The Download
Brooks Malone’s The Download doesn’t typically break news, unless you consider what Triangle startup leaders have in their pockets to be headline-worthy. (Which we do, tbh.) But this week’s edition with Thad Tarkington unveils a veritable bombshell—hotshot Raleigh startup FilterEasy has re-branded as Second Nature. The new name helps signal that the company will be expanding beyond its original, and quite successful, business of offering a subscription service for replacement air filters to keep HVAC systems humming efficiently. Going forward, Second Nature will also tackle broader areas of home maintenance and management, starting with water filtration.
But don’t worry, you can still discover what Thad (Second Nature's Co-Founder and CEO) has in his pockets, his favorite restaurant, and all the usual Download fun by clicking here.
Fierce Females
A few months back, Cindy Foy-Uhlir and Sue Kemple met in a Garner coffee shop, where Cindy used a napkin to sketch out a plan to help women entrepreneurs succeed. The result is a new startup accelerator in the Triangle called Fierce Female Founders—or F3, for short. The pair will be at Thursday’s Startup Summit in RTP (as will GrepBeat), so be sure to say hi. And if you read the story in today’s GrepBeat on F3, you’ll have plenty to talk about.
[BTW, I think of something quite different when I hear "F3," which I’d also be happy to talk about with any who are intrigued.]
Teaming Up
Durham’s Teamworks has rapidly become the go-to tool for sports teams to enable all their athletes to get—and stay—on the same page. But there’s one other key sports constituency beyond the athletes and coaches/administrators: fans. And increasingly, athletes want to communicate directly with fans via social media. That’s the primary motive behind Teamworks investing in, and partnering with, INFLCR, a platform that helps athletes manage their social media presence. (The company insists that “INFLCR” is pronounced “influencer,” which I find IMPLSBL.)
Here’s more on the deal from Teamworks itself and from the N&O.
Growing Up
Atlanta’s BIP Capital has released its “The State of Startups in the Southeast” report for 2019, and it’s chock-full of interesting nuggets. (Hat tip to WRAL TechWire.) One key takeaway is that the Triangle and other Southeast startup ecosystems are growing faster than “established” hubs like Silicon Valley, Boston and NYC, but that the Triangle and Atlanta in particular are showing more signs of maturity than their Southeast brethren.
That means a rise in valuations and an ability to raise money with somewhat less revenue traction than previously, among other things. The state’s venture funding in 2019 has also slowed considerably relative to its record year in 2018, though one or two large deals can change those figures in a hurry. Anyway, it’s worth a download.
Epic Expansion
One deal that helped make 2018 such a banner year for VC investment in NC was Epic Games raising a whopping $1.3B, the biggest VC deal of the year nationwide. The maker of Fortnite is putting some of that cash to work to add a 450-500K-square-foot expansion at its Cary HQ, including 1,400 additional parking spots. The new digs could accommodate as many as 2,000 workers. True to form, Epic is tight-lipped about its plans, but TBJ and TechWire pried what they could out of public releases and documents.
New Digs
Thankfully, not all Triangle startups consider their physical movements to be state secrets. Durham fintech Spreedly has announced to the world that it’s signed a lease to take over the entire fourth floor of the seven-story Durham.ID building at 300 Morris St. in downtown Durham for its new HQ. At 25K square feet, the space will be a significant upgrade from the 10K square feet at Spreedly’s current digs on Foster Street. The company needs the room because it has increased its headcount 40% from a year ago to 65 employees, and sees that rapid growth continuing.
Good Sports
Raleigh’s Silbo, a startup focused on whistleblowers—full disclosure: it connects referees with amateur sports leagues—will be hosting an event tomorrow morning designed to combat poor sportsmanship. The Triangle Sportsmanship Conference, presented in partnership with the Carolina Hurricanes, will be held tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct. 9) from 7:30-10 a.m. at PNC Arena featuring speakers including Steve Malik, the owner of the North Carolina Football Club and the founder of Medfusion. TechWire has full deets here.
Internet 2.0
Have you lost faith in Richard Hendricks’ project to build a new internet? Maybe you should cast your lot with UNC-Chapel Hill and its Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), which has received a $20M grant from the National Science Foundation to create a platform for testing “novel internet architectures” that could lead to a faster, more secure internet. The platform will be called FABRIC, because scientists love acronyms more than life itself.
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