Sponsored by

I'll Keep This Short

Sorry, but you'll have to do without (much) of my commentary and "witticisms" today. But that doesn't mean there's not plenty going on in the Triangle tech scene. Look below for news on a $14.5M fundraise by Durham's Adwerx (internal voice: not Adzerk not Adzerk not Adzerk...), a catchy acquisition by Epic Games, some executive moves by Raleigh's Pryon, and much more.

And, of course, we have the reveal of this week's Where's Pete? winner, accompanied by a special holiday-themed celebratory photo. Keep scrolling!

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.

Extra Bit

Seriously, it's Thanksgiving, what more do you want from me??? I'm about to enter a food-and-football coma. See you on the other side!

Because too much news is never enough.

• Durham’s Adwerx raises $14.5M, looks to further grow ad platform business (WRAL TechWire)
• Boosted by $14.5M funder, Durham's Adwerx plans fast growth for 2022. (Triangle Inno)
• Durham's Adwerx raises $14.5M. Here's how it will spend it. (TBJ)
• Epic Games buys Harmonix, creator of ‘Rock Band’ and ‘Guitar Hero’ (WRAL TechWire)
• Epic Games sends clear signal with deal for developer behind smash hit 'Rock Band' (TBJ)
• Raleigh AI startup (Pryon) building ‘Alexas’ on steroids adds revenue exec, board members (WRAL TechWire)
• Cocktail startup in Carrboro ditches alcohol, shakes up $1M funder (Triangle Inno)
• Executive Voice: Cary entrepreneur left promising career to launch her own business (TBJ)
• NCSU grad student explores ‘think and do’ artificial intelligence at NASA (WRAL TechWire)
• The new ‘Athena’: Duke opens AI Institute for Edge Computing (WRAL TechWire)
• 'NFT' is Collins Dictionary's Word of the Year for 2021, beating out 'crypto' and 'cheugy' (CNN)

Guess where Pete is and (maybe) win a GrepBeat mug!
 

This week’s winner is Lyle Gravatt, who was the first on Twitter to correctly identify my location as Sosta in Raleigh. Sayeth Lyle: “Always appreciate GrepBeat’s newsletter, thanks for keeping me in the loop as I’ve been holed up in my house and office the last year or so. And after finally retiring my law school Moot Court coffee mug last month, fate has blessed me with an upgrade—a GrepBeat mug! Look forward to showing it off around the offices at Forrest Firm, where I work as an intellectual property attorney.
 
I’m celebrating this win with family down in Tupelo, MS, so thought it’d be fun to send an old sibling photo. My brother Neal and I are sporting waves, trying too hard to be cool (that’s me in the middle), while my sister Kristin kept it classy.”
 
Congrats, Lyle, and we wish you and your whole family a great Thanksgiving!