Diversity Series

Today we bring you the final story in Elizabeth Moore’s four-part series on diversity in the Triangle tech ecosystem. Part IV focuses on how public officials in the Triangle are directly addressing the systemic inequalities and other issues that Elizabeth outlined in previous entries. Elizabeth did a lot of great and important reporting on this series, and we really recommend that you read it. Here’s today’s Part IV, though you can also start with the series Roadmap; then Part I on access to capital; Part II on the role that HBCUs play in creating a more equitable talent pipeline; and Part III on DEI initiatives in the workplace.

Wrangle

Back in May, we told you about Automated Insights vets Adam Smith and Adam Long launching the beta for Durham-based Wrangle, a new startup promising a better way for companies to manage their workflow processes. (Adam Smith was also an early GrepBeat Q&A subject.) Now Wrangle has taken off the beta training wheels and is fully available for paying customers ($12 per user per month), though still free for smaller customers with up to five users. Read our full story on Wrangle here.

BCVP Goes West

Durham’s Bull City Venture Partners is co-leading a $1.8M seed round for LaunchNotes, a West Coast-based SaaS startup with plenty of Triangle ties. The BCVP team of Jason Caplain and David Jones first developed a relationship with LaunchNotes Co-Founder and COO Jake Brereton when Jake was the Director of Marketing for Durham-based e-receipt startup Shoeboxed. Speaking of, you should listen to our Exit Stories podcast with former Shoeboxed CEO Tobi Walter, who’s now a VC at Cary’s Cofounders Capital, about Shoeboxed’s exit.

LaunchNotes aims to bridge the communication gap between technical and non-technical teams at software companies. In addition to BCVP co-leading the investment round with Silicon Valley’s Cowboy Ventures, Triangle-based entrepreneurs and angel investors Scot Wingo (Spiffy’s Czar) and Steve Klein (the Co-Founder of Statuspage.io) also put some cash into the kitty. LaunchNotes’ blog has lots more info on the financing and what they’re up to in general, and TechWire also has more details.

Onward And Upward

Hey, did someone mention Scot Wingo and Spiffy? With their fleet customers experiencing a V-shaped recovery since May, the Durham-based mobile car-care startup is expanding its Fleet Management as a Service (FMaas) model into six new markets—Baltimore, Dover (Del.), Palm Springs (Calif.), San Diego, St. Louis and Tucson. Scot tells GrepBeat that while Spiffy’s “Covid adventure has been a bit of a roller-coaster,” the ride is definitely pointing up again as workers and travelers—for both leisure and business—are increasingly getting back into cars, as well as Spiffy’s introduction of disinfection services for cars, offices, and pretty much anything that needs a deep Covid-blasting clean.

Clearing Out

WeWork is bailing from one of its two downtown Durham locations, TBJ reports, as it plans to close its three-story location at the Durham.ID building, which I can see by standing up from my office chair, taking one step to the right and looking out the window. (Though I’m pretty sure that’s unrelated to them closing.) WeWork also has a location just a few blocks away at One City Center, as well at One Glenwood in Raleigh.

WeWork told TBJ that the closure—less than two years after signing the lease—came after an “in-depth review” of the company’s assets that has been in the works since the fall and that it's not in response to the pandemic. That actually strikes me as bad news, since it underscores that WeWork’s well-documented woes predate the pandemic, which of course has only made things even tougher for a co-working company given that so many are working from home.

Highly Suitable

Raleigh-based drone startup PrecisionHawk will have to crank the lawyers up after it was sued for alleged breach of contract relating to a 2015 acquisition. After the deal, PrecisionHawk agreed to pay out commissions to the plaintiffs for sales made through the acquired assets for six years, which the plaintiffs say has not been done fairly. PrecisionHawk, as you might guess, denies the allegations and looks forward to the “opportunity to demonstrate that in court.” Let the billable hours begin!

Cha-Ching

If you’re among the hard-tech-iest of early stage tech startups, you might want to mark your calendar for Monday, Sept. 14. That’s the date for “SBIR Week in the Southeast: North Carolina,” hosted by RTP’s First Flight Venture Center. The event will cover the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, in which the federal government makes more than $3.7B in grants annually to small tech companies, especially those that are rooted in research and development. TechWire has more details.

Fully Caffeinated

It’s not really a startup, but Beyu Caffe— GrepBeat readers’ choice as the No. 1 spot for a coffee meeting—is definitely a part of the Triangle tech ecosystem. TechWire and TBJ report that Beyu has closed on $200K of a planned $500K fundraise, in part to expand the grab-and-go concept it pioneered at a Duke University location in 2018 to a new location in RTP. Of course Beyu’s flagship location in downtown Durham has also been forced to be more grab-and-go these days. And for those of you keeping score at home, while I can’t literally see Beyu from my desk, I will see it around the time you read this when I go get lunch.

Extra Bit

The UNC Eship Center’s virtual Fireside Chat series is back for Episode 2 next Wednesday, Sept. 2, at noon featuring a discussion with Niki and Ritika Shamdasani, the sister duo behind Indian fashion startup (and GrepBeat story subject) Sani. You can find more info and register here.

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

We nearly had a first this week as a grand total of zero people identified this week’s location by Wednesday afternoon. I had to take to Twitter to give people a second chance, and that’s where we found our winner: Trevor Schmidt. (BTW the answer was Vimala’s Curryblossom Café in Chapel Hill.) Thus we give Trevor the mic: “I am a partner at Hutchison working on IP protection and technology licensing, and host our new Founder Shares podcast. With Founder Shares we are looking to have conversations with a variety of different entrepreneurs at various stages in their journeys (from just getting their feet on the ground to multiple exits) to learn more about the challenges they face and the lessons they have learned along the way.  First two episodes dropped last week and new episodes will be released monthly.” Congrats, Trevor!

And hey, have we mentioned that our friends at Hutchison are sponsoring next Friday’s Coffee & Conversation on private equity/growth equity? It’s true, and you should register.