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Happy Thursday!

As you debate whether or not to wear a jacket during this “cold snap,” here’s what you need to know about the Triangle startup scene:

Outside The Box

Durham-based startup Shoeboxed, which enables companies to scan receipts to better track expenses, announced yesterday that it has been acquired by San Antonio-based mail digitizing company Earth Class Mail for an undisclosed amount. (C'mon Shoeboxed, what if you just whisper it to us?) Both services will continue to operate as usual for now, so nothing will change in the near term for the 11-year-old company’s 40 Durham employees.
 
Shoeboxed CEO Tobias Walter says he will be transitioning away from the business and may well consider launching another Triangle startup down the line, presumably after some well-earned smell-the-roses time. The company raised a total of just under $2M in equity investments in its history, most recently a $1.4M Series B led by Novak Biddle Venture Partners out of Bethesda, Md.

Lost, Then Found

As a 3-year-old, Quinn Riddle was lost in a mall, leading to a mall-wide lockdown before she was discovered huddled under a clothing rack. On Tuesday night, Riddle found herself onstage at Raleigh’s Lincoln Theater holding aloft the championship belt signifying her victory in the 4th RIoT Pitch Night. The now-19-year-old junior at High Point University won for her EverSafe bracelet, an adjustable, lockable, uncuttable wristband that enables parents to track their child’s location.
 
Angels alert: Riddle estimates she will need $200K in seed capital to launch the product by next summer. Read our full story here, including some testimonials from locals including IDEA Fund Partners’ Lister Delgado to help limber up your check-writing fingers.

First Licks

UNC grad Alex Adelman, former Co-Founder and CEO of e-commerce company Cosmic (sold to PopSugar), is back with a new startup that offers online shoppers the chance to get cash back on their purchases with a twist: the “cash” is in bitcoin. Lolli—so named for the lollipops that banks used to give kids who were dragged there by their parents back when people actually waited on bank lines for human tellers—is intended in part as a painless and risk-free entry for people into the cryptocurrency market. Big brands such as Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Jet.com and Home Depot have already signed on.
 
While Adelman is based in New York, Lolli’s Co-Founder and CTO, Matt Senter—who had the same roles at Cosmic—works out of Durham. So go swing by for some free lollipops and tell him GrepBeat sent you. (Editor’s Note: Please don't mention us.)

Pay To Play

Big Top, a connection platform for the Triangle startup industry, is launching a multi-tiered subscription service for startups. Companies can start with the complimentary (read: free) option, then potentially upgrade for $199/month for features such as unlimited job postings. The premium option ($449/month) includes such perks as operational coaching. Big Top is always free for individuals.
 
A part of Capitol Broadcasting Company’s ever-growing family, Big Top also took over the events arm of the dearly departed ExitEvent, GrepBeat’s spirit animal. Those efforts include a monthly Startup Crawl, the most recent of which was this Monday, hosted by Google Fiber in Raleigh.

Lonely At The Top

A new study of CEOs conducted by Silicon Valley-based Norwest Venture Partners found that 90 percent rate “fear of failure” as the biggest concern that keeps them up at night. (Though on the somewhat brighter side, 71 percent say they get at least six hours of sleep each night.) Other top challenges cited include revenue growth, raising capital, maintaining a healthy work/life balance, and being bombarded with CEO surveys.

Keep Asheville Wired

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer signed a proclamation yesterday declaring Labor Day Week (Sept. 2-9) as the second annual Asheville Entrepreneurship Week. The event will be led by the Hatch AVL Foundation and Venture Asheville, and will culminate with TEDxAsheville on Sept. 9.
 
As it happens I will be in Asheville that week because it’s the finish line for (humblebrag alert!) the Blue Ridge Relay, a 208-mile, way-too-hilly relay race on Sept. 7-8 that I will be running as part of a nine-man team. Please send your thoughts and prayers.
Extra Bit

IBM is looking to patent coffee drones, which are pretty much what they sound like: drones designed to drop hot coffee from overhead to nodding-off office workers. Seems like a can’t-miss, if the goal is emergency room admissions.
Any news we should know? Hit "reply" or send it to news@grepbeat.com.

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Credit (or blame) Managing Editor Pete McEntegart.






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