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Pavilion RDU

We would all use a little help in advancing our careers. Triangle execs in go-to-market roles have a new resource in the form of Pavilion RDU, a recently established local chapter of the global networking and educational organization. By “go-to-market,” we generally mean sales, marketing, customer success, RevOps and whoever else is helping drive the revenue function, which at on-the-rise startups usually includes the CEO. Longtime Triangle sales vet Vince Beese is the chapter leader.
 
Read our full story here, and you can email Vince if you’re interested in the next chapter event next Wednesday, Feb. 21.

In The Soup

Wednesday’s In The Soup episode was fittingly a Valentine’s Day special, focusing on three couples who are partners in both business and life. Hosts Jenn Summe (Primordial) and Melissa Crosby are joined by Tina Tang and Anthony Alers from Bristles.ai; Cara (Borenstein) Marin, who founded Stashpad with her husband Theo; and Andrea and Charles Inokon from Cadence Cash. They give some pros and cons to starting a company with your significant other and advice on how to maintain both your relationship and your business. You can listen (and subscribe!) here.

Triangle <==> Kyiv

Adam Schultz is the Co-Founder and CEO of Durham-based startup Mindr, which we profiled in November for its wellness platform to help screen for cognitive decline. He’s also spearheading an effort to increase entrepreneurial ties between the Triangle and Kyiv, Ukraine. Specifically, the Kyiv School of Economics is seeking international mentors for its grad-level Startup Ecosystem program for startup founders. Adam made a trip to Ukraine in October and established relationships with the KSE program. You can find out more about the program (or “programme,” as they spell it) and apply to be a mentor here.

Be Their PALS

This morning’s TBJ incudes a feature story on Gabi Angelini, the Co-Founder (with her mother Mary) of Gabi’s PALS, which mostly employs people with developmental challenges much like those faced—and overcome—by Gabi, who has Down syndrome. “PALS” is an acronym for packing, assembling, labeling and shipping, and Gabi’s PALS ships products for customers like Murphy’s Naturals and Lenovo. The startup emerged from Gabi and her mom's previous company, Gabi's Grounds, which sold and shipped coffee. Once they saw the inefficiencies of the shipping process faced by them and some of their ecommerce peers at the Loading Dock, they pivoted to what they saw as the bigger opportunity.

Plant Power

NC State’s NC Plant Sciences Initiative has formed a startup program to help NCSU researchers and Wolfpack alums turn their discoveries into startups producing viable products. The startups will generally be in the ag-tech and food-tech spaces, which frankly are often in a dark-gray area for us considering they often emerge from a test tube, broadly speaking. But sometimes they are tech-y and software-driven enough to straddle our side of the aisle. See Triangle Inno for the full story.

ECOSYSTEM Grants

NC IDEA and the North Carolina Black Entrepreneurship Council (NC BEC) announced today that they will begin accepting ECOSYSTEM grant applications on March 11 from organizations throughout the state who are elevating Black entrepreneurship. To date, the NC BEC has awarded over $2M in grants directly to Black entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial support organizations and HBCUs. See all the info on NC IDEA’s site here.

Energy Jolt

Siemens Energy plans to add 559 jobs and invest almost $150M in North Carolina over the next five years, which has landed it an economic incentives package from the state worth at least $9.3M. Most of the jobs (475) will be created in the Charlotte area, but 84 will be in Raleigh as Siemens expands its existing grid technology engineering operations in Wake County. See WRAL and the N&O for more.

Build Great Software

Because too much news is never enough.

• IRS sues regulator over Silicon Valley Bank's billion-dollar tax debt (TBJ)
• Cisco layoffs: One of Research Triangle's largest employers to cut thousands of jobs (TBJ)

Here's some helpful content from our partners.

	NC IDEA and the NC BEC Announce Upcoming ECOSYSTEM Grant During National Black History Month Published Today by NC IDEA
	CED Announces Companies Selected to Pitch at Venture Connect 2024 Published Tuesday by CED
	Inaugural Primordial Founder Lunch Published February 9, 2024 by Primordial
	Clot-busting combination Published February 8, 2024 by Innovate Carolina

You can find all our Partner Feeds here.