Fan Favorites
You might have noticed that there haven’t been any pro or major college sporting events in the U.S. since mid-late March. But sports will be back at some point relatively soon, as will fans, even if we don’t quite know what that will look like at the moment. Though we do know that those fans will have plenty of opinions, and the smart team/program will want to know what they are.
That’s where Raleigh startup Epifany comes in. CEO Jim Zidar applied the survey technology he originally developed for his Stealz app into Epifany. Epifany works with a long list of teams including the Carolina Hurricanes, Durham Bulls, the NHL, and UNC and Duke Athletics. You can (and should) read our full story on Epifany here.
Home Sweeter Home
There are few things more exciting than moving into a brand-new, just-built home. Though that excitement can fade quickly if repairs are needed and you scramble to find the documentation for all the goodies that had been installed. Raleigh-based startup DigiHome aims to solve that problem by working with homebuilders and developers to digitize all the invoices, receipts and specs so that the homeowner can access them easily going forward.
DigiHome’s 23-year-old CEO, Connor Strickland, recently pitched the company to local investors on the Earfluence podcast Startup Stage. NO SPOILERS: you’ll just have to read the story.
nCino IPO
Lifted by all the attention paid to Wilmington’s startup scene thanks to GrepBeat’s Postcard From Wilmington last Thursday, beach-based fintech nCino publicly filed yesterday for a $100M IPO. [Editor’s Note: Correlation doesn’t necessarily imply causation.] nCino, which is a spinout from Wilmington-based Live Oak Bank, provides cloud-based software for commercial lenders. You can find more details on TechWire, TBJ and WilmingtonBiz. And hey, a Triangle tech IPO would also be pretty awesome right about now, so get cracking, people.
Fresh Start
Back in April, we mentioned that American Underground was launching a program it’s calling Landing Spot, to help those who have been laid off chase their entrepreneurial dreams. Yesterday AU announced the five winners who comprise the first Landing Spot cohort, as well as a new partnership with New York-based cloud technologies first DigitalOcean and its Hatch startup program. The new initiatives range from platforms to find and hire sales reps to apparel made from natural fibers. See TechWire for more details.
Tracing App
Raleigh-HQ’d Successive Technologies, a tech consulting and services company, is launching a contact tracing app to help prevent community spread of Covid-19. (We recently featured Successive Technologies Co-Founder Mark Bavisotto, who's also the Co-Founder and CEO of Startup Summit, in The Download.) The app will first be used by the company’s employees. While Successive’s sales and marketing offices are in the States, it has about 350 developers in India, which has also been hard-hit by the virus.
Luminary Talks
UNC’s Entrepreneurship Center, American Underground and HQ Raleigh are teaming up to host a monthly series called “Luminary Talks” from June through August. The event will bring entrepreneurs, investors and other experts from around the country to the Triangle, virtually. The first edition is this Friday afternoon (1:30-2:30 p.m.) featuring Alan Cline, a Senior Managing Director with Austin-based private equity firm Vista Partners. Alan was previously the founder of Fandango. Vista has done several deals in the Triangle, including Automated Insights. So after you’ve watched “Pete Meets...” on Friday morning, get some work in and eat a nice lunch before tuning in to the Luminary Talk. Register here.
New Beginning
Jes Averhart, whom we profiled last summer, has stepped down as executive director of Leadership Triangle to launch a new women-focused venture, Reinvention Roadmap. Reinvention Roadmap will include a monthly e-newsletter, a podcast and an online course, and it already has a waiting list. Jes sat down with TechWire for a Q&A that has all the details.
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