The Startup Factory is building relationships with startup communities outside of the Triangle.

Lizzy Hazeltine, venture associate, has been spending a lot of time in Greensboro and Winston-Salem, often one or more days each week. It’s an intentional decision to connect with startups and startup communities outside of the Triangle, said Hazeltine.

“We’ve really enjoyed working with people in the startup ecosystem in Greensboro,” said Hazeltine in an interview. “The community has a clear sense of what it wants to become, and entrepreneurs are very involved in what’s going on.”

There are many folks working to bridge a connection between the Triad (Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem) and the Triangle (Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh), and yet, there are often overlapping events occurring within each community. For example, this past weekend, Greensboro played host to Triad Startup Weekend. This weekend, Durham will host Triangle Startup Weekend. Each weekend is organized by local volunteers and aims to initiate and launch new companies within a 54-hour sprint.

Greensboro was also selected as a community participant in the InnovateNC initiative, designed and facilitated through the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University. Earlier this year, HQ Raleigh announced that it would develop a space in Greensboro, and now HQ Greensboro is hosting events, helping entrepreneurs launch companies, and providing coworking space for startups.

The community continues to grow and expand, said Hazeltine, predicting that it won’t be long until we hear about Greensboro as a breakout community for technical innovation.

It’s one of the many reasons that The Startup Factory is interested in bridging the communities, and it’s a key factor in their decision to host their startup bootcamp in the Triad. The bootcamp will be a three day innovation session between December 1 and December 3 for accepted entrepreneurial teams from across North Carolina, and a few that may travel from out of state to participate.

“Entrepreneurs should expect a heavy dose of lean startup methods, customer development, and pitch coaching,” reads marketing material from The Startup Factory. The application deadline is today, November 9, 2015, at midnight.