Thanks to Jackie for holding down the newsletter fort during my vacation! You’ll have a chance to thank her in person on Thursday at the GrepBeat Happy Hour, which will be held from 5-7 p.m. at the Lonerider in Durham (708 Ramseur St.). Your first drink will be courtesy of our sponsor, CIBC Innovation Banking. Please register here so we can get a sense of numbers.
ICYMI: Keith Daniel of Resilient Ventures was the guest on the latest Friday Nooner. I was among those who “MI” live, anyway, and it seems that I was so out of mind that the GrepBeat Godfather literally couldn’t recall my name.
Problem Spotter
While 3D design software has come a long way, when it comes to actually manufacturing those designs into physical products, it’s still typically necessary to literally make the widget (or whatever) to discover certain flaws in the design or manufacturing process. Cary-based startup ExLattice is attacking that specific problem. It uses AI and machine learning to help simulate the physics of the manufacturing process ahead of time to save time and money by catching potential problems during the design stage.
This week’s episode of Exit Stories sponsored by Robinson Bradshaw—it’s the eighth of 10 episodes in Season Four—features David Johnson. He’s the Founder and former CEO of Raleigh-based Atlas Certified, which was acquired last April by New York-based CLEAR. (We wrote about the acquisition here, and first profiled the startup here.) Atlas Certified was an automated platform to verify and update employee certifications and licenses.
Read some show highlights here, then listen (and subscribe!) here.
Tech Hub, No?
The White House yesterday named 31 “Tech Hubs” across the country, but neither the Triangle nor the state as a whole made the cut despite at least seven entities (according to TBJ’s reporting) applying for the designation. Harrumph.
Two North Carolina sites were selected for a separate “Strategy Development Grant,” at UNC Charlotte and a Western North Carolina effort. In addition to TBJ’s coverage, here’s the main story from WRAL TechWire and a sidebar that lists all the new Tech Hubs.
Tech Hub, Yes!
Apparently the White House doesn’t read PitchBook, which just released a new report of the fastest-growing cities around the world for venture activity. Raleigh checked in at No. 4 on the list after Dubai, Detroit and Berlin. PitchBook calculated a blended “growth score” of one-year, three-year and five-year growth rates for VC deals and exits. See Triangle Inno for the full story.
Brace For Growth
PROTECT3D, a 3D-printed medical device startup founded by three former Duke football teammates, is getting into the consumer market. The startup’s tech “prints” custom braces for athletes and other patients; we first profiled PROTECT3D in April, 2021. The first “customer” was then-Duke quarterback Daniel Jones when he was trying to protect an injured collarbone during the 2018 season, and it worked well enough for him for the Giants to make him the sixth pick of the NFL Draft. (Though as a Giants fan, I have mixed feelings about the selection, especially since his $160 million contract extension before this season; but great job, PROTECT3D!)
The startup’s new iPhone app can do the scanning necessary to create the custom braces, making them accessible to mainstream medical professionals and their patients, not just high-end pro and college athletes.
Puck Talk
Continuing on the sports-y theme, yesterday’s Triangle Inno had an interesting feature on Raleigh-based startup Pramana Labs and its Co-Founder and CEO Corey Patton. Pramana is an AI startup that allow its customers to use natural language to “ask” questions of its databases and other data sets to return answers in narrative, conversational form. The company recently expanded a partnership with the NHL; see more about that on NHL.com.
I’m always intrigued by startup founders with eclectic backgrounds, and UNC grad Corey definitely has one. Consider these three resume items: sports broadcaster for CNNSI; assistant strength coach at UNC-Wilmington; and private chef for Merv Griffin. Respect!
Pendomonium
Pendo held its annual Pendomonium conference last week. Here are accounts from TechWire and the N&O, each of which include a Q&A with CEO Todd Olson.
VinFast Funding
VinFast provided at least part of the answer to the question as to how it’s going to finance its $4B EV factory in Chatham County late last week when it announced an agreement worth up to $1B with New Jersey-based Yorkville Advisors Global. Under the deal, VinFast can access up to $1B from Yorkville at any point over the next three years by selling VinFast stock to Yorkville at a 25% discount to the prevailing price.
Of course, VinFast would much prefer to do that when the stock is trading at something closer to its alltime high (“alltime” only starting in this case on Aug. 15, of course) of $93 per share, or at least its opening price of $20, rather than its current $4.78. But hey, liquidity can come at a cost. See TechWire, TBJ and the N&O for more.
Build Great Software
Founded by serial entrepreneurs, Dualboot is a software and business 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 years of 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
“Where’s Pete?” might be over, but here is a very special opportunity to “win” a GrepBeat mug: become GrepBeat’s new Director of Business Development. We’re looking for someone to craft and drive sponsorship and membership programs that increase awareness and drive revenue, so we are better able to fulfill our mission to lift the Triangle tech ecosystem over the long haul. Read more and apply here, and please share the word with anyone you might think is a fit.
Real talk: doing our best to serve you costs money. Businesses and organizations that would like to support our efforts should see our sponsorship opportunities here.
