AOL founder Steve Case is traveling the US investing in local businesses through his $150 million seed fund - here are the 5 most recent entrepreneurs to get $100,000 each

Waddel and his cofounder started Soundways in 2016 to create the audio production software they wanted to see.

Memphis, with its rich community of musicians, provided the perfect testing grounds and led to a partnership with audio giant Avid last year, allowing Avid users to easily integrate Soundways programs into their workflow.

Mother-daughter team Kerry Schrader and Ashlee Ammons founded Mixtroz in 2014 to address the all-too-common scenario of networking events where attendees either stick with their friends or have meaningless conversations with strangers.

With Mixtroz, event coordinators can invite guests to download the app and use it to see who is in attendance, and who would best fit the type of connections they're trying to make.

Before handing Ammons her oversized check, Case said, "we can take this company and really have it be one of the leaders of Birmingham of tomorrow."

Fuller's dad Max is the cofounder of US Xpress, the largest freight truck company in America, and it helped make Chattanooga a freight hub.

Growing up in that industry, Fuller decided last year to create FreightWaves, a company he said was partially inspired by Bloomberg. It's a hub for a wide variety of people involved in the freight market, providing real-time data for freight across North America, market projections, and original analysis.

"This is a winner I think really represents the future of Chattanooga — that builds on the legacy of Chattanooga — around logistics," Case said.

Louisville has long had a robust healthcare market, and its Rise of the Rest winner is taking advantage of the network.

Galloway is an MBA graduate who partnered with physicians to found Inscope Medical in 2014. The company spent years developing its first product, a wireless video laryngoscope, a device that allows medical professionals to view inside a patient's throat.

The device is intended to be not only the best quality option available, but also more affordable and easier to wield than existing high-end competitors.