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 set of resources for local entrepreneurs. The latest update comes to the “Competitions, Grants & Other Funding Sources” section of the guide, which features a range of local pitch events, grants, cyclical funding programs and other opportunities for startups to raise cash beyond traditional VC or angel rounds.
The newest entrant on the list is Dolphin Tank, a nationwide series of pitch events for women entrepreneurs. The program is expanding to the Triangle, with an agtech-focused event coming up on June 1 in RTP. According to the website, the event is part of a partnership with a handful of prominent organizations in the local startup ecosystem, including Pappas Capital, NC IDEA, Rex Health Ventures and Alexandria LaunchLabs.
Organized by Virginia-based nonprofit Springboard Enterprises, the Dolphin Tank series provides an opportunity for women entrepreneurs to pitch their products/services and receive constructive feedback from investors and subject matter experts.
Pitch applications are open until May 5. To be eligible, companies must have at least one woman founder presenting, at least a minimum viable product and some progress in establishing their proof of concept, such as through an accelerator, a capital raise or pilot launches.
Click here to read more and apply to present at the event.
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, we updated the listing for the annual AdvanSE Life Sciences Conference to reflect the latest data about its PitchRounds program. Held every year in the Atlanta area, the event invites life science companies across the Southeast to present their solutions in biopharma, digital health, diagnostics, medical devices and agricultural biotechnology. Per new data on the event website, the 500 companies selected to participate in PitchRounds since its inception have raised $7.6 billion in 790 funding transactions, with 70 subsequent IPOs and merger and acquisition events. The next edition will be held during the 2022 AdvanSE Life Sciences Conference, running May 25–27 in Alpharetta, Georgia.
2022 AdvanSE Life Science Conference (in Alpharetta, Georgia)
- We made three new additions to our interactive map of local coworking spaces and incubators, which features dozens of spaces fit for startup teams and small businesses in the Triangle. The newest entrants are Blush Cowork (Cary), The Factory (Raleigh) and The Work Hall (Raleigh). Read more in last week’s post.
- In the “Free Events and Meetups” section, we added Raleigh-Durham Startup Week—an annual event hosted by prominent startup accelerator Techstars. The four-day program brings together the local startup community to celebrate recent accomplishments, discuss emerging business topics, share innovative ideas and make new connections. This year’s Raleigh-Durham Startup Week ran from April 19 to April 22 at various venues in Durham:
Raleigh-Durham Startup Week is almost here – a Triangle Tech Star tells us what to expect
- In the “Communities, Networks & Memberships” section of the guide, we added 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.
- 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.
More recent additions
- 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.
