It’s that time of year again. CED’s Venture Connect 2026 takes place early next week, and once again Team GargBoin (see AI’s artistic mastery at the bottom of last year’s recap to understand reference) is here with a primer on the conference—and specifically, some of the startups that will be taking the stage March 24-25.
Before we get into it, I’ll note that CED needs no help laying out the agenda for VC26. The event site has a thorough rundown of all the action to come, from Monday kickoff events around Durham to full slates of speaker segments, interactive workshops, themed startup pitch sessions, and more at the Durham Performing Arts Center (and connected steak-centric venues). And hey, look at that, there’s even a GrepBeat Happy Hour celebrating the first full day on Tuesday evening!
What we’ve made something of an annual tradition out of, however, is helping prospective attendees get to know some of the presenting startups heading into the event.
As you know if you’re a regular GrepBeat reader, our coverage typically excludes biotech/life sciences companies, and there are plenty of exciting ones presenting at VC26. Beyond those categories, though, here’s a look at past GrepBeat coverage of some of the conference-bound tech startups we’ve written about, should you be curious to learn more about any of them either in advance of or following their presentations.
- Afuse
- Anatra
- Artemis Immersive
- Atlantic Fish Co.
- AxNano
- Beam Dynamics
- Blue Sky Robotics
- CareHome Health Solutions
- Citrus Oncology
- Coprata
- Coworks
- Druid
- Home Dock
- Jobvious
- Meridian
- Mindr
- NALA Membranes
- Nearby Nearby
- Onda Vision Technologies, Inc.
- Ooga Technologies
- Path Intelligence
- Reap AI
- Roboro
- Scale Social AI
- SenterMe
- SonoVoice
- Squadies
- Sunlight
- Theralinq
- Trinitite
- Valuable
- Windlift
You can also find interviews with a many of the founders presenting at Venture Connect on a number of past episodes of The GrepBeat Podcast.
- Adam Schultz of Mindr
- Charlotte Louis of SenterMe
- DeShawn Brown of Coworks
- James Gieszelmann of Roboro
- Rob Creighton of Windlift
- Runbin Dong of Scale Social AI
- Ryan O’Donnell of Sunlight
- Sue Mecham of NALA Membranes
Finally, keep an eye out in the coming weeks for pending GrepBeat features on additional presenting startups including (but not limited to!) the following:
- Carolina Instruments
- DayOf
- Futureproof
- Genesis 1 Technologies LLC
- Swik AI
- Utilyst
We hope this is a helpful resource as you gear up for Venture Connect 2026. And again, for a full list of the startups (including those life sciences and biotech companies we cover less frequently), check out CED’s company directory for the event, complete with descriptions of each startup that will take the stage.
