Edgar Walker

NC RIoT co-chair Larry Steffann opened last Tuesday’s RIoT X event with a bold claim.  “IoT is the fourth industrial revolution.”  The words resonated with the crowd of nearly 300 IoT entrepreneurs, investors and enthusiasts, who came together at the PNC Club in the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.  The 10th event of its kind, RIoT X focused on wearables, with a particular eye toward their applications in the sport, fitness and health industries.  The Pitches After the opening remarks, three wearables companies took center stage, presenting brief pitches and engaging in Q&A with the crowd.  Raleigh-based Valencell opened the pitch session,...

In front of a standing room-only crowd on the first day of Moogfest 2016, IBM’s Allison Schneider opened her talk with a question: “How many of you would say you know a lot about IBM Watson?”    Aside from a few scattered hands, there was little response, and a few muffled giggles. “How many of you have at least heard of it?”    This time, nearly everyone raised their hands, or nodded in their seats.    The quick sequence revealed what has become a recurring theme over the past few years: people know that Watson exists, but they don’t really know...

Serving as the latest chapter in Durham’s much-celebrated resurgence story, Moogfest kicked off Thursday in venues across its downtown. The festival—which celebrates and embraces music and technology—comes to Durham during a period of unprecedented growth and investment in the city’s tech community and urban core.    So it seems only fitting that the first Moogfest keynote focused on what cities will look like in the future, and the impact of technology in their evolution. With two local representatives on the “Smart Cities” panel, much of the discussion had an eye on the continued development of the Triangle and Research Triangle Park.    The...

The sentiment is heard loud and clear at local events. Investors and entrepreneurs—most local, some not—believe that the Research Triangle is becoming a premier startup hub not only in the Southeast, but nationally and globally.    Next month, a handful of Triangle startups will have the chance to prove that point, representing the region in two premier pitch competitions.    36|86 — Triangle Trio takes on Nashville  Three local startups will head to Nashville June 6-7 for the 36|86 pitch competition, which features 36 top startups from across the Southeast.    How It Works  The recently-completed 36|86 Southern Series was made...

Last September, UNC-Chapel Hill seniors Lauren Gil and Mansi Vakil sat with three other classmates in an entrepreneurship course, trying to generate startup ideas.    Naturally, the conversation began to devolve into discussing the “real world.” Namely, the group discussed the uncertainty surrounding their job prospects, and the difficulty they faced in finding valuable work experience that fit into their heavy course load. It’s a conversation that happens in university settings across the world: Seniors, a month into their final school year, begin to stress about graduation and job prospects.    “All of us realized we had the same...

While the area has always been a sports hotbed—particularly when it comes to fierce college basketball rivalries—the Triangle is beginning to turn heads for what is happening off the court, as a burgeoning sport business ecosystem has emerged in North Carolina.    Last month, we shared the stories of 11 local startups making a dent in the sport and fitness industry. Now, the next crop of sport startups in North Carolina and beyond are getting the chance to put themselves on the radar.    Sport Court and Sports Tank are two new sport-themed venture competitions—hosted in Chapel Hill and Charlotte, respectively—that are giving fledgling sport...