Scientists have long ago concluded that today is the best possible day of this or any year, since it’s the relatively rare alignment of St. Patrick’s Day with the (real) start of March Madness. Scroll down to see how we’re celebrating at GrepBeat.
We’ll keep the party going tomorrow on The Friday Nooner when Pete, Joe and Chantal will welcome Alex Krawchick, the CEO of Durham-based Klearly and a too-long-suffering fan of the Mets and (football) Giants. You can watch live at noon on LinkedIn, Facebook or YouTube, or catch afterward on those same platforms or as a podcast.
Story Time
If anyone could bring the innovations from the video game and television industries to the still relatively staid world of childrens’ books—yes, we mean physical books—Marc Mailand is just the guy. Marc worked at the likes of Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney before spending 15 years as a sound designer for video game developers such as Insomniac Games and Boss Key Productions. Now he’s launched Wake Forest-based Toggle Book Factory, a web-based platform that lets kids design their own personalized books. Toggle Book Factory will be presenting at CED’s Venture Connect summit on April 7. Read our full story here.
Rocket Fuel
Another week, another news-worthy story from Spiffy. This time, it’s that Spiffy landed a $10M investment from New Jersey-based Edison Partners. The cash infusion is an extension of the same round that netted $22M in October, bringing the total Series B financing to $32M. CEO Scot Wingo and team will use the $$ much as you expect—to grow, grow, grow. That will include the near-term hiring of another 10-20 Triangle-based employees. Read our full story here.
Safety First
Belgium-based cybersecurity firm Spotit has picked Raleigh over Atlanta for its first location, officials announced yesterday. The plan is to create 100 jobs over five years, with average salaries of $90K. Spotit’s founding partner Steven Vynckier cited RDU Airport alongside access to talent as among the Triangle’s top selling points, and if you’ve spent much time the hellscape that is Atlanta’s airport, that makes sense. Spotit will start with a space in Raleigh Founded’s Centennial location and later expand into a more permanent space. TBJ has the full story.
Digital Hygeine
Speaking of cybersecurity, TechWire has a Q&A this morning with Erkang Zheng, the CEO of Morrisville-based cybersecurity startup JupiterOne, which was one of GrepBeat’s Startups To Watch for 2021. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting heavy sanctions on Russia have everyone understandably hyper-aware of cybersecurity threats, given that the Russians have a long history of cyber warfare and may well ramp things up if they feel backed in a corner. It’s worth a read.
Blockchain Bucks
Chapel Hill-based TrueBridge Capital is raising a $125M fund to invest in blockchain-related assets, according to an SEC filing. At least that seems to be the focus of a fund with the legal name of “TrueBridge Blockchain I, L.P.” TrueBridge is primarily a fund-of-funds, so this new fund may well invest in other blockchain investment funds rather than (or in addition to) directly into blockchain assets or individual blockchain-driven companies. See TechWire for more.
Growth Plan
Chapel Hill-based edtech Terra Dotta has announced that it’s achieved 25% year-over-year growth in 2021 and plans to boost its headcount by 25% in 2022. Terra Dotta is the leader in global engagement solutions for higher education, helping universities manage their study-abroad programs and, increasingly, the process of foreign students enrolling over here—the latter being a growing and big-money trend.
I know a bit about the latter from talking to Terra Dotta CEO Anthony Rotoli at last week’s GrepBeat Happy Hour. Let that be a lesson to all: you increase your odds of being mentioned in GrepBeat by attending our Happy Hours and introducing yourself. (Baked goods don't hurt either.)
Fresh Ammo
Tim Ingraham, the founder of Music Business Worldwide, said on a recent podcast that he doesn’t think the main motivation for Cary’s Epic Games buying popular online music site Bandcamp was driven primarily by Epic’s move toward the metaverse. Rather, he theorizes that the No. 1 reason is Epic’s other main passion: fighting with Apple and Google over commissions in and access to their app stores. Tim’s theory is that since Bandcamp says it’s profitable despite charging just 10-15% commissions, the arguments from Apple and Google that they need to charge 30% might ring a little hollow—especially in the many courts of law that are refereeing said disputes.
SXSW
The Triangle’s presence at SXSW (South by Southwest, for the olds) is smaller this year than in pre-pandemic times, but an exec from Raleigh-based edge computing startup EDJX will be speaking there tomorrow. Laura Roman is EDJX’s CMO; you might recall that CEO John Cowan is a former Download subject. Sarah Glova has the full Triangle-tingled SXSW scoop in today’s TechWire. Speaking of Sarah, a little birdie tells me that she’ll be a guest co-host on a Friday Nooner in the near future.
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.
To see all posted jobs, go to CronJobs. If you'd like your company to be listed, tell us at cronjobs@grepbeat.com and we'll do our best.
Guess where Pete is and (maybe) win a GrepBeat pint glass!*
Joe Mancini is the winner of our last beer-soaked bar outing in Where’s Pete? after correctly identifying my location as Raleigh’s Clouds Brewing. Next week we’ll be returning to coffee shops, and indeed St. Patrick’s Day seems like a fitting “closing time” for our dalliance with bars. Here’s Joe: “I couldn’t be more excited by this honor! It only took me 50 tries. By day, I lead the revenue team at Digital Turbine and by evening, I’m a founding partner at Front Porch Venture Partners, and by the rest of my time, I enjoy adventures with my family. I will proudly put this pint glass to good use in your honor at the first-ever Raleigh-Durham Startup Week from April 19-22. Be sure to sign up for updates here.” BTW I'll also be at the event, and GrepBeat will be hosting a Happy Hour on Thursday, April 21, as a fun tie-in.
Joe shared a picture of he and his kids fittingly wearing green today. Below that is what I looked like today when slicing into the Irish sodabread I baked last night. It’s believed to be the first-ever Irish sodabread with chocolate chips instead of raisins. The backstory is that in December on The Friday Nooner I got carried away with holiday cheer and promised I'd make Joe (Colopy) an Irish sodabread for Christmas. But Joe is militantly anti-raisin and requested chocolate chips instead. It took me several months to wrap my head around the notion and receive permission from my ancestors to tinker with the recipe. I must say, it’s pretty good. Less good: that the angle of the photo makes it look that I have an immense head.
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