Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 13 hours ago
When Semmy Abiodun-Adeniyi first arrived to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, he says, he was an introverted student who didn’t explore much outside his room. Fast-forward four years to graduation, and the opposite is true.
The computer science major has not only landed a full-time job at Garmin as a software engineer but is also heading into the world as the CEO of two startup companies. The idea for Tavern, an app that connects players of tabletop role-playing games, was inspired by the friends he made on campus and was launched with help from resources at UT.
Abiodun-Adeniyi first got the idea for Tavern while playing Dungeons & Dragons with his friend and co-founder, Laython “V” Holder. Not sure where to start, Abiodun-Adeniyi turned to the Haslam College of Business Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
There he was encouraged to participate in the VolCourt competition and the Boyd Venture Challenge, where he won funding for the app and a place in the Anderson Center’s Startup Studio program.
As an alumnus, Abiodun-Adeniyi plans to mentor student entrepreneurs as a startup coach.
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Go Vols!
#utknoxville is on your favorite social media channels:
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/utknoxville
X: twitter.com/UTKnoxville
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/UTKnoxville
See what’s happening at https://www.utk.edu.
MusicSync ID: MB01FIZLUF0TPVC
When Semmy Abiodun-Adeniyi first arrived to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, he says, he was an introverted student who didn’t explore much outside his room. Fast-forward four years to graduation, and the opposite is true.
The computer science major has not only landed a full-time job at Garmin as a software engineer but is also heading into the world as the CEO of two startup companies. The idea for Tavern, an app that connects players of tabletop role-playing games, was inspired by the friends he made on campus and was launched with help from resources at UT.
Abiodun-Adeniyi first got the idea for Tavern while playing Dungeons & Dragons with his friend and co-founder, Laython “V” Holder. Not sure where to start, Abiodun-Adeniyi turned to the Haslam College of Business Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
There he was encouraged to participate in the VolCourt competition and the Boyd Venture Challenge, where he won funding for the app and a place in the Anderson Center’s Startup Studio program.
As an alumnus, Abiodun-Adeniyi plans to mentor student entrepreneurs as a startup coach.
================
Go Vols!
#utknoxville is on your favorite social media channels:
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/utknoxville
X: twitter.com/UTKnoxville
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/UTKnoxville
See what’s happening at https://www.utk.edu.
MusicSync ID: MB01FIZLUF0TPVC
