Investors are the unsung heroes of the business world. Look around at your home—nearly every single item there was made by a business that started small. How many of those businesses would have never gotten off the ground without an investor who believed in their products? One such investor is John Bruck, and for the past decade, he’s helped businesses in and around Knoxville thrive.
John Bruck was born in Cincinnati and attended engineering school at Purdue University. He worked for a large engineering company for about 10 years, but he was always interested in starting his own company, so in the 1980s, he founded BHE Environmental. He ran the company for over 25 years before selling it and transitioning to investments in 2013.
Since then, he has been an angel investor, providing capital to early-stage businesses in exchange for equity in the company. He was involved with Queens City Angels in Cincinnati for many years and is still a member. When asked why he moved to Knoxville, he explained that in 2015, “I fell in love with a woman, and she didn’t give me any choice.” Since then, he has become heavily involved in our city’s entrepreneurship community through the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, Haslam College of Business, the Anderson Center, and the Spark Innovation Center.
Bruck explained that, according to traditional wisdom, angel investors should expect half the companies they invest in to go bankrupt, 20% to only return their initial capital, 20% to triple their money, and 10% to increase it by a factor of 10. When he first heard this, Bruck jokingly said, “Well I’m just going to invest in the 10x.”
In 2020, Bruck founded the Spark Innovation Center at UT Research Park. This center has an “incubation” program where companies can rent lab space from the university under a facility use agreement. This can give new businesses time to grow and commercialize, helping them take off. Bruck has worked with these companies for three-and-a-half years, often serving as an expert-in-residence. Some of the companies are still there, and others have graduated to larger spaces.
“It’s all for the advancement of the entrepreneurial community here in Knoxville,” Bruck said.
Bruck has also gotten involved with the Innovation Crossroads program at Oak Ridge National Labs where high-tech companies come for a 2-year fellowship. These companies learn “how to grow, how to commercialize, and how to become investor-ready,” John Bruck explained.
With all these years of experience in the Knoxville entrepreneurship community, Bruck noticed some “gaps” that make it harder for startups to grow. One was a lack of access to capital. To help resolve this, he teamed up with Brandon Bruce earlier this year to form Market Square Ventures. This firm is designed to provide early-stage convertible debt or equity capital to high-growth potential companies principally in TN. They are currently invested in eight companies—primarily tech-based startups—seven of which are in Tennessee and four of which are in Knoxville.
“We expect them to grow and succeed and create jobs,” Bruck said.
Bruck is always looking for companies—usually tech-based—with high-growth potential and excited founders who have a vision and know how to sell. He’s on the lookout for people with an innovative idea and a good business plan. They are also looking for sources of funding from individuals and institutions in the Knoxville area and throughout the Southeast.
His current investments include a company with an online system that helps pet care providers send each other health records for people’s pets, improving care; a company that offers an “MRI for AI,” examining different AI programs to make sure they’re working correctly; a company that makes bed barriers to help prevent hospital-acquired infections; and several others. Bruck is passionate and optimistic about all of them. See the full list on MarketSquareVentures.com.
Additionally, John Bruck and Brandon Bruce recently founded 121 Tech Hub, a coworking space in Knoxville‘s Old City. It’s a wonderful place where entrepreneurs and freelancers can share a collaborative workspace, enabling them to network, discuss ideas, and get stuff done. They are growing quickly and currently have about 25 members, including people from some of the companies Bruck invested in through Market Square Ventures.
Bruck explained, “We are an energetic community of early-stage companies, and we have issues in common so we can bounce ideas off of each other, or we can just come here and work.” He added that he’s pleased to have the opportunity to provide space for small companies. He works in the space as well, and he loves how people can discuss issues and solve problems as a group. It’s a real community made up of friends and like-minded acquaintances who often meet up or take lunches together.
Bruck has dedicated much of his professional life to helping other entrepreneurs get started and succeed. He said he’s always been drawn to the challenge of commercializing an idea. He loves to build businesses and compete in the free market.
“There’s a tremendous amount of flexibility and freedom that comes with entrepreneurship,” Bruck explained. “There’s typically no map for how you can get from where you are to where you want to be. You have to blaze your own trail.” For many people, that’s terrifying, but for Bruck, it’s an adrenaline boost that he compares to skydiving or flying a plane.
Bruck said, “I am always interested in learning more about entrepreneurs and their innovations and their early-stage companies, and in that, I am more than happy to help them in whatever challenges they face.” As for how the community can help him, Bruck is always interested in more members for 121 Tech Hub and investors in Market Square Ventures.
Today, Knoxville’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is thriving, according to Bruck. He said, “There’s been a lot of growth, there’s been a lot of maturing. There’s been more energy, more money, more organization to the community, so I think we’re on a good path, and it’ll be incumbent on all of us to keep us there.”
Market Square Ventures
john@marketsquareventures.com
MarketSquareVentures.com
121 Tech Hub
121 E. Jackson Avenue, Knoxville TN 37915
