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 another newly-announced resource for local entrepreneurs. The latest update comes to the “Competitions, Grants & Other Funding Sources” section of the guide, a collection of 40+ pitch events, grant programs and other types of funding beyond traditional VC or angel rounds.

New in our Triangle Startup Guide is Pitch Please, an annual pitch competition hosted by local coworking chain Raleigh Founded. It’s an opportunity for startup founders to present their products/services and get live feedback from local venture capitalists.

The inaugural Pitch Please, held last September, headlined Tim McLoughlin of Cary-based VC firm Cofounders Capital.

The second annual Pitch Please will be held on June 16 at Raleigh Founded’s Capital Club location in downtown Raleigh. The event will be livestreamed for folks who can’t attend in person.

Registration is available on Eventbrite.

Raleigh Founded Pitch Please

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 “Accelerators and Mentorship Programs” section, we added the WheelsUP Accelerator—a new program from RTP-based First Flight Venture Center. In its first cohort, kicking off this August, the 12-week program will guide startups through scaling their biotech and health security products/services. In addition to education and mentorship, companies get cash prizes and the potential for follow-on funding from the program’s partner venture funds. Applications are due on June 10.

Application Deadline: First Flight Venture Center’s WheelsUP Accelerator

  • In the “COVID Relief Resources” section, we added the NC Department of Revenue’s recently re-opened Business Recovery Grant Program. Serving businesses with economic losses of at least 20%, the program consists of a hospitality grant for arts, entertainment and recreation businesses, as well as food-service and accommodation businesses. A reimbursement grant of up to $500,000 is also available for other businesses, even ones that have received COVID relief from other programs. Applications close on June 1.
  • We added The Loading Dock’s new Wake Forest space to the guide’s interactive map of local coworking spaces and incubators. The space opened in December, marking The Loading Dock’s first expansion outside of Raleigh. Fitting for both individual entrepreneurs and startup teams, the space includes dedicated desks, oversized coworking tables, private offices, meeting rooms for up to 45 people and event space for over 200 attendees.
  • We added Dolphin Tank, a series of pitch events for women entrepreneurs, to the “Competitions, Grants & Other Funding Sources” section. The program is expanding to the Triangle, with an agtech-focused event 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.

More recent additions

  • 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.
  • 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 this post.

More coworking spaces join Triangle Startup Guide’s growing lineup – here’s a look at each

  • 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