Raleigh-based software company Instantiations may not be a startup, but it would like to act like a successful startup in one key way—by scaling rapidly. That’s why it’s participating in the Summer 2023 cohort of the RIoT Accelerator Program (RAP). [Note: Other companies we have previously profiled in RAP’s summer cohort include Varsity Bridge, Bid the Beat, and Open Plains].
Instantiations has been around in some form since 1988. In 2010, the initial version of the company was acquired by Google for its Java-based products, folding them into Google’s offering. But part of the team stayed independent—keeping some products and the company name—giving rise to the 2.0 version of Instantiations.
Seth Berman, the current President and CEO of Instantiations, has worked at the company since 2011 and has held his current titles since 2017. He is leading his team through the 12-week RAP program.
Berman’s goals during RAP are networking to build relationships in the Triangle’s startup community and to gain knowledge on how to scale the company successfully.
“We are preparing the company for rapid growth, so we want to make sure we are prepared for that,” he said.
Instantiations is a B2B software development company that works with many businesses that use legacy systems, or (arguably) outdated software systems. While changing from a legacy system to a modern one can certainly be a viable strategy, this is not the case for every company, Berman said. This is because sometimes legacy systems can often still fulfill the organizational needs of a company.
“Legacy has this negative connotation as meaning ‘old,'” he said.
Instantiations offers clients its VAST Platform, which is a set of software tools that developers use to make their own software, Berman said.
With over 100 customers, including both small shops and Fortune 100 companies, Instantiations works with Honda, AT&T, IBM, Progressive, and many others.
Instantiations uses a developer revenue model and has nearly 20 employees, but is preparing to increase this number drastically after concluding RAP.
“We want to help other local startups with our insights from being a business for 30 years and, of course, most assuredly get some good insights from them too,” Berman said.
