2025 Hall of Fame Inductees
Presented By: HUB International
Sid Chambless
Managing Partner
Nashville Capital Network
Sid Chambless serves as co-managing partner of Nashville-based venture capital firm Nashville Capital Network. Founded in 2003, NCN focuses on funding early stage technology and health care companies. The firm has supported 62 companies and has $200 million under management. He has been and continues to be a driving force in the Nashville investment community.
Townes Duncan
Managing Partner
Invergarry Holdings, LP
Townes Duncan is a recovering lawyer with more than 35 years of experience as a private equity and venture investor. He is currently the Managing Partner of a VC firm, Invergarry Holdings.
He was previously the Managing Partner of Solidus, a long term investment partnership with investments in both the public and private equity markets and a partner at Massey Burch a VC firm.
He has management experience as CEO of Comptronix and Chairman of Breathe America. Additionally he serves on eight boards including Endeavor Business Media, Vigilant Health, and nPhase. He has been a director of more than a dozen public companies including Bright Horizons, Inforum, Information America, and J Alexanders.
Julia Polk
Founder
ClimateWiser
After four decades as a founder, operating advisor, board member, and CFO across healthcare technology, biotech, and childcare, Julia Polk recently launched ClimateWiser—a coalition dedicated to climate action, advocacy, and venture acceleration. ClimateWiser fosters connections among explorers, experts and entrepreneurs to drive real action in sustainability.
As co-founder of Decode Health, where she continues to serve as board member and advisor to the CEO, the team pioneered AI-driven analytics for precision medicine. Her strategic and financial expertise has guided over 100 early-stage companies in fundraising and sustainable growth.
A champion for the startup ecosystem, Julia has served on the executive committee and board of Launch Tennessee for over a decade, strengthening entrepreneurship across the state. Her leadership extends through dedicated mentorship of emerging teams and support of female founders in healthcare, technology, and venture capital. Beyond Launch Tennessee, she currently serves on the boards of Decode Health and Shep Digital Solutions.
Jim Sohr
Partner
Powered Health
Jim has been an operator, founder and investor in healthcare technology businesses for 30 years. He has co-founded companies including AIM Healthcare, CorrectCare Solutions, Xsolis and Claris Health. Jim has a passion for working with founders and turning zero revenue startups into successful high growth companies like Relatient, Maize Analytics and Prediction Health. Jim is currently a partner at Powered Health, a venture studio in Nashville, TN.
Barry Walker
Entrepreneur
Marathon Village
Barry Walker saves things, lots of things. His largest reclamation project was a property that was home to Marathon Motor Works, the first car totally manufactured in the South. It closed in 1914, and after going through a series of different owners, sat vacant for 30 years. Walker looked past the decay and destruction and saw potential. He purchased the space for $52,000 in 1986. His plan for the space was to house his business, The Ingenuity Shop, but his passion for restoration took over. Over the years, he restored Marathon Motor Works and turned it into what it is today: Marathon Village, a creative community with a museum and more than 80 tenants. Walker has other real-estate holdings, including a roughly 300-acre property along the Cumberland River, near Scottsboro. Before Marathon Village, Walker was known for the work of The Ingenuity Shop, which he credits for producing the money to get Marathon Village going. The Ingenuity Shop initially concentrated on making audio-visual consoles, cabs for elevators and other furniture for large corporations. In later years, the business focused heavily on production and services for Vanderbilt University and its Medical Center.