Robert Bellenfant (’09)

Robert Bellenfant, a serial entrepreneur and investor based in Nashville, has created dozens of businesses over the past twenty years. At age seven, when he wasn’t old enough to drive a lawn mower, he started a landscaping company that picked weeds and planted flowers. At twelve, after exploring the unlimited potential of the Internet, he began building websites for businesses. From middle school to his first year at UT, he spent his free time growing an IT business that serviced more than 1,200 companies by the time he sold it at age eighteen.

Bellenfant graduated from the Haslam College of Business in 2009 with a BS in business administration. He is the founder and CEO of TechnologyAdvice, whose 250 team members are dedicated to educating, advising, and connecting buyers and sellers of business technology.

A recent winner of the prestigious Nashville Emerging Leader Award in the Technology category, he leads by example and motivates his team members to reach beyond themselves and exceed expectations.

Bellenfant has participated in Entrepreneur in Residence day at UT and speaks regularly to chambers of commerce and civic groups. Active in Leadership Brentwood and Youth Leadership Brentwood, he serves as a mentor for young entrepreneurs and supports Best Buddies Tennessee, Second Harvest Food Bank, and Youth Villages.

He started dating his wife, Jackie, at Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, Tennessee. They have three children—Bentley, Callie, and Cooper.