A new cohort of 10 Atlanta-based exporters has netted $5,000 grants toward efforts to grow their international sales.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber last week announced winners of this year’s Metro Export Challenge, a collaborative economic development initiative that has doled out almost $900,000 in export development funding to metro-area companies since its creation nearly a decade ago.
Along with the reimbursable grants that go toward things like trade show attendance, translation of marketing materials and customer qualification around the world, winners of the first round also gain access to mentorship through local resources including the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center and the Georgia District Export Council.
Delta Air Lines Inc. kicks in a flight voucher for each company to aid in their quests to cash in on cross-border leads.
This year’s cohort, as with most, is a mix of mostly product companies with a couple of service providers peppered in. It’s also diverse — with about half of the companies owned by women, minorities or veterans.
Exports are generally thought of as packaged goods placed in shipping containers and shipped abroad, which is the case for Just For Teens, which offers organic personal care products for pre-teens and teenagers, eco-friendly haircare and beauty products creator EcoSlay, and Joe Tools Inc., which supplies tooling for extrusion lines in industries including wire and cable and medical tubing.
But organizers behind the export challenge have always pushed the idea that companies providing business services, software, franchising and technology should also think about how they can crack new markets overseas. Lockthreat LLC, a risk and governance compliance platform powered by artificial intelligence, and Patientory, a mobile app helping individuals and providers track and share health data, are examples in this year’s group.
In years past, service providers have gone on to mark big gains thanks to the export funding, with many of them opening offices or finding investors overseas.
The second place winner in last year’s pitch competition, where first-round awardees come back for up to $20,000 in additional funding, was CodeMettle, a Sandy Springs-based software company that was poised to use its $10,000 in extra funds to attend defense-related shows around the world, sometimes in partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
“As the MEC approaches providing nearly $1 million in grant funding since its creation, it is an incredible opportunity to look back on the opportunities it has created for small and mid-sized businesses seeking to expand their international sales,” said Lizann Grupalo, deputy commissioner of trade at the department.
The announcement of the new cohort comes just after the state said it had hit a record $53.1 billion in export sales (goods only) in 2024.
Some MEC winners have seen growing international sales contribute to successful exits: A few years ago, Car360 was acquired by Carvana, and Triatek sold to Johnson Controls.
But most important for the funding partners — which include the department, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of International and Immigrant Affairs, Partnership Gwinnett, Invest Atlanta, Select Cobb, Select Fulton, and NRW Global Business — is that local companies growing globally create jobs here at home.
Organizers say last year’s $50,000 in export grants enabled more than $5.4 million in contracts.
“Programs like the MEC are instrumental in helping local businesses scale internationally, driving economic growth locally while reinforcing our region’s competitiveness on the world stage,” said Katie Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, in a release.
See this year’s full cohort below:
- Compac Industries: Manufactures and packages goods under six distinct brands, distributing and selling them online and offline in both B2C and B2B markets
- Davis Manufacturing and Packing, Inc.: Produces a premium line of animal care products for the veterinary and grooming industries, serving domestic and international markets
- Ecoslay: Produces eco-friendly, handmade, and all-natural haircare and beauty products that are hand-packaged and sourced from local farms
- Global Atlanta: Provides news dedicated to tracking Atlanta’s rise as a global center for business, education and culture
- Joe Tools Inc.: Supplies tooling for extrusion, including wire and medical tubing industries, serving over 200 customers across the U.S.
- Just for Teens: Offers organic personal care products for preteens and teenagers with a mission-driven brand
- Lockthreat LLC: Leverages an AI-powered governance, risk, and compliance platform to optimize management of regulatory obligations, internal controls, and risk assessments
- Num Num Sauce Company: Produces healthy and flavorful low-sodium tomato and mustard based condiments
- Patientory, Inc.: Leverages data analytics to help patients and healthcare providers improve health outcomes via a mobile app
- ZCorum: Provides a comprehensive suite of broadband products and services to broadband operators, including municipalities, utilities, MDUs, cable operators, and telephone companies
Visit www.metroatlantachamber.com/metro-export-challenge for more information on the 2025 Metro Export Challenge.
Want to learn more about exporting, join Global Atlanta for its annual Export Stories event March 12 at the Cobb Chamber:
Disclosure: Global Atlanta was among this year’s MEC winners and is receiving $5,000 for our efforts to boost sales of the publication’s advertising, event consulting and services to customers from around the world including investment agencies, international companies and beyond.
