GrepBeat capped off the first day of the Center for Entrepreneurial Development’s Venture Connect Summit with a packed-to-the-gills Founders Happy Hour last night at Flying Saucer Draught Emporium in Raleigh.
The capacity crowd was treated to their first drink free by our generous sponsors, Fourscore Business Law and Big Pixel.
The first day of the Summit typically concludes with an investor-only dinner. But in previous years, there has not been an alternative option for founders and other non-investors to mingle together immediately after the event. And the numbers last night conveyed people’s want and need for this option.
We were incredibly grateful and glad to see so many friendly new and familiar faces at the mixer—most hailing from our home in the Triangle, but many as well from Wilmington, Charlotte, Asheville and even Greenville, South Carolina.
Sydney Cooke is the Startup Community Engagement Manager at NextGEN, a budding entrepreneurial support organization striving to connect, educate and promote entrepreneurs based in SC. While she’s focused on ventures outside of our state, she said that she’s inspired by what the entrepreneurial community in NC has done and she will definitely be taking what she’s learned from our fast-growing ecosystem back down south.
Venture Connect continues through the end of Thursday. Check the schedule for all the details.
Here are some pictures from yesterday’s event. Enjoy!
