Grep-a-Palooza 2026 is just around the corner!
This year’s one-day conference will take place at the Durham Convention Center on June 4th and will run from registration at 8:30am through a Bull McCabe’s happy hour at 5:00pm (ending at 7:00pm).
If you haven’t yet, you can still get your tickets at regular pricing through Sunday, May 31st. For a clear picture of what you’re buying tickets for, meanwhile, look below for a preview of the agenda we’ve put together.
(We also encourage you to visit our Grep-a-Palooza website to see the full event timeline and additional information.)
This year, Grep-a-Palooza will be comprised of five types of programming: fireside chats with startup leaders; panel discussions on founder-oriented topics; a $5K pitch competition; designated networking time; and our brand new Startup Bazaar.
None of it would be coming together without support from our sponsors: Launch Chapel Hill Powered by KPMG, Dean Dorton, EisnerAmper, Hutchison PLLC, NC IDEA Engage, Robinson Bradshaw, Insperity, NCInnovation, NC State I&E, SBTDC, and WalkWest.
Fireside Chats
There will be two fireside chat sessions in the main ballroom at Grep-a-Palooza:
- “Building Robots While The Rest Chase Software” featuring Lucid Bots Founder and CEO Andrew Ashur in conversation with Good Human Partners Co-Founder Chris Halligan
- “From Building Big to Starting Fresh” featuring Ariso (and JupiterOne) Founder and CEO Erkang Zheng in conversation with DaVinci Education Founder Allison Wood
Panel Discussions
There will also be two panel discussions taking place in our breakout room (one in the morning and one in the afternoon):
- In “The Founder Brand Playbook,” you’ll hear about the specific tactics behind and benefits of building a distinct personal and business brand as a modern founder. Abha Bowers of CED will moderate, with Runbin Dong (Scale Social), Jessica Mitsch Holmes (Vaco), and Ricci Wolman (Written Word Media) on the panel.
- In “State of Venture Fundraising: Founder Perspective,” you’ll hear updated thoughts on the current landscape for fundraising—but you’ll hear it straight from founders who have raised recently. Anna Tharrington of Hutchison PLLC will moderate, with Lucy Shores Kosturko (Social Cascade), Robin Cowie (Skillmaker AI), and Isaac Park (Keebler Health) on the panel.
$5K Pitch Competition
We recently put out a piece dedicated specifically to this year’s Grep-a-Palooza pitch competition, which you can see here. To recap briefly, we have 15 startups competing throughout the day for a chance at $5,000 in cash. The competition will be divided into three sessions (five startups each), and each founder will have 10 minutes on stage. That time is split between presentation and Q&A with our investor judges.
Each session’s judges will select a finalist from their session alone. To close out the day, the audience will then decide on an overall winner from among the three finalists.
Pitching startups will be: Utilyst, Rozie Synopsis, Shuttlebee, PROTECT3D, Voice Back, Beam Dynamics, ARtx, Tesslate, Fixxr, Beakpoint, Swik AI, Solvrays, Reslink, GreySun Technologies, and NavAlytix
Our esteemed investor-judges will be: Jan Davis (RTP Angel Fund), Zakiya Alta Lee (formerly IDEA Fund), Abby Phillips (Wolfpack Investor Network), Nikin Shah (Front Porch Venture Partners), Jenn Summe (Primordial Ventures), and Leah Townsend (Cofounders Capital).
Startup Bazaar
This is another aspect of the program we’ve previewed on its own. But the gist is that it will be our twist on an expo space. We’ve gathered together an extremely fun collection of startups from across North Carolina to present their technology in tangible ways. Wandering through the Bazaar, you’ll see robots, try VR demos, enjoy simulated services, improve your putting, clone your voice, measure the air quality of the Bazaar itself, and even sample some ghee, because why not.
Plus we’ll have a bunch of quirky décor that takes you out of the “conference space” vibe a bit.
The startups comprising the Bazaar space are: Artemis Immersive, Blue Sky Robotics, Meridian Performance Systems, Skillmaker.AI, Voice Back, PROTECT3D, CN-Seamless, CivicReach, Sustaera, Ver Coaching, Genesis 1 Technologies, Brilliant Wear, Lucid Bots, Social Cascade, Ghee Guy, and Bingo Bard.
Networking Time
We know every conference is an opportunity for networking. This year we’ve massaged the agenda a little bit to free up more time for meeting and connecting. Between a half hour for coffee in the morning, our “Birds of a Feather” (aka program-free) lunch, free space to mingle while the Bazaar is open, and a happy (two) hour(s), you can network so much you’ll feel like LinkedIn has come to life. (Please still come to the conference despite what I just wrote.)
We’re excited to share it all with you!
Browse the agenda (with times and specifics) and lineup (with all speakers and participating companies) here.
