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Happy Tuesday!
 
ICYMI: Last week’s Friday Nooner guest was Dr. Rachel Draelos, founder of Durham-based healthtech startup Cydoc. Once the team had a bit of fun with the playful side of AI, Dr. Draelos hopped on to talked about her mission to use a very different AI to make medical software more efficient.
 
Moving on to the week at hand, the next GrepBeat Happy Hour is this Thursday, May 16, from 5-7 p.m. at Bull McCabe’s in Durham. Please register ahead of time if you have a few seconds––but even if you don’t, please come on out, enjoy your first drink courtesy of our sponsor (Hutchison), and spend a couple hours socializing with fellow Triangle tech enthusiasts. You might even meet me while you’re there.
 
Incidentally, I’m David Schwartz. I’m a new Senior Editor here at GrepBeat and will be adding some of my words to the benevolent, bi-weekly bombardment of your inboxes for the foreseeable future. You’re welcome.

Still pondering my sign-off,
David
 


Sending $ Abroad

Many of us have gotten used to the ease of sending and receiving cash on platforms like Venmo and Zelle. For people who want to send transfers overseas, however, these domestic platforms don’t get the job done because they only work within the U.S. This is the problem three migrants from India are looking to solve with Unplex.
 
Co-founded by Parag Sharma (working out of RTP), Rahul Chaudhary (Chicago), and Mohan Lath (London), Unplex functions as a payment solution built into WhatsApp. It is designed to be intuitive for international users who are already accustomed to the popular chat application, and works via an automated chat box; you simply tell said box how much money you want to send and where you’re sending it. Unplex has already raised $600K and is raising its next funding round. 

Read our full story here.


 


Into The Tank

As you may have read in some of our other recent newsletters, our spin on Shark Tank will be back at Grep-a-palooza after a one-year absence. Though it has yet to secure a regular evening slot on ABC, this year’s GrepTank is locked in for 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4 at the Durham Convention Center.

During the session, selected startups will get the chance to tell their stories and pitch their concepts to real investors, who will in turn provide invaluable feedback. Participating startups will also receive highly coveted free Grep-a-palooza passes. (The rest of you should buy tickets here.)
 
If you’re interested in diving into the tank, fill out an application form before the deadline of Friday, May 24 at 11:59 p.m. EST. (Yes, we pushed the deadline back a week.) Please note that to qualify, startups must be headquartered in the Triangle and have annual revenues of less than $2M. Sorry, but no life sciences/biotech/medical devices or agencies/consultancies.


 


Clothing -> Beer Bags -> Exit

In 2019, GrepBeat highlighted Reborn Clothing, a Raleigh startup founded by then-N.C. State senior Emily Neville. With an aim to upcycle discarded materials, the company established its own sewing factory and at one point even had a storefront at Raleigh's North Hills. It ultimately rebranded as Beer to Bags, however, and narrowed its focus to transforming used malt bags from beer brewers into durable totes.
 
Today, Triangle Inno's Lauren Ohnesorge reports that Beer to Bags has been acquired by Oregon-based custom beer tap manufacturer Hoptown Handles. Beer To Bags has already saved more than 10,000 malt bags from landfills, and has sold the resulting merchandise in upwards of 200 breweries and taprooms. Following the acquisition, Emily expects that the Beer To Bags product line can scale more aggressively. She's also taking a full-time role as director of business development for Hoptown Handles' branded merchandise arm, working remotely from Raleigh.


 


Instant Growth

Triangle Inno recently wrote about Pinehurst-based startup Instant Teams, a name that may ring a bell for GrepBeat readers. We profiled the company in April of 2022, and CEO Liza Rodewald was a guest on one of our podcasts. As a refresher, Rodewald and her co-founder, Erica McManus, started Instant Teams as a two-sided labor market connecting military spouses to companies that want to hire them for remote work.
 
As Triangle Inno reports, Instant Teams has been growing and innovating. The startup has raised $16M in venture capital, launched an app called 12M+ to connect military spouses to one another, and placed 500 employees around the world. They even opened a kid-friendly co-working space in Southern Pines.


 


Dimming The Light(forge)

Back in December 2021, we posted a Download Q&A on the Raleigh-based (though largely virtual) gaming startup Lightforge Games and its co-founder, Matt Schembari. At the time, Epic Games alum Matt had just assembled a dream team of fellow game studio veterans. The group was raising funds with the ambitious aim to “reinvent how people play RPGs.”
 
Sadly, that reinvention is now on hold. Just two years removed from raising $15M, Matt is pausing the project and forecasting layoffs. He does note, however, that a portion of the team will regroup to assess a potential future for the studio. Triangle Inno has the full story.


 


Analyzing Cows

Graham-based OsRostrum continues to generate attention for its unique approach to agtech. As was recently outlined in a Startup Spotlight by RIoT, OsRostrum Founder and CEO Catie McVey has developed 3D-scanning and machine-learning tech that analyzes characteristics of individual cows. The idea is to gain insight into how those cows are handling their environments and how susceptible they may be to health issues. This in turn can improve breeding and livestock care practices. I love this for the cows. 
 
OsRostrum was recently named among the 10 finalists for the Spring 2024 NC IDEA SEED grant of $50,000. And I have a feeling you should expect to hear more about the startup at GrepBeat soon, too, with a feature story on the way.  


 


Red Hat DEI Suit

As was recently reported by Brian Gordon at the N&O, Red Hat is facing a new lawsuit. The suit was filed on behalf of an ousted senior sales director––a white man who alleges that his termination was discriminatory. (Never mind that he was one of 700 employees affected by a mass layoff, which... seems relevant.)
 
The lawsuit, which Red Hat representatives have described as “baseless,” was spearheaded by former Trump Administration official (and Duke grad) Stephen Miller. Miller’s firm, America First Legal, has been making something of a habit of filing suits based on the buzzy polarization of DEI policies in workplaces. We're sure they're not politically motivated. 


 


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Extra Bit

Forbes released its latest update of the richest billionaires in every state, and––spoiler alert—it appears that Jim Goodnight still has rather a lot of money. The SAS CEO checked in at a cool $10.1B, which is up nearly a billion from last year. 

Not exactly startup news for little ol' SAS, but it's good to know that dominating the NC tech scene is still paying off. 
 

 

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