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Happy Thursday!

Shake those dog-days-of-summer blues with a GrepBeat Happy Hour on Thursday, Aug. 18, three weeks from today. Coworking community Durham Bottling Co. (506 Ramseur St) is doing double duty as both the sponsor and host, and you should thank them in person for your free drinks. Please register here so we can make sure not to run out.
 


Powering Up

We mentioned last week that Durham-based energy management software platform FlexGen raised a $100M Series C, less than 12 months after it banked a $150M Series B. Today we’re back with a fuller feature, including an interview with CEO Kelcy Pegler. FlexGen is in the large-scale energy storage field, which is a huge need as utilities increasingly mix in renewable energy sources to the electrical grid. Because hey, the sun doesn’t shine and/or the wind doesn’t blow 24 hours a day, so storing energy at least temporarily in huge battery complexes is essential to smoothing out supply. Read our full story here.


 


Serious Play

“Serious play” sounds like an oxymoron alongside “jumbo shrimp,” “civil war” or “Austin ranking higher than the Triangle.” But the International Serious Play Awards are no joke. This year the organization handed out a silver medal to Chapel Hill-based Clinical Tools for the startup’s simulation game Lift: Medical Student Peer Support. Clinical Tools makes videogame-like educational tools, especially for healthcare professionals—or in this case, aspiring professionals. Read our full story on Clinical Tools here.


 


Spare Tires

Did you know that more than 300 million tires are thrown away every year in the U.S.? Franklinton-based PRTI has a much better solution. Not only does PRTI keep the tires (which don’t decompose naturally) out of landfills, it “cooks” them in a proprietary process that transforms them into energy in the form of three fuels and steel as new end products. Read our full story on PRTI here.


 


Venture Atlanta

Arguably the biggest startup event in the Southeast, Venture Atlanta returns on Wednesday-Thursday, Oct. 19-20. Jason Caplain of Bull City Venture Partners—he’s on the Venture Atlanta board—wanted all to know that the deadline for startups to apply is Friday, Aug. 12. The selected “showcase” startups will get in front of 350+ investors from 200+ funds nationwide, including an invitation to the exclusive VA Investor Dinner. VA alumni companies have collectively raised over $6.5B and achieved $16B+ in exits, and in recent years they’ve included Triangle startups like Spiffy, Allstacks, Klearly, K4Connect, Second Nature and biospatial.
 
There’s no cost to apply and no cost if selected. So what are you waiting for? Apply here!


 


Gathering Clouds

A quarterly survey of tech leaders across the state sponsored by Stearns Financial cast a more pessimistic tone than just a quarter ago. And those views, of course, were before today’s announcement that GDP fell for the second straight quarter, the (unofficial) benchmark of a recession. The survey found that 17.5% of companies have implemented a hiring freeze, compared to just 5.7% in April, while an additional 1.6% have already implemented or are actively considering layoffs. That’s very far from a meltdown, obviously, but the clouds are getting a bit thicker. See TechWire for more.


 


Seeking Funds

Two weeks ago we mentioned how two GrepBeat story subjects were teaming up as Durham-based Resilient Ventures was investing in Donald Thompson’s The Diversity Movement. Today, TechWire reports that The Diversity Movement isn’t done raising money. In fact, Resilient’s investment (an undisclosed amount) is part of a round targeted at $1.5M, and Diversity Movement spokesman Bob Batchelor says they’re at least halfway there. This would also be a good time to revisit our Donald Thompson feature from last week.


 


Take That, Austin!

Raleigh, Cary and Durham all ranked among the best 50 places to live in the U.S. according to a new study from Livability.com. Raleigh led the way at No. 14, while Cary (at No. 43) was one slot ahead of No. 44 Durham. Best of all, Austin didn’t make the list at all! (Fine print: the study focused on “mid-sized cities” and Austin’s population likely knocked it from consideration. And yes, in this specific case, “fine print” is an oxymoron.)

 

 


Build Great Software

Founded by serial entrepreneurs, Dualboot is a business and software development company. Their clients include tech and non-tech founders as well as Fortune 500 companies, so they can start small or scale fast depending on what you need. Every client is assigned a U.S.-based Product Director with at least 10 years experience bringing products to market, and they can manage the entire development process. They focus on how the software fits into your company to drive revenue and build the business. At Dualboot, they don’t just write your software—they help you grow your business. Intrigued? Email them here.

 

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