Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty on Wednesday told a legislative committee that his team is devoting more resources to the oversight of the TNInvestco venture capital program. The beginnings of "a management structure" are being put in place to supplement the less than one FTE who had been tracking the TNInvestco paperwork.

SEE ALSO: Audit slams ECD's administration of TNInvestco

An East Tennessee medical imaging company received a shot in the arm Thursday with the announcement that a couple of TNInvestco participants — including Nashville's Council & Enhanced Tennessee Fund — have combined efforts to contribute $6 million to support the development efforts of ABT Molecular Imaging.

“We have ambitious goals and are driving forward to achieve them,” said Tom Welch, president and CEO of ABT Molecular Imaging in a company release. “This capital will allow us to continue developing critical biomarkers while rolling out our Generator to the many organizations that are interested in making PET scans more accessible for their clinical and research needs.”

ABT's Series C round was led by River Cities Capital Funds and also included Limestone Fund and Intersouth Partners, the company’s first institutional investor.

Chris Thompson and Will Green have secured more than $2 million from a handful of investors for their SplitSecnd car crash notification system. The company has filed a notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission; Milt Capps reports that TNInvestco fund Tennessee Community Ventures now owns a majority of the company launched some two years ago with the help of the JumpStart Foundry team.

Maryland-based BioHealth Innovation Inc. announced today that its board of directors has named former Interim CEO Richard Bendis the organization's first president and chief executive officer.

Bendis (pictured here) serves as a venture capital investment manager with NEST-TN LLC, a Nashville-based VC fund that the state has certified as a TNInvestco fund.

In addition, Bendis is the founding president and CEO of Innovation America and has served on numerous boards and task forces including the White House U.S. Innovation Partnership Advisory Task Force.

“As the interim CEO, Rich has been instrumental in establishing BHI, securing significant private and public sector support and funding, and developing and executing on long- and short-term strategic goals,” Scott Carmer, chairman of the BioHealth board, said in a release.

BHI is a regional private-public partnership that focuses on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in Central Maryland.