Category: News
-
Call for Startups to Join DIG SOUTH Wild Pitch Open + Pensa (Austin), Motivo (ATL), Allstacks (RAL), CloudFactory (DUR)
Hitting the fundraising trail in 2020? Your best opportunity may be at the South’s Capitol of Capital on April 24. The call for startups to join Wild Pitch at DIG SOUTH Tech Summit in Charleston is now open! Connect with more than 200 top-shelf investors, 2200+ attendees and get deals done. Selected teams will receive 2 all-access badges (plus…
-
Tech in the South: Meetup w/ Former Head of Uber Biz Dev, Nashville Startup Predicts Personalities + Climate Service (AVL), CloudFactory (Durham), Popmenu (ATL), Base (GVL)
Jonathan DiOrio is a big deal. And we’re hosting him this Thursday at Blue Ion in Charleston. It’s our last DIG NATION Executive Member event of 2019 – you should be there too. Learn to scale a company like mad, join a live taping of South Pod and enjoy tasty bites and adult beverages. This is just one of the…
-
OjO Electric Announces Acquisition of Charleston-Based E-Mobility Company, Gotcha
Oxnard, California and Vancouver, British Columbia – November 19, 2019 – OjO Electric Corp. (the “Company” or “OjO”) (TSXV: OJO; OTC: AZNVF) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding letter of intent (the “LOI”) with Gotcha Mobility, LLC (“Gotcha”) pursuant to which OjO will acquire 100% of the equity of Gotcha (the “Acquisition”) in a transformational combination…
-
Tech in the South: Gotcha (CHS) Acquired by OjO (CA) + Champ Bailey, Spreedly (Durham), Givful (Nashville), Popmenu (ATL), BrewBike (Austin)
Charleston firm Gotcha, who has staked its ground on partnering with colleges and cities to rent electric bikes and scooters, says it is being acquired by Oxnard, Calif.-based ride-sharing company OjO Electric in a deal valued at $12 million, including stock. Gotcha CEO Sean Flood said the fact that OjO is publicly traded appealed to him.…
-
Tech in the South: eSports Giant Epic Games (Durham) Acquires Quixel to Increase 3D Realism + Benefitfocus (CHS), Spiffy (RAL-DUR), Transitiv (ATL), DEVCON (Memphis)
North Carolina-based eSports behemoth Epic Games, best known for its wildly popular game Fortnite as well as the global game development platform Unreal Engine, has announced its acquisition of the Swedish startup Quixel. The move is designed to improve the three-dimensional photorealism of Epic Games’ graphics. Quixel is renowned for its creation of Megascans, one of the world’s…
-
Tech in the South: ATL Bootstrapped Startup LeaseQuery Raises $40M Series A + Broadcom MASTERS (DC), Beachy (Nashville), SXSW Pitch (Austin), Klearly (Durham)
Lease accounting startup LeaseQuery has raised a $40 million Series A funding round through Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division. The Atlanta company is pursuing outside capital for the first time after remaining bootstrapped since it was founded in 2011. “We are now at a stage where the demand for our software is accelerating and this…
-
Tech in the South: Calling All Asheville Entrepreneurs – Applications Now Open for Venture 15 + Tickets for VA Honors on Sale
Good on Asheville for celebrating their entrepreneurs! The Venture 15 awards the 15 fastest-growing Asheville-area startups as determined by compounded annual growth rates. This event recognizes the area’s outstanding entrepreneurs, and serves as an elite setting where they can share their talent and wisdom as well as offer inspiration to other fledgling companies to be…
-
Tech in the South: Rise of the Rest (DC) Closes $150M Fund + Ribbon (Charlotte), Backed by ATL, Silbo (Raleigh), Digital Echo (CHS)
Revolution announced Monday that its Rise of the Rest Seed Fund has raised another $150 million in financing to back startups in emerging U.S. markets. Rise of the Rest counts some of the country’s most well-known executives and entrepreneurs among its investors. The list includes Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans, the…
-
Accelerate R2 Network Challenge
(WASHINGTON, DC) Three U.S. Department of Commerce agencies have launched a first-of-its-kind interagency challenge focused on accelerating innovations for disaster response and resilience technology. The Economic Development Administration (EDA), in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority), today announced the Accelerate R2 Network Challenge. The program is a $1 million grant…
-
Tech in the South: Revel Launches 1000 Mopeds in Austin + Engage Talent Acquired (CHS), Talented (Durham), PureSurgery (Charlotte), Viibrant (Carrboro)
???? AUSTIN – Mobilizing. Who doesn’t love the quiet buzz of an electric motor as you wind your way down a hip city street? Mopeds have been part of Austin traffic for years, but a new fleet of shared electric mopeds is about to hit city streets and make the mode of transpo a lot more visible. New York-based shared electric…
-
Tech in the South: Wilmington Unicorn nCino Goes Big in Japan + Tesla (ATL), PetScreening (CLT), Zello (Austin), Celero (Nashville)
nCino is going big in Japan, taking its cloud computing-based financial system into new territory by forming a subsidiary with Tokyo-based Japan Cloud. The deal to begin operations in Japan is the latest in a series of growth announcements from nCino, which closed on $80 million in new investment capital earlier this month and is…
-
Tech in the South: Charleston-based Benefitfocus Announces InnovationPlace + Literati (Austin), SignalPath (Raleigh), 410 Medical (Durham), Boaz Bikes (ATL/Dallas)
Benefitfocus, Inc., a leading cloud-based consumer benefits platform and services provider, announced applications are open for the company’s next supplier cohort within InnovationPlace. InnovationPlace, the company’s program for potential partner startups, is designed to accelerate the availability of products or services of innovative companies who share the company’s goal to improve consumer well-being. “We are…
-
Tech in the South: Raleigh Unicorn Pendo Raises $100M + Ekos (Charlotte), Verady (ATL), Blackbaud (CHS) & Leyline (Durham)
Cloud tech startup Pendo is officially a “unicorn,” hitting the rarified $1 billion valuation mark after securing $100 million in its most recent round of funding. It’s not entirely unexpected that Pendo is a unicorn, a term that dates to 2007 and is used to define a tech startup still privately held that reaches a valuation…
-
Tech in the South: RigUp, Papa, WeWork, Cadre
???? AUSTIN – Exponential growth. RigUp, which has quietly built one of the fastest-growing and best-funded startups in Austin, announced a $300 million funding round — a move that puts the company in a relatively exclusive club of tech unicorns that are valued at over a billion dollars. While RigUp is largely known for success in the oil…
-
TennesSeed Fund, a New Evergreen Seed-stage Venture Capital Fund, Seeks to Invest in Tennessee Startups
The TennesSeed Fund, an evergreen, seed-stage, proof-of-concept venture capital fund has launched to invest in companies throughout Tennessee. The Fund is managed by TennesSeed Partners, which is a collaboration of Three Roots Capital, Meritus Capital, and Innova Memphis, Inc. To date, the Fund has made three investments in Active Energy Systems (Oak Ridge), Entac Medical (Memphis) and…
-
Tech in the South: Teamworks, SparkCognition, Resy, Embold Health, Eleanor’s Place
DURHAM, NC – Teamworks, which develops software for athletic institutions, is partnering with an Birmingham-based firm to deliver more software as a service (Saas) solutions to athletes around the world. The Durham-based startup announced that it is investing in INFLCR, a software platform for sports teams to store, track and deliver photo and video content to…
-
Tech in the South: Diligent Robotics, Confirmation.com, TopCourt, Natalist, SaaSOptics
AUSTIN – Robotics innovation. For two-plus years, Diligent Robotics co-founders Andrea Thomaz and Vivian Chu have been developing, testing and iterating on what may look like a simple idea — bringing robotic assistants to hospitals to help nurses with routine chores. Now, the Austin startup is ready to commercially launch its robot, named Moxi, starting with…
-
New Partnership Unites SC Businesses with Exceptional Needs Students Through State Tax Credit Programs
Exceptional SC and the South Carolina Research Authority announced Wednesday the formation of Exceptional Connections – a business-education partnership that unites South Carolina’s business community with more than 3,000 exceptional needs scholarship students and schools across the state. At a formal announcement at the SC Governor’s mansion, Gov. Henry McMaster said of the partnership, “The…
-
Tech in the South: nCino, Cox Cleantech, Cloosiv, Threatcare
???? WILMINGTON – Regulatory compliance. nCino’s meteoric rise continues with the cloud banking software startup raising a whooping $80 million in equity, according to an SEC filing. Led by James (Chip) Mahan III, the CEO of Live Oak Bancshares Inc., his team set out to start nCino to develop a secure cloud-based solution that would enable banks to increase…
-
From the Ivory Tower to a Scrappy Startup: Natalist Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Liz Kane on Bringing a New Fertility Brand to Market
Q: Tell us a bit about Natalist. A: Natalist is a woman-founded startup seeking to change the path to parenthood. We make products and resources inspired by beauty and backed by science. Our flagship product is the Get Pregnant Bundle, which contains everything you need to start trying to conceive: prenatal vitamins, ovulation tests, pregnancy…
-
Charles Towne Holdings Announces Strategic Investment in the Firm and High-Profile Additions to the Team
Charles Towne Holdings (“CTH”), an investment banking, capital markets and advisory services firm focused on the middle market, has closed on a strategic investment from several prominent industry executives including, Harvey Schiller, the former Chairman of the Yankees/Nets, CEO of the US Olympic Committee and President of Turner Sports; Jim Pallotta, former Vice Chair of Tudor…
-
Gotcha Listed on Inc. Magazine’s Annual List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies
Gotcha announced today it has been ranked number 277 on Inc.magazine’s 38thannual list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. This is the second consecutive year Gotcha has made the prestigious Inc. 5000 list. The list provides a unique look at the American economy’s most successful companies, and its most dynamic segment—independent small businesses. Gotcha was evaluated on…
-
When Two Worlds Collide: A CEOs View from Inside the Acquisition
DIG SOUTH caught up this week with Joe Floyd, CEO and founder of InsureSign, hot on the heels of the company’s acquisition by Formstack (a past DIG SOUTH Tech Summit sponsor and speaker). Floyd launched the super-simple, e-signature solution in 2012 after working for nearly 20 years in the insurance industry. Today, InsureSign is trusted…
-
Revamping the Travel Experience Using Recommendations: Q&A with Landon Sanford, CEO, Rayka
Along his journeys, traveling enthusiast Landon Sanford often found standard review platforms uninspired, inaccurate or worse. To solve the problem he founded Rayka, a travel app that utilizes personal recommendations rather than anonymous online reviews to enhance travel experiences. Sanford founded Rayka following graduation from Vanderbilt in 2017. He has since expanded the team to…
