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Happy Tuesday!
 
There's much to cover, so I won't dilly dally too long. But I'll dilly around long enough to remind you that our inaugural Rising Stars event is happening in less than TWO weeks.

And we'd like everyone who can attend to attend because I simply cannot wait any longer to show you all who's been chosen as our Rising Stars. It could be someone you've chosen. Or maybe even you. Guess you'll have to reserve a spot and find out on Thursday, Feb. 6th
 
Keep on tech'ing on,
Kaitlyn


Looks For You

Perhaps like many of you in the late 2000s, Polyvore dominated my life as I yearned for cool clothes and outfits. For those not in the loop, this social commerce site helped users create outfit-inspired mood boards and shop for products. Alas, it shut down in 2018, and I thought I'd never find a platform like it again. 

Until I read about Fashivly, the subject of today's startup feature. The Charlotte-based tech company generates personalized style guides using client questionnaires pertaining to lifestyle, budget, size range and clothing preferences. Clients are then strategically paired with one of Fashivly’s stylists, who are contracted from all over the country. 

Now my looks can actually look like me, and not 2008 me (which I know most of you don't want to know how old I was then). Read our full feature on Fashivly here


 


Roobrik Acquired

It may come as a surprise to some, but acquisitions are really still happening! And Durham-based Roobrik is today's lucky winner. (Roobrik is also one of GrepBeat's sister company Jurassic Capital's portfolio companies, so there are some big celebrations happening in the Colopy Ventures family.)

The sales and marketing tech company announced that they've been acquired by Louisville, KY-based Aline, the leader in senior living operating software. This strategic partnership combines Aline’s platform with Roobrik’s innovative tools to create "the most comprehensive...sales qualification ecosystem for senior living operators."

Read the full press release about the acquisition here.  


 


Más MásRefund

In more friend-of-GrepBeat (FOG for our dedicated readers) news, Raleigh-based MásRefund has been selected as a finalist to pitch in the FinTech & Future of Work category at this year's SXSW (South by Southwest)

Beyond being known (to me) as one of the biggest film/TV festivals in the world, SXSW hosts one of the largest tech conferences, with sessions about some of the world's greatest innovations led by some of the world's greatest innovators. 

That's why it's such a huge deal that FOG MásRefund has been selected as one of the 45 finalists out of 589 applicants to pitch their innovative AI-powered, dual-language app. 


 


Grant$ Galore

Dust off and polish those pitch decks and proposals! NC IDEA has officially opened applications for its 2025 SEED and MICRO Grants.

These non-dilutive $10K (MICRO) and $50K (you guessed it, SEED) grants are designed to help in the success of your company's journey when and where you need it most—whether you have just launched a startup or are looking to grow and scale. 

The deadline to apply is February 24th at 5pm ET. You can find more information on how to apply here


 


Local Hero

So many FOGs achieving so many wonderful things! Raleigh-based No Show Hero (whom we featured late last year and who also presented at the latest CED GRO Demo Day) announced that they've been named winner of the WRAL 2024 Voters’ Choice Awards Five Star Award for Local Startup of the Year. (RTP-based CareYaya took second place.) 

The 10th annual WRAL Voters' Choice Awards celebrate the best local businesses across the Triangle, with nominations across more than 100 categories open to the public from Sept. 9-Oct.9, 2024. Over 100,0000 nominations come in each year, and the 2024 winners were revealed on January 24th. 

You can read No Show Hero's winning words here


 


Pendo IPOs...

...? That is a question many are still waiting for an answer on. And one that CEO Todd Olson is still iffy on himself. 

This latest update from TBJ covered Todd's and Pendo's plans to eventually take the $2.6B-valued company public. He said: “For us to be ready to be a public company, there’s still some things we need to do internally to prepare ourselves.”

To IPO or to not IPO? That is the question that is broken down in this TBJ article. (I physically could not resist throwing in the Hamlet reference.)


 


Flexing Big Data

When we last wrote about Durham-based energy management software platform FlexGen, they were fresh off a $100M Series C raise, banking a whopping $250M total in less than 12 months back in 2022. 

Now, they have just secured a $75M revolving credit facility with J.P. Morgan, which will be put toward investing in operations and talent at the firm's Durham lab operation.

While there's not much detail about what the projects will entail, FlexGen is working to take advantage of the rising demand for data centers, as big tech scrambles to develop them themselves.


 


More GROing

'Tis the season for company growth opportunities. CED (Center for Entrepreneurial Development) just opened applications for its ninth GRO Incubator, which is a 12-week intensive program tailored for early-stage tech and biotech startups looking to fast-track their growth. 

If you want to know more about the program and some of its alumni, we've covered a few of their latest demo days. You can also learn more by heading to their website. Or, if you're really confident, you can go ahead and apply to this year's cohort here

 

CALENDAR

GrepBeat Rising Stars Celebration
21c Hotel in Durham
Thursday, Feb 6 @ 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

February Book Club
GrepBeat HQ
Friday, Feb 21 @ 8:30 am - 9:30 am

DEADLINE: NC IDEA SEED & MICRO Grant Applications Close
Monday, Feb 24 @ 12:00 am

See more Triangle events on CronJobs and Google Calendar.

JOBS
eBoxchain is hiring! IT, Logistics Managers, and more!
Updated January 13, 2025 by eBoxchain
Fashivly Stylist
Updated January 13, 2025 by Fashivly
Teamworks is growing! Hiring for Sr. FE Engineer
Updated November 26, 2024 by Teamworks

See more great startup jobs.

 

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