs are gaining an increasingly high profile from investors across the state, region and country.