As we near the end of another five-day session of involuntary collective roasting week, I want to tease a new GrepBeat program that will be debuting next Monday. No spoilers here, but stop by the site Monday morning for what we hope will become part of your routine to start each week.
With that little teaser dropped, let’s move on to some of the latest news.
Okay, so typically you don’t want to see the word “fair” anywhere near the word “credit.” But where Triangle startup Epistamai is concerned, it’s a positive distinction. This startup, led by CEO Chris Lam, is on a mission to reduce bias and discrimination in credit decisions, thereby improving the credit underwriting process.
Having observed that credit decision bias often negatively affects minority groups, Chris set out to determine how AI systems become unfair. With Epistamai, he has developed his own causal AI model to address both intentional and unintentional discrimination.
Read our story on Epistamai, which is part of CED’s latest GRO Incubator cohort, here.
Carer Care
With personal experience as a long-term care provider, Victoria Chibugo Nneji believes that everyone has a shared destiny of giving or receiving care at some point. But she has long observed that those giving care often receive little support of their own. This observation led her to launch AKALAKA, a Durham-based startup providing resources and connectivity for care partners.
Having worked via consultation and webinars since its 2021 launch, AKALAKA will soon unveil tech providing ‘round-the-clock support for caregivers. Among other forms of assistance, the startup will help care partners better understand insurance and reimbursement options that may be available to them.
The ELFs are back! In February, we wrote about Rob Cotter’s reacquisition of the “Electric, Light, and Fun” (ELF) vehicles—partially enclosed, recumbent, very cool e-bikes—he originally invented as Founder of Organic Transit. Rob, now the CEO of Environmental Transit Authority (ETA), regained control after oil and gas company PetroSun acquired and shelved the ELFs.
Now, ETA is pedaling rapidly toward a production ramp-up. The latest update is that the company is raising $3M to fuel the ELF’s return and is “pretty far down the path” to completing its seed round. The plan is for a $10M round to follow.
Axios (Pro) has more. You can also read our February update here and see Rob’s interview on the Friday Nooner (wherein he discussed the ELF’s future) right here.
Hello, CEO
Some interesting leadership news this week as Durham-based SaaS company ServiceTrade has appointed a new CEO. Founder and now-former CEO Billy Marshall, who has achieved the GrepBeat Double™ (being a guest on the Friday Nooner and the subject of a Download), announced the news on LinkedIn.
While Billy will stay on as a Strategic Advisor, the new CEO will be William Chaney, who brings 25 years of SaaS experience to the table. William was most recently CEO of FieldRoutes, a mobile SaaS provider for field service businesses that is based in Texas (though thankfully not in Austin).
Raleigh’s Eva Garland Consulting put out an encouraging update this week concerning its efforts to “enhance diversity in the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR).” Evidently, there has been an 18-22% increase in SBIR grants being awarded to women-owned and socially/economically-disadvantaged SMBs.
CEO Eva Garland indicated that these numbers proved the effectiveness of a program designed to support the “entire entrepreneurial ecosystem,” while acknowledging that there’s more progress yet to be made.
One last reminder that the inaugural Ladies Investing/Local Angels (LiLa) mixer will take place this evening from 4-6pm at the GrepBeat HQ in Durham. The mixer will be co-hosted by Jenn Summe and Melissa Crosby of GrepBeat sister company Primordial.
LiLa, for those who may have missed initial announcements, is a new support group that is designed to empower more women to get involved in the investment community. Tonight’s lead-off mixer will be a welcome event with opportunities to network and start delving into the world of investment and tech startups.
You can read more about LiLa here and register for tonight’s mixer at this link.
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