In honor of May 16th (i.e. 5/16), we’re offering five tickets to June 1’s Grep-a-palooza 2 for 16% off with the promo code “5/16SPECIAL.” And if you’ve been on the fence waiting to see the full agenda, scroll down to No. 1 below. (Or you could just click the link, but Item No. 1 has more color.)
The latest Friday Noonerguest was Jon Birdsong, a Partner at Atlanta-based VC firm Atlanta Ventures. Don’t miss watching and/or listening to GrepBeat Godfather Joe Colopy pivot from his usual chicken content to rats.
Grep-a-palooza Agenda
While we’ve been steadily rolling out the names of individual speakers and panelists, this morning we’re unveiling the full agenda for Grep-a-palooza 2, which takes place on Thursday, June 1, at the Durham Convention Center. Attendees of last year’s inaugural event will immediately notice that there’s more, more, more; roughly 50% more content, to put a number on it.
While we’ve kept the overall length the same and have the same number of programming periods (six) as well as sizable breaks for networking, three of those slots will feature breakout periods in which attendees can choose between two options. We’ll also have fireside chats with keynote speakers Erkang Zheng (JupiterOne) and Bill Spruill (Global Data Consortium/2ndF). See the full agenda here, then buy tickets here—and don’t forget the 5/16SPECIAL for 16% off for the first five takers.
Wrangl-ing Cash
We first profiled Durham-based workflow automation startup Wrangle and its two Adams—Co-Founders Adam Smith and Adam Long—deep in the throes of the pandemic in August, 2020. Since then, the use of Slack and other tools to manage increasingly remote staffs has continued to surge, and with it the demand for Wrangle’s solutions. Today, the Adams announced the closing of a new $2M funding round and the launching of a new AI-enabled “conversational ticketing product” for IT and HR teams.
This $2M is on top of the $2M that Wrangle closed on last January. Wrangle attracted new investors Accomplice, Correlation Ventures and the Triangle Tweener Fund as well welcomed participation from multiple investors in the prior round including Bloomberg Beta, Eniac, and Liquid 2. Wrangle’s 2022 results—5x revenue growth and 150K+ workflows launched—shows the startup is on a promising path, while the launch of the new tools point toward an even bigger opportunity ahead. Wrangle says it better than we could on its blog here.
Healthy Growth
Durham-based digital health startup Validic has acquired Virginia-based Trapollo, which provides device logistics and technical support for patients being treated at home. Trapollo has been a wholly owned subsidiary of cable giant Cox Communications, which will become an investor in Validic as part of the deal. Which is a nice two-fer for Validic—landing a deep-pocketed investor as part of making an acquisition to grow the company. Validic CEO Drew Schiller is a former For Starters guest and Download Q&A subject, and will also be a panelist at Grep-a-palooza 2.
See Validic’s release and TechWire for more info. Alas, the financial terms of the deal were not released.
New Launch
Real estate tech startup Ownify may be technically based in San Francisco, but it’s officially launching this week with the Triangle as its first market. As part of the launch, Ownify announced a $7M seed round led by Silicon Valley-based Lobby Capital. Ownify is geared especially to first-time homebuyers and works on a fractional ownership model. How it works: you put down 2% as a downpayment and Ownify ponies up the rest, meaning you can make an all-cash offer—which is key in the hot Triangle housing market.
Upon closing, you own 2% of the home and continue to make payments to Ownify that will increase your ownership level to about 10% after five years. One can buy out the full equity at any time for fair market value. There is no mortgage. Essentially, it’s like renting but with an equity kicker, plus an option to buy. Interesting concept. See Triangle Inno for the full story.
VinFast's SPAC
VinFast, which had long talked about doing an IPO in the U.S. market to raise some $2B to help fund its planned $4B EV factory in Chatham County, has decided to pivot. It has instead decided go public via a SPAC by merging with a so-called blank check company, NYSE-listed Black Spade Acquisition Co.
While this deal will mean VinFast will be publicly traded, it doesn’t mean in and of itself a ton of cash. VinFast might take in in the neighborhood of $150M from the merger, but that ain’t $2B. Instead, VinFast could be looking to lock down a private placement of some kind, or maybe a future secondary offering. See more from TechWire here and here.
NC A Tech Hub?
The U.S. Commerce Department has launched its $500M Tech Hubs grant program—which was part of the CHIPS Act passed by Congress in 2022—and is looking for applicants. The goal is to identify and support tech hubs outside of Silicon Valley, Boston and New York. Hey, that sounds like the Triangle!
So it’s no surprise that North Carolina is throwing its hat in the ring, though it’s unclear where such a tech hub would be located in the state. (Hey, we have an idea!) See more from TBJ/Triangle Inno here and here. Meanwhile at the state government level, the NC Senate’s proposed budget earmarks $1.4B for economic development; see more from TBJ here.
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