On Thursday night, GrepBeat hosted its inaugural “Rising Stars” event at the 21c Hotel in Downtown Durham (roughly 176 Joe Colopys away from the GrepBeat HQ, if he were to lay down as a unit of measurement). A festive crowd of founders, support organization folks, sponsors, and more joined us to celebrate some of the most impactful individuals working to advance the Triangle and Wilmington startup communities.
Those individuals—our inaugural class of 10 “Rising Stars”—were selected from a pool of right around 100 total nominations. Selections were made by our Year 1 panel of five judges, at least four of whom are esteemed:
- Tim Scales — Extremely recently of American Underground Executive Directorhood
- Heather McWhorter — Director of UNCW CIE
- Tom Snyder — Executive Director of RIoT
- Preet Mankad — Startup Programs Lead at CED
- David Schwartz — Editor at GrepBeat
Before we get to the Rising Stars themselves, it must be noted that we would not have been able to put on this new event without two things in particular: engagement from the community and support from our sponsors. A heartfelt thank-you from the GrepBeat team goes out to all of you who nominated potential Rising Stars, as well as to our event sponsors: Whitley Recruiting, Hutchison PLLC, and NC IDEA Engage.
And now: GrepBeat’s 2025 Rising Stars!
⭐️ Rachael Newberry (Program Director at RIoT)
(Just Some) Rising Star Qualities:
- Launching programs to help startups access mentorship and accelerate scaling.
- In the words of one nominator, “hashtag-ecosystem’ing all over the place.”
- Nominated by roughly 1/27th of the Triangle population.
⭐️ Zakiya Alta Lee (Senior Associate at IDEA Fund Partners; Nestment board observer)
(Just Some) Rising Star Qualities:
- A powerhouse in venture capital and entrepreneurship.
- Shows passion for empowering others (even when discussing what it was like to receive her award after the fact).
- Uses lecture appearances and mentorship roles to pass invaluable insights along to those who need them.
⭐️ Jose Alvarez (Vice President at Prospera USA)
(Just Some) Rising Star Qualities:
- Provides educational and consulting services for entrepreneurs across much of the state.
- Runs in-language and in-culture seminars for Hispanic entrepreneur communities.
- Has improved access to capital for the state’s Latino entrepreneurs.
⭐️ Jack Fleming (Founder and CEO of Phrayz; 1 Million Cups lead organizer)
(Just Some) Rising Star Qualities:
- Startup founder who still finds time to prioritize others within his startup community.
- Organizes a weekly gathering for startup- and business-related presentations at UNCW CIE
- Already a “Rising Star” (according to Wilmington Biz).
⭐️ Nannette Stangle-Castor (Founder of IVT; UNCW CIE mentor)
(Just Some) Rising Star Qualities:
- Angel investor and mentor to startups.
- Has used multiple roles in multiple organizations to steer young ventures toward success.
- Gives back to emerging student entrepreneurs through UNCW CIE.
⭐️ Rebekah Gregg (Director of Cary Founded)
(Just Some) Rising Star Qualities:
- Has worked with both Raleigh and Cary Founded to support the Triangle community.
- Uses event organization and marketing to shed light on the Cary startup community.
- Founded a newsletter to bring attention to Cary businesses.
⭐️ Chip Kennedy (Founder of CivicReach AI; Triangle Tech Night organizer)
(Just Some) Rising Star Qualities:
- Startup founder who still finds time to prioritize others within his startup community.
- Affable fellow.
- Co-organizes “Triangle Tech Night.”
⭐️ Jenn Summe (Partner at Primordial Ventures; LiLa founding member)
(Just Some) Rising Star Qualities:
- Describes herself as a “startup junkie.”
- Tirelessly participates in startup/tech events throughout the Triangle, as what we recently termed a “work socialite.”
- Formed Ladies Investing / Local Angels (aka LiLa).
⭐️ Lydia Thomas (Program Manager at UNCW CIE)
(Just Some) Rising Star Qualities:
- Launched an accelerator and oversaw two separate founder cohorts (one for women in tech, one for blue- and climate-tech).
- Created the Wilmington Founders Roundtable.
- Organized the UNCW CIE Ocean Innovation Conference.
⭐️ JP Maloney (Startup Programs Lead at CED; Triangle Tech Night organizer)
(Just Some) Rising Star Qualities:
- Aptly described by a nominator as a “connector with a give-first mentality.”
- Has worked with multiple organizations dedicated to startup support.
- Co-organizes “Triangle Tech Night.”
Congratulations one more time to this inaugural class of Rising Stars!
Please enjoy a slideshow of photos from the event below!
