RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – WRAL TechWire’s Triangle Startup Guide features a diverse mix of resources useful to both new and seasoned entrepreneurs alike. It includes local VC and angel funding sources, startup accelerators, mentorship programs, coworking spaces, free networking events, meetup groups, and much more.

Nearly three years into its existence, we would love to hear readers’ opinions on how the guide is doing. Please send us any comments or feedback you might have. You can email me here.

We’re curious about:

  1. What do you like about the guide?
  2. What don’t you like?
  3. What can we do to improve it?
  4. How can we make it more relevant?
  5. Is there a new section of information you’d like to be added?
  6. How can we make it easier for you to submit information?
  7. What can we add or change that will encourage you to share it more with friends and colleagues?
  8. What do you think about the weekly updates published every Monday? Are they helpful?
  9. Anything else on your mind that these questions don’t address?

Your weekly update

We are always updating the guide with new resources for local entrepreneurs. Every week, we add new information to keep content fresh and relevant.

This week, we added Test Flight Pitch Practice to the Accelerators & Mentorship Programs section of the guide. While not an accelerator or mentorship program per se, Test Flight Pitch Practice is an opportunity for early-stage startups to hone their pitch and get valuable feedback from an audience of angel investors, funding groups, customers and other reviewers.

Research Triangle Park-based life science incubator First Flight Venture Center recently launched the Test Flight program to support companies in its ecosystem. It will host its first event this Tuesday from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at its facility in RTP.

Test Flight Pitch Practice

Other recent additions to the Triangle Startup Guide:

  • We added Duke University’s MEDx-Biomedical Engineering Medical Device Design Program to the Competitions, Grants & Other Funding Sources section of the guide. In this program, teams of undergraduate students from Duke’s Department of Biomedical Engineering will build out medical device concepts proposed by Duke University Medical Center physicians, nurses and other clinical professionals.
  • We added the National Venture Capital Association’s model legal document resource to the Inspiration, Advice & More Resources section of the guide. The organization provides legal document templates to free up time for entrepreneurs and investors to focus on growing their ventures. Designed to be used in venture capital financings, the legal model templates include items such as term sheets, stock purchase agreements, voting agreements, management rights letters, and more.
  • We added NEXT Venture Pitch to the Competitions, Grants & Other Funding section of the guide. Held in Greenville, South Carolina, this popular pitch event gathers entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors and business leaders from across the Carolinas and offers an opportunity for startups in the southeast to refine their pitch and gain attention from new investors. Applications are live for the upcoming NEXT Venture Pitch 2021 program, held on Sept. 16 in Greenville. The deadline is Aug. 15.
    • We added Duke MEDx’s High-Risk, High-Impact Challenge. Run by the university’s cross-disciplinary innovation initiative, MEDx, this program provides up to three awards ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 to early career researchers for interdisciplinary projects tackling human health issues.
    • The Launch Place recently unveiled its upcoming Big Launch Challenge pitch competition, noting that the program has awarded $159,000 to 14 companies over its eight-year history. We added this milestone to Big Launch Challenge’s line in the Competitions, Grants & Other Funding section.
  • In the COVID-19 Relief/Support section, we added the North Carolina Humanities’ American Rescue Plan, which is now accepting applications for two grant programs supporting nonprofit or governmental organizations experiencing pandemic-related hardships. The programs offer $5,000 to $20,000 to be used for either programming/projects or operating support.

If we missed a resource you’d like added to the Triangle Startup Guide, please feel free to suggest it for inclusion. You can email me directly or use this contact form.