YaHeard Right
GrepBeat regularly tackles some of the great debates of our time— whether it’s O.K. to say “Raleigh-Durham” (yes), the Triangle vs. Austin (duh), and whether startups should pick a name that starts with a lowercase letter (never). Raleigh’s YaHeard also believes in hearty debate, which is why its recently re-released app is a platform to partake in and vicariously view such meetings of the mind. It also has two capital letters in its name, which is infinitely better than zero. Read our full story on YaHeard here.
Sweet Music
I played the clarinet from fourth through eighth grade, though if I’m being honest, I didn’t play it especially well. If only I could have taken advantage of Clair, the music instruction startup being launched by two recent Duke grads. The main idea is that the Clair platform keeps music teachers and students connected between formal lessons, which among other things inspires students to practice more—without parents having to play the heavy. Read our full story on Clair here.
Ask The AI
It’s been a few paragraphs since we mentioned Scott Moody and K4Connect, so let’s focus, people! In this case, the focus is on K4Connect’s new partnership with Raleigh-based AI startup Pryon—led by Download subject Igor Jablokov—on the AI-enabled K4Connect Staff Assistant. The new feature, already available in beta for K4Connect’s customers in hundreds of senior living facilities, allows seniors to get answers to spoken questions on everything from what’s for breakfast to the residence’s latest Covid-19 guidelines. TechWire has more details.
Words Matter
In the welcome discussions on inclusivity in tech, one area that perhaps not many considered is the code itself. But that’s something that Raleigh's Red Hat, as a longtime leader in open-source development, is grappling with. Red Hat CTO Chris Wright has a piece in TechWire that discusses those concerns about the words used in programming itself and how Red Hat plans to address them. For instance, ditching the use of terminology like “master” and “slave,” and phasing out “whitelist” and “blacklist” in favor of “allowlist” and “denylist.” It’s worth a read.
Building Up
Two former NC State students are among the co-founders of Atmos, a homebuilding startup HQ’d in San Francisco with a satellite office in Raleigh. Atmos aims to move the entire homebuilding process onto its platform, from allowing clients to input a hoped-for floor plan to getting matched to a builder to managing the construction process for both parties. The startup is currently participating in the famed Y Combinator accelerator and recently raised a $2M seed round by some boldface names including Sam Altman of Y Combinator and OpenAI. TechWire has more details.
Happy ELF?
TBJ is reporting a new development in the ongoing bankruptcy saga of Durham’s Organic Transit, the maker of the ELF, the solar-powered bike hybrid. Phoenix-based Sun MicroMobility has made a $2M bid for the company, which the bankruptcy trustee believes is the best deal to be found. The bankruptcy court could approve the deal later this month. If so, that might mean that the ELF will live on. And here’s a fun fact I didn't know: “ELF” stands for “electric, light and fun.”
New/Old Face
Policygenius, the booming New York-based online insurance startup that’s building up a second HQ in Durham, has added Erik Garr to its management team. Erik is best known in these parts for launching Google Fiber’s Durham operation. He will head Policygenius’ property and casualty operations from the Bull City. For more info, see TechWire’s Q&A with him.
People People
TriNet is a full-service HR company that has tech startups in its blood. For one thing, it’s not that far removed from being a startup itself—launched in Silicon Valley in 1988, a member of the Inc. 500 Hall of Fame for making the mag’s list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies five years in a row, all the way through an IPO in 2014. While TriNet works with clients ranging from 5 to 2,500 employees, serving scaling startups is its sweet spot. TriNet helps you bridge that wide chasm between needing HR solutions (including benefits) to attract and retain good employees without getting drowned in paperwork—or getting sued—to being so big that you have a full in-house HR department.
Let TriNet take care of those things while you focus on growing your business so big that one day you won’t need them. Plus they have connections to startup communities and investors nationwide, and are always willing to connect the dots to help their clients further succeed. If you reach out to Raleigh-based Marlana Bunn, she'll connect those dots for you too—just like she has for TriNet client Colopy Ventures.
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