This is the first time in three years that the presenting startups at CED’s Venture Connect will take the stage in person. But while that aspect of this year’s event will be very much old school, much else has changed.
For one, we’ll be gathering tomorrow (Thursday, April 7) at Cisco’s RTP campus rather than the Raleigh Convention Center. For another, the event will be capped by an outdoor after-party with local barbecue and breweries. Check out the Venture Connect site for all the information, and you can also read our overall preview story for the highlights.
Especially since pitches will be occurring simultaneously on different stages, you’ll want to make a game plan on which ones you won’t want to miss. Thankfully, GrepBeat is here for you!
Either over the past month or going back as far as three years, we’ve written full feature stories on the vast majority of Triangle-based tech startups that will be presenting. This handy guide can be your cheat sheet, with capsules on each of the startups and then links to our full stories. (You can find the entire list of startups presenting at Venture Connect here, which include life sciences companies and some startups HQ’d outside the Triangle.)
Now, without further ado, let’s start with our most recent coverage of the Triangle-based tech startups that are presenting at Venture Connect 2022:
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Jason Jerald
Description: NextGen Interactions provides VR solutions for workplace training across an array of industries, including for first responders who prepare for catastrophic events.
In GrepBeat: Raleigh-Based NextGen Interactions Brings VR To Workforce Training (April 6, 2022)
HQ: Cary
CEO: Daniel West
Description: To create a more personalized healthcare retail experience, CareNexis is a digital health platform powering personalized education, healthy living content and health recommendations for users.
In GrepBeat: CareNexis Builds More Personalized Experience For Healthcare Consumers (April 6, 2022)
Ivy Clinicians
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Leon Adelman
Description: Ivy Clinicians is a two-sided platform that simplifies how doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants connect to job opportunities.
In GrepBeat: Ivy Clinicians Aims To Bring Transparency To Healthcare Hiring Market (March 31, 2022)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Francesco Aimone
Description: Induction Food Systems enables manufacturers to use an advanced fluid heating system that heats fluids from the middle out, which delivers an almost 20x improvement in efficiency to save money and energy.
In GrepBeat: Induction Food Systems’ Hot Solution For Heating Liquids For Manufacturing (March 31, 2022)
Custom Clinical Decision Support
HQ: Durham
CEO: Martha Adams
Description: Custom Clinical Decision Support’s primary product, CustomID, is a decision support tool to help clinicians work faster, save money and increase safety.
In GrepBeat: CustomID Changing The Game On Infectious Disease Management (March 29, 2022)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Jon Sternstein
Description: Stern Security began as a cybersecurity service company but now offers a software solution to measure the security of other businesses that their customers work with.
In GrepBeat: Raleigh-Based Cybersecurity Startup To Present At Venture Connect (March 29, 2022)
HQ: Chapel Hill
CEO: Andrew Fox
Description: Through iValu8’s product VivaSpot, small- to medium-sized businesses can automate emails, texts, social media and on-location marketing to customers that use their WiFi.
In GrepBeat: Chapel Hill-based iValue8 Helps SMBs Reach More Customers (March 24, 2022)
Translational Imaging Innovations
HQ: Hickory (but majority of team located in Triangle)
CEO: Eric Buckland
Description: TII’s suite of software products manage the ophthalmology imaging workflows and build databases of information to help clinical trials work with fewer frustrations.
In GrepBeat: TII’s Software Aims To Accelerate Ophthalmic Clinical Innovation (March 24, 2022)
HQ: Wake Forest
CEO: Marc Mailand
Description: At Toggle Book Factory, children can create personalized books for themselves, interacting with a fun robot that allows them to create their own character and make choices that will impact the story. Their products aim to help more children become lifelong readers.
In GrepBeat: Wake Forest-Based Toggle Book Factory Hopes To Instill Lifelong Love Of Reading (March 17, 2022)
HQ: RTP
CEO: Dezbee McDaniel
Description: With its clinical study marketplace, CliniSpan recruits members of underrepresented groups to participate in medical studies. CliniSpan can provide tailored study opportunities for users and ultimately increase diversity within trials.
In GrepBeat: RTP-based CliniSpan Health Seeks To Boost Diversity In Clinical Trials (March 3, 2022)
Past Stories
Here are the rest of the Triangle-based tech startups presenting at Venture Connect that we we have previously featured. We’ve listed them in alphabetical order.
HQ: Durham
CEO: Nilay Parikh
Description: Be Global Safety is a B2B SaaS startup that aims to use vision-based technologies for quality assurance in order to increase employee safety and detect accidents before they happen.
In GrepBeat: Durham-Based Startup Be Global Safety Helps Prevent Workplace Accident (Jan. 6, 2022)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Rich Camacho
Description: BlueRecruit was founded as a job marketplace designed for the unique skills and needs of blue-collar workers.
In GrepBeat: Blue Recruit Offers Better Way For Blue-Collar Workers To Find Jobs (March 17, 2020)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Sanjay Patel
Description: Chekhub is a SaaS B2B platform that helps companies manage day-to-day operations like checklists and schedules in one place. This is of particular value in managing remote workforces.
In GrepBeat: Venture Connect Presenter Chekhub Is Ready For Its CED Closeup (Feb. 25, 2021)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Ardis Kadiu
Description: Element451 works as a SaaS customer relationship management product to help universities market themselves to students during the recruiting process.
In GrepBeat: Element451 Brings Personal Touch To The College Admissions Process (Feb. 11, 2020)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Rami Essaid
Description: Offering a financial modeling tool that makes it easy for startups to build financial models, Finmark enables companies to forecast their finances without spreadsheets and prevent financial errors.
In GrepBeat: Finmark Makes Excel Look So last Year-And Has A Fresh $5M To Show For It (Oct. 29, 2020) (Finmark also raised an additional $6.5 million from American Express Ventures this January, which we wrote about here.)
HQ: Cary
CEO: Nasrin Azari
Description: Floodlight Software provides a data- and process-management platform for non-destructive testing inspection companies, allowing them to run their businesses and keep track of everything in one place.
In GrepBeat: Floodlight Software Shines Light On Weaknesses In Physical Infrastructure (Feb. 18, 2020)
HQ: Durham
CEO: Alex Krawchick
Description: Klearly is a SaaS-based platform for B2B companies that gives customers a recommended “prescription” for the ideal combination of activities that influence winning new business—and keeping it.
In GrepBeat: Klearly Analytics Helps Businesses Better Map Their Marketing Efforts (Jan. 17, 2019)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Matthew Sniff
Description: Map My Customers allows sales representatives to optimize their routes and better manage their territory by providing a geo-spatial productivity tool.
In GrepBeat: Map My Customers Optimizes Routes For Salespeople In The Field (Aug. 6, 2019)
HQ: Chapel Hill
CEO: Tom Rump
Description: mesur.io is a real-time environmental analytics startup. Its Earthstream platform offers hyper-local data about soil, weather, pests and disease patterns so that farmers can save money and protect natural resources.
In GrepBeat: Chapel Hill’s mesur.io Mines Dirt For Data (Feb. 19, 2019)
HQ: Wake Forest
CEO: Joseph Koziak
Description: Revibe Technologies is the company behind a focus-tracking watch that provides discreet reminders to keep users on task.
In GrepBeat: Revibe Technologies Has One Focus: Keeping Everyone On Task (Feb. 7, 2019)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Ivan Barajas Vargas
Description: MuukTest uses AI to keep developers focused on building products, not testing them. The platform is able to test applications within minutes, instead of days.
In GrepBeat: MuukTest Allows Developers To Focus On Building Products, Not Testing Them (Aug. 15, 2019)
HQ: Durham
CEO: Sue Mecham
Description: NALA is hoping to combat the global water crisis with reverse osmosis membranes to purify water. These new membranes from NALA are ultimately more cost-efficient as well.
In GrepBeat: The Matriarchy Behind NALA Systems Is Cleaning Up Water Purification (June 9, 2020)
HQ: Durham
CEO: Jordan Phasey
Description: Phinite takes hog waste out of lagoons and into its heavily automated drying facilities, which transform the waste in just over six weeks into a phosphorus-based fertilizer that can be used by farmers.
In GrepBeat: Phinite Turns Hog Waste Into Something More Valuable Than Gold: Phosphorus
HQ: Apex
CEO: Eric Murray
Description: ProAxion sells hardware sensors and a subscription service for industrial customers to monitor their heavy machinery. ProAxion then alerts the facilities whenever there is a problem with one of the machines.
In GrepBeat: ProAxion Brings Sensitivity To The Industrial World (Feb. 12, 2019)
HQ: Cary
CEO: Brandon Stevens
Description: Through its platform, Scoutr connects job candidates with employers through bias-free matching algorithms, skill and culture-fit assessments and more.
In GrepBeat: Scoutr Transforms Hiring Process With Job Match Algorithm (July 18, 2019)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Hal Aldridge
Description: Secmation provides engineering and tech tools to add information security to new and existing products. Specializing in emerging security applications not well-served by traditional IT solutions, Secmation aims to demystify security design and keep product teams focused on the success of their products.
In GrepBeat: Robotics and Cybersecurity Meet Their Match With Raleigh-Based Secmation (March 18, 2021)
HQ: RTP
CEO: Shane Hand
Description: SoilMetrix’s technology enables farmers to boost productivity and profitability by using machine learning to predict soil nutrients. SoilMetrix’s digital augmentation tool complements physical soil sampling with virtual soil sampling.
In GrepBeat: SoilMetrix’s Digital Tools Boost Crop Productivity While Guarding Environment (Sept. 17, 2020)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Lauri Elliott (Chief Enterprising Officer)
Description: Spherio, launched under the startup Datos, is a distributed data ecosystem that includes physical and digital infrastructure to increase data-collection capabilities in rural and remote regions that lack broadband access.
In GrepBeat: Datos Brings Infrastructure To Support Data-Driven Decisions To Rural Africa (Nov. 9, 2021)
HQ: Apex
Co-Founders: Keval McNamara and Justin McCarthy
Description: On a quest to save lives, Stitch Partners created technology that filters air to remove smoke. It also can potentially eliminate Covid-19 in the air.
In GrepBeat: Stitch Partners Filters Deadly Smoke—And Maybe The Novel Coronavirus, Too (Jan. 14, 2021)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Yasin Abbak
Description: Characterized as a “Groupon but for independently owned businesses,” The Convoy is a B2B startup that leverages the combined buying power of small businesses to connect them to vendors and deals.
In GrepBeat: Deal or No Deal: The Convoy Helps Small Businesses Secure Supplies For Less (Nov. 28, 2021); The Convoy Launches B2B Marketplace For SMBs After Successful $1M Fundraise (Jan. 26, 2022)
HQ: Holly Springs
CEO: Kathryn Dunn
Description: The Nurtured Nest offers new parents classes to navigate the stresses of learning how to take care of children. Topics in the past include labor and childbirth, nursing, picky eating, feeding solid food to infants and even introducing tech to toddlers.
In GrepBeat: The Nurtured Nest’s Online Classes Provide Parents With A Helping Hand (Oct. 21, 2021)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Brandon Kashani
Description: TraKid engages children in family-friendly interactive expeditions through zoos and amusement parks.
In GrepBeat: Raleigh-based TraKid Helps Parents Keep Sight Of Kids In Amusement Parks (June 16, 2020)
HQ: Apex
CEO: Mark Hinkle
Description: TriggerMesh’s integration platform allows developers to build event-driven architecture and cloud-native applications to automate the process of syncing data across cloud services.
In GrepBeat: Apex-Based TriggerMesh Paves The Future For Cloud-Native Integration (Dec. 21, 2021)
HQ: Raleigh
CEO: Booth Kalmbach
Description: Trilliott is a software company that incorporates RFID, using an Internet of Things hardware sensor that can be embedded into nearly anything. By utilizing this technology, Trilliott seeks to maintain accuracy throughout the supply chain process.
In GrepBeat: Keeping Track: Trilliott’s RFID Sensors Help Fix Broken Supply Chains (Jan. 27, 2022)
HQ: Cary
CEO: Jarrod Overson
Description: Vino’s application platform stitches together WebAssembly building blocks into full applications that run anywhere. From its platform, Vino hopes to lower the barriers of entry into tech entrepreneurship and make software more accessible to everyone.
In GrepBeat: Vino Allows You To “Build Silicon Valley Companies Without Silicon Valley Capital” (July 8, 2021)
