RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – With regular updates to keep content fresh, WRAL TechWire’s Triangle Startup Guide offers a timely resource package for anyone looking to start or grow a business in the Triangle area.
Today, we’re back with a fresh resource for local entrepreneurs. The latest update comes to the “Communities, Networks & Memberships” section of the guide, which features 30-plus startup networks where local entrepreneurs can make new connections and get support, mentorship and camaraderie among fellow founders.
The newest addition to the list is Duke University’s Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club (EVCC). Run out of Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, the EVCC provides resources and events supporting student entrepreneurs and people who want to work at local startups.
The club’s calendar of events includes a mix of pitch competitions, conferences, workshops, lunch and learns, and networking opportunities for Duke’s growing startup community.
Other recent additions to the Triangle Startup Guide
Every week, we update the guide with new resources for local entrepreneurs for our exclusive Triangle Startup Guide. If we missed something, please feel free to suggest it for inclusion. You can email me directly or use this contact form.
In case you missed it, check out all the updates we made in 2021. And here’s a review of the additions from recent weeks:
- In the “Competitions, Grants & Other Funding Sources” section of the guide, we added NC State University’s Miller Fellowship, a program that helps newly-graduated alumni pursue their ventures full-time. The fellowship aims to capture recent grads in that short window between finishing college and deciding whether to jump into a full-time job or take a risk in growing a startup.
- In the “Inspiration, Advice & More Resources” section of the guide, we added a link to last month’s “podcast marathon,” an eight-hour event held in the Earfluence podcast studio in Durham’s American Underground. (Note: Capitol Broadcasting Company, parent of WRAL TechWire, owns American Underground)
‘Podcast marathon’ featuring who’s who of Triangle startup scene launches Earfluence’s new studio
- In the VC and angel funding section of the guide, we added Front Porch Venture Partners, a local venture capital firm founded by graduates of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. As Hypepotamus recently reported, Front Porch Venture Partners follows a “hybrid” model, investing in both early-stage startups and other VC funds. The group’s inaugural fund invested in 14 venture funds and 13 startups. Its fund partners include many local investors, such as Idea Fund Partners, Hatteras Venture Partners and Cofounders Capital.
- In the “Inspiration, Advice & More Resources” section, we added a link to the latest “State of the Region” address delivered by Tom Snyder, executive director of Raleigh-based RIoT. The annual address lays out the progress, opportunities and threats facing the Triangle over the course of the year. This year’s edition, delivered at Raleigh Founded, focuses on changes in the labor force, supply chain struggles and inflation, domestic and foreign affairs, and the growth in entrepreneurship.
More recent additions
- In the “Inspiration, Advice & More Resources” section, we added CED’s 2021 Innovators Report, which provides an overview of North Carolina’s innovation economy, including the latest data on startup funding, deal flow and exits. The 2021 edition reported a record $4.6 billion raised by 222 companies across 250 separate funding events—a 35% increase from 2020’s total. Technology investments accounted for 69% of the year’s deals, while life sciences claimed 24%.
- In the “Competitions, Grants & Other Funding Sources” section of the guide, we added Folla Capital, an organization that helps startups and small businesses raise capital through regulation crowdfunding. Though Folla Capital is based in Wilmington, entrepreneurs in the Triangle and elsewhere can use its online platform to organize, launch and manage their crowdfunding campaign and investor relations. Folla Capital primarily focuses on raising capital for minority-, woman- and veteran-owned businesses.
- In the “Accelerators and Mentorship Programs” section, we added E3 Durham—a new program aiming to provide mentorship, capital resources, workshops and networking for entrepreneurs in underserved communities across Durham. National nonprofit Forward Cities first announced the E3 Durham program in late-2021. With a Small Business Administration grant and partnerships with the City of Durham and Durham County, E3 Durham will start with an outreach-focused community navigator pilot program, where designated “navigators” will connect with local entrepreneurs through community events.
