The Wilmington, North Carolina startup scene drew roughly 300 entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders to Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station for the fourth annual Investor Buzz-In, according to event organizers. Organized by the Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington (NEW), the sold-out event functioned as a coastal venture capital conference, pairing startup pitches with investor reverse pitches and panel discussions.
The regional gathering highlights how North Carolina’s coastal business community has developed over the past decade.
Startup Growth and Deal Flow on the North Carolina Coast
Today, NEW encompasses more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, with monthly startup events averaging roughly 170 attendees, according to organizational data. Meanwhile, UNCW’s CIE, led by Heather McWhorter, operates mentoring programs and a weekly 1 Million Cups gathering championed by Jack Fleming. Capital infrastructure has similarly expanded through networks such as WALE, VentureSouth, and Cape Fear Ventures.
The industry-diverse event showcased several prominent founders pitching regional and national projects, as reported:
- RCOAST: Dr. Christy Swann brought her experience building sensors used to analyze Mars back to Earth, with novel machine learning techniques that tie to seasonal lidar-based coastal mapping to inform coastal mitigation projects and the insurance industry. According to the article, RCOAST recently closed a $945,000 pre-seed round and sells to clients spanning from North Carolina to Texas.
- Skillmaker: Robin Cowie, creator of The Blair Witch Project, architected significant growth of the Madden video game franchise before choosing Wilmington for his latest venture. He’s created immersive reality environments to train automotive repair workers and inked a national deal with Napa Auto Parts. Blending film and storytelling to build the workforce of the future.
- Predicate: Dr. Morris Nguyen, a practicing doctor, saw repeated issues for his patients that he believed could be solved with AI. Predicate, NC TECH’s Data Innovation Company of the year last year, is building the intelligence layer to bring together and understand all your wearable biometric data with real-time contextual analysis and natural language processing. They’re running trials on 5 continents, all from a Wilmington HQ.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Investor Buzz-In event in Wilmington?
The Investor Buzz-In is an annual event organized by the Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington (NEW) that serves as a coastal venture capital conference. It features startup pitches, investor reverse pitches, and networking opportunities for regional business leaders.
Who supports the Wilmington startup community?
Local entrepreneurial growth is supported by organizations including the Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington, UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and investment groups such as Wilmington Angels for Local Entrepreneurs (WALE), VentureSouth, and Cape Fear Ventures.
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