Last week, startups from around North Carolina and much of the Southeast more broadly descended on Winston-Salem for the 10th iteration of the ConvergeSouth conference (powered by Flywheel). Teams from more than 60 startups were present, to be exact—along with a crowd of investors, advisors, support organization folks, and, of course, the team from GrepBeat.
Day 1
On Thursday morning, Flywheel Foundation board member Josh McGee (also Sauce Boss of the Y’all Company) welcomed the crowd to the Biotech Place in Winston-Salem. Following opening remarks, attendees were able to roam about the atrium visiting participating startup teams at their exhibitor tables. This gave the participating startups a great chance to share their work and forge connections.
At 10:00 AM, startups began to rotate through breakout room pitch sessions that would continue throughout the first day. Companies were grouped into the following categories:
- B2B Saas, AI: Aapya Solutions / Agenda Keeper / ARMAI Technologies / Boom AI / Futureproof / Go Fig / Iguana Cyber / Msg2ai / Panache AI Consulting / Parks Automation / Majentics / Razored Technologies / RespexTech / ServeScape / Shouldrs / Solvrays / SupplyRLink / Tulsi Cybersecurity / Tada AI / Meridian Performance Systems / Root / Salus CM / Scale Social AI / Touio
- CPG, Agtech, Food & Bev: Airguard LLC / Connection Technology Inc. / DEXIT / Framer / Mira Innovations
- Healthtech, Biotech, Edtech: Elroi / Anytime Telecare / AxNano / CareFi / CareHome Health Solutions / Edulis Therapeutics / EMRAY / Free to Feed / mPATH Health / nanXPure / Nova Vita Laboratories / OTTER Reading / Plakous Therapeutics / Pump for Joy / Quit Kit / Score Pharma / Tessefi Medical Solutions / Theralinq / Keep Good / Lavni / Mini City / Navigating Grey / Wave Rideshare and Delivery
- B2C, Agtech, Social Impact: Nearby Nearby / Pod Farms / Sideline Education / STEMZ / Summer Sanity / Tech Pet IQ / Value-Driven Strategic Consulting / Walksy / Williamson Mead and Brewing / ZoraSafe
In between pitch sessions, there were office hours and multiple keynote addresses. First, LongRun Solutions Co-Founders Matt Waterman and Jay Turner spoke on the topic of “Supercharging Your Value Creation Engine.” Then, Front Porch Ventures Co-Founder Joe Mancini presented his company’s “Southeast Venture Pulse Survey” (winning over yours truly by advising founders to avoid “subject, verb, AI” pitches).
Thursday’s agenda wrapped up with a reception at nearby Incendiary Brewing, where attendees drenched from a downpour (see GrepBeat Cesar and GrepBeat Melissa in the slideshow below) were warmed by well-earned beverages, delicious pizza, and the warm crackle of continued networking.
Day 2
The Friday agenda at ConvergeSouth commenced with another keynote address—this one by Bureau of Creative Intelligence Founder and CEO Vincent Hunt on “Rethinking Leadership in the Age of AI.”
This address was followed by pitches in the main auditorium from the five winners of Flywheel’s 2025 Health Equity Innovation Challenge (HEIC). Those five startups Navigating Grey, Freeze Out Hunger, Mini City, Lavni, and Wave Rideshare and Delivery.
The HEIC pitches were immediately followed by what ConvergeSouth dubs the “Title Round Pitches,” featuring five startups selected by judges to essentially advance from the Day 1 pitches. The 2025 finalists and winner—who received $50,000 in software services—were as follows:
- Score Pharma
- Salus CM
- Scale Social AI
- Tessefi Medical Solutions (🥇)
- Theralinq
Following this title round, the conference consisted largely of sessions designed to benefit founders, including one-on-one investor meetings and corporate matchmaker sessions. After lunch, NextGEN Executive Director Eric Weissmann put a bow on the conference with a closing keynote on “Characteristics of Healthy Entrepreneurship Ecosystems.”
All in all, the event did well to uplift area startups, giving them a platform not only to pitch, but to interact with relevant professionals from around the ecosystem.
“It’s been really great,” said Flywheel Foundation Executive Director Jill Atherton. “We were excited about the turnout and the different startups that were here.” Jill added that this was the first time in 10 years of ConvergeSouth that all exhibiting startups had the opportunity to pitch.
If you missed the conference or just feel like reliving the action, check out some photos below.
