Seed Funding Speeds Growth for TreeCo — an NC State Startup

The world’s largest and most advanced collection of gene-edited wood presumably lives on Centennial Campus at North Carolina State University. Stacked on shelves in a corner closet of the Forest Biotech Group’s lab, these bundles of sticks sit mere feet from the incubation freezers that contain the tree stem cells they started out as. Directly […]

NC IDEA expands ecosystem network with 15 new partnership grants 

 NC IDEA announced on Friday 15 new partnerships through the organization’s ECOSYSTEM program at the Foundation’s 2021 Ecosystem Summit. The partnerships, known as regional impact grants, are meant to “further strengthen the infrastructure supporting North Carolina entrepreneurs,” said Ruhe. The grant program from NC IDEA required at least two organizations within a regional entrepreneurial ecosystem to collaborate […]

Chancellor’s Innovation Fund Catalyzes 6 Promising Projects | NC State News

Research at NC State uncovers potential solutions to some of the world’s grandest challenges. And thanks to the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund (CIF), six new projects will receive support that could bring their research one step closer to market-ready technologies — with broad societal impacts. “Since the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund launched over a decade ago, it’s proven […]

Ventureprise at UNC Charlotte and City Startup Labs launch accelerator – for mentors 

 Ventureprise, a program of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and City Startup Labs will collaborate on a new accelerator program, the Inclusive Innovation Leadership Academy. The program, led by Devin Collins, the director of Ventureprise, and by Henry Rock, the founder and executive director of City Startup Labs, is funded by an NC IDEA Ecosystem grant, […]

Duke U medtech startup Xilis raises $70M; Google Ventures, Duke Angels 

Xilis, a startup founded by two professors at Duke University focusing on technology to boost precision health and oncology, has landed $70 million in new funding with Google Ventures among the backers. The two-year-old company had previously raised close to $5 million. “Our vision is to transform cancer care in diagnostics and reshape drug development […]

UNC and Duke Team up to Launch Entrepreneurial Startup Hub – Duke OLV

In the past, if you launched a startup in the Research Triangle region, daunting questions arrived faster than answers. How do you navigate the limited avenues of support for turning intellectual property (IP) into products or services? Or compete with larger corporations that have more established networks and resources? Or wrestle with the reality that […]

Introducing Lux Libertas Ventures: UNC’s first student-run venture capital fund 

Lux Libertas Ventures is UNC’s first student-run venture capital fund, specializing in Generation Z consumer investments. LLV focuses on pre-seed investments into consumer internet startups that attack the problems faced by Generation Z, such as mental health, digital wellness, consumer banking and other areas of exploration. The organization is run entirely by UNC students with a […]

UNC Kickstarts New Sustainability Efforts with Champion Sustainability Fund 

UNC has received a $1 million investment from the Champion Athleticwear brand to kickstart a series of efforts aimed at creating a more sustainable campus and facilitating the continued innovation of new strategies by the university community. The brand, as part of a multi-faceted initiative, will not only fund sustainable innovations as UNC works to […]

Duke, NC Central Launch Program to Showcase Black-Founded and Black-Led Businesses

DURHAM, NC — U.S.-based college students and recent alumni who founded or lead growing businesses are invited to showcase their companies to investors who are committed to investing in Black-founded and Black-led businesses, and to compete for up to $25,000 through a new Duke University-North Carolina Central University program. “pitch: A Competition for Black Student-Founders” […]

NC Biotech Center awards $623K in grants; its portfolio firms raise nearly $33M 

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – The North Carolina Biotechnology Center awarded 11 grants and loans totaling $623,136 to bioscience companies, universities and nonprofit organizations in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021. The awards, made in July, August and September, will support life science technology commercialization and intellectual exchange throughout North Carolina. COMPANY LOANS AWARDED Three bioscience […]