24 startups from across NC are semifinalists for NC IDEA grants

NC IDEA has narrowed its list of emerging startups that could receive non-dilutive grants up to $50,000 to 24 from a field of 117 applicants.

This is the 16th round of grants awarded by NC IDEA, an economic development group based in Durham and affiliated with the venture capital firm IDEA Fund Partners.

These startups represent a mix of software, information technology, medical devices and material sciences ventures.

The total number of applicants is a drop from applications earlier this year, but NC IDEA was not surprised.

“This was not a record number but a pretty typical number,” said NC IDEA’s Andrea Cook. “It follows the trend for what we see in the Fall since people are busy winding down their summers when the cycle opens. We tend to see a few more applicants in the Spring cycle which opens in February. This past Spring we had 159.”

The name of one company in Charlotte was not disclosed. Cook said the company “asked not to be listed in the release.”

The list:

• Avelist – Raleigh, NC
• DigaForce – Raleigh, NC
• FokusLabs – Wake Forest, NC
• Fuel3D, Inc. – Greenville, NC
• Guerrilla RF – Summerfield, NC
• HomeWellness – Durham, NC
• Hostel Rocket – Durham, NC
• Kepley Biosystems Incorporated – Browns Summit, NC
• Klever – Durham, NC
• Medlio – Durham, NC
• Minds Mesh, Inc. – Charlotte, NC
• MxBiodevices, LLC – Greenville, NC
• NIRvana Sciences – Durham, NC
• Panacea Solutions Inc. – RTP, NC
• •PRSONAS, Inc. – Durham, NC
• Real Time Imaging Technologies, LLC – Charlotte, NC
• RocketBolt – Cary, NC
• Selleration, Inc. – Chapel Hill, NC
• SnapYeti, Inc. – Raleigh, NC
• Tuee – Durham, NC
• Upswing – Durham, NC
• VacationFutures, Inc. – Durham, NC
• Walk [Your City] – Raleigh, NC
• *Undisclosed – Charlotte, NC