Tennessee · Nonprofit
COLAB
COLAB (Tennessee) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,454,999 to it, the largest being TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CORP ($1,779,999). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.2M
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $3.5M
- Net assets
- $294k
What Colab does
Mission
Our vision is to put chattanooga at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies to improve our ecosystem with advances in sustainable mobility, to be the best sustainable mobility startup accelerator in the world, and to build a diverse and inclusive future by supporting scalable businesses in the greater chattanooga region. Co.lab is recognized as a top 10 accelerator in the country.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Sustainable mobility accelerator: our 12-week accelerator program guarantees dedicated growth-focused support. We aim to invest in six companies per program. The cohort can test and scale their mvp through access to the world's only urban testbed for connected autonomous vehicles and the opportunity to work with the world's first commercially available quantum network. The cohort will find product-market fit with opportunities to work with industry-specific corporate partners. The cohort is guaranteed access to a network of 65+ potential mentors, connecting with world-class industry experts, technologists, and business domain experts to help scale their business. The cohort will be connected to top industry leaders who will help them make crucial first customer introductions. There will be a $20k investment for each team initially through the founder's fund with the potential of follow-on funding and introductions to over 50 investors who are currently looking to invest in startups.
$485,409 spent$30,992 earned by the program59% of program spendingCo.moblity summit: co.lab hosted its second annual co.mobility summit to convene industry leaders, researchers, policymakers, and investors with a laser-sharp focus on sustainable mobility to support startup founders and innovators that are working on solutions to the problems that chattanooga's mobility industry is working hard to solve. The goal of the summit is to introduce our industry and research strengths to startups across the region to highlight chattanooga as one of the leading places for mobility businesses. The desired outcome is to bring burgeoning businesses here to leverage our strength, provide solutions to our corporate partner's most challenging issues, and bolster our communities' tech ecosystem and economy.
$330,277 spent$91,859 earned by the program40% of program spendingCommunity events: coffee with co.lab: coffee with co.lab serves local entrepreneurs by providing a consistent networking opportunity with other like-minded and local individuals. It allows small business owners to know they are not alone, share their upcoming business events/news, as well as an opportunity to hear more about co.lab's upcoming events and resources. Cwc will ideally take place once a month in each hub county, equalling to 4 cwc each month. Happy hours: during the last year, co.lab hosted a monthly happy hour that featured trivia on sustainability and entrepreneurship to engage diverse individuals from investors, founders, students, professionals and community leaders. We have decided to discontinue these and (continued on schedule o)
$1,144 spent$968 earned by the program0% of program spendingIntrapreneurship workshop: co.lab is developing a custom-made workshop aimed at helping innovators within a large organization learn more about the necessary business tools needed to ideate, refine, and implement organizational innovations. This is a full-day workshop tailored to each organization based on their specific internal needs, keeping in mind the nuances within change management. The first pilot program had a fantastic reception from tva with 60 participants. Co.starters: we offer a program to ten counties, providing entrepreneurs with a supportive community, an organized framework, and a sense of responsibility as they transform their ideas into reality. This program facilitates the journey from conceptualization to business launch through a series of bootcamp sessions guided by co.lab and respected local business professionals, who impart valuable knowledge on various business concepts to the participants. Kiva: co.lab is the only kiva hub in the state of tennessee. Kiva is a nontraditional online lending platform that uses crowdfunded microloans as a force for good. Kiva creates a space where people can have a tangible impact on each other and ultimately financial…
$82 spent$298 earned by the program0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $816,912.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $829k to $606k (−27%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 14% · 2023 36% · 2024 27%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
90% of COLAB’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Tasia Malakasis
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Tiffanie Robinson
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $50k → $544k.
Left out of every figure on this page: $95k from 3 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money COLAB raised.
From the IRS filings of COLAB’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
COLAB leans on a few funders — its largest provides 52% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
52% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund COLAB.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 53% · 2020 52% · 2021 77% · 2022 38% · 2023 56% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
40% of COLAB's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
98% of COLAB's grant income comes from Tennessee funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
COLAB has grown faster than half of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like COLAB
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Tennessee
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
59% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
82%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for COLAB: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds COLAB?
- COLAB (Tennessee) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,454,999 to it, the largest being TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CORP ($1,779,999). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does COLAB have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $3,454,999 in grants to COLAB, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COLAB?
- TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CORP is the largest funder on record, with $1,779,999 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COLAB find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Tennessee. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 8 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing