Category: News
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From Tech to Food & Bev, These Are the Newest Startups Accelerating in Charleston
The Harbor Accelerator Program is fostering the newest scalable startups in Charleston, South Carolina this fall. Now in its third year, the 14-week accelerator connects Southeastern startups to mentorship, weekly classes, free co-working space, investor introductions and pitch opportunities. Three notable past participants who each won DIG SOUTH’s Wild Pitch competition include female-founded IoT startup Dynepic, Scholarship System,…
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Global Fintech Startups Are Banking On Charlotte This Fall
Looking for the latest in financial technology? Forget the suit and the trip to Wall Street. Charlotte, North Carolina is the second-largest banking center in the US, just after New York. The city plays home to major financial institutions like Bank of America and Wells Fargo Securities, as well as high-growth, venture-backed fintech companies like…
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This Female Entrepreneur is Bringing Socially-Conscious Business to Charleston, One Salad at a Time
What if your lunchtime salad could support a nearby farmer, fuel a local composting business, and teach a college kid how to balance the books? Jennifer Ferrebee will make you one that can. She co-owns Verde, a healthy, made-to-order restaurant chain with her husband, Sam. The duo is doing more than just slinging daily greens;…
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Why Charleston-Based Accountfully is Cashing in on Nashville
Charleston-based Accountfully is putting on their cowboy boots and heading to Music City! The fully outsourced accounting firm will open a new office at Industrious’ Nashville–Gulch space this October to accommodate the rapid growth they’ve experienced since launching in Charleston five years ago. It’s a move that makes sense considering their target market: small business…
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Power Up with These 8 Southern Solar Innovators
This week’s Total Eclipse has us nerding out on all things solar. The solar power industry is ripe for disruption; pair the big utilities landscape with a need to improve efficiency, access, and affordability, and you have an innovative entrepreneur’s dream landscape. Plus, as solar energy becomes cheaper, new startup opportunities increase. According to the…
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Are the Carolinas Leading the Next Industrial Revolution?
This is the first in a series of posts by Tom Snyder, Executive Director of RIoT, which brings together technologists, engineers, business leaders, academics, policy makers, and entrepreneurs, to capture and create Internet of Things opportunities across the region. Historians point to three times that technology advancements have fundamentally changed societal quality of life and the…
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Hit the Books: Southern Universities Play a New Role as Venture Capitalists
An increasing number of Southern universities are forming venture capital funds, and if you consider the basic ingredients for successful venture investing — innovation, capital and entrepreneurship — it makes sense. Universities have become a key source of applied research and innovation in recent years, reflecting the priorities of their primary bankroller – the federal government.…
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Learn to Code at These 10 Southern Bootcamps
Last week, Greenville, SC-based programming school The Iron Yard announced plans to shutter operations after its summer courses wrap up. The news came as a bit of a surprise to folks who have followed their success. Since launching in 2013, the Iron Yard became one of the nation’s largest coding bootcamps, counting 15 campuses (including…
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K4Connect Teams Up With Garmin to Revolutionize Senior Living Community Wellness
According to a recent report from AARP, “Building a Better Tracker: Older Consumers Weigh In on Activity and Sleep Monitoring Devices,” older adults are highly interested in using technology to help them track and improve their own health. In fact, over 75 percent of participants in the study reported activity and sleep trackers to be…
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How StartOut Austin Empowers LGBTQ Entrepreneurs
LGBTQ entrepreneurs in Austin, Texas can tap into a growing support system thanks to StartOut, a non-profit that provides access to capital, mentorship and education to empower LGBTQ business leaders. The organization has six chapters across the country and counts 15,000 members in its national network. Last year, its Austin chapter became the birthplace of…
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How Ceterus snagged $10.2 million from Southern VCs in just one year
Since taking the stage at DIG SOUTH’s Wild Pitch in April, Charleston-based Ceterus has raised $6 million, bringing their total funding to $10.2 million in just over a year. Their impressive success hasn’t stopped there — the automated bookkeeping platform has quadrupled in size (their 100th employee joined the team in June) and tripled their…
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Could Atlanta be the New Hollywood? According to TERMINUS Festival, the Answer is Yes.
If you’re into movies, gaming, and interactive media, you probably know about TERMINUS Conference & Festival. The four-day event brings together emerging filmmakers, game developers, and major brands like Trick3D, Adobe, and Marvel Studios for workshops, demos, tournaments, screenings, and more. And while you might think it’s happening in Los Angeles, the action actually goes…
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QC FinTech’s 2017 Cohort Weighs In: Why Charlotte and What’s Next?
As the second-largest banking center in the nation (home to Bank of America’s corporate headquarters, Wells Fargo’s east coast operations, and myriad other financial institutions), it’s no wonder Charlotte, NC is also quickly emerging as a leading hub for fintech innovation. Several younger, growth-stage companies have already found huge success in ‘bank city.’ DealCloud, a…
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How Atlanta Became a Startup Boomtown
Over the past year, Atlanta sports has finally had its fair share of the national spotlight – from the Falcons’ Super Bowl season, to our new MLS team, to the construction of the two most advanced pro sports stadiums in the country. But there’s another sector of Atlanta’s economy, which also happens to begin with…
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Four Technologies Creating Positive Change in Healthcare
Healthcare is changing on so many levels. Patients’ needs are evolving, and expectations are increasing for the quality and access of services offered by providers. The main catalyst igniting these changes, as is the case with most things these days, is technology. In years past, patient experience and doctor-patient relationships weren’t at the forefront of…
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New Restaurant App Launches in Charleston During DIG SOUTH
CurEat – the innovative new restaurant app designed to help residents and travelers discover a great place to dine and drink – became available in the iTunes App Store January 2017. CurEat provides trustworthy, curated lists of award-winning, independent and time-honored restaurants in over 60 cities across the United States, and empowers users to create and…
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20 Powerful Women in Business Speaking at DIG SOUTH
DIG SOUTH’s 5th Annual Innovation Conference is less than a month away! The speaker lineup features 150+ successful entrepreneurs, executives, and investors from around the country, including several glass-ceiling-shattering women who are leading the charge in marketing, media, e-commerce, technology, healthcare, and more. Here’s a sampling of some of the women powering up our agenda this April,…
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How Casper Became a $555 Million Company: A Q&A with Co-Founder Philip Krim
Casper CEO and Co-Founder Philip Krim has grown the online mattress company into a $555 million global operation in less than three years. We sat down with him to get a quick sneak-peek at some of the brilliant strategies he’ll share during the DIG SOUTH Innovation Conference this April. DIG SOUTH: You’ve written about buying Casper…
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Three Good Reasons Your Boss Should Send You to DIG SOUTH
The fifth annual DIG SOUTH Innovation Conference is just one month away! Our founder, Stanfield Gray, shares three reasons why you need to be there. And if you’re waiting to register — don’t forget! Badge rates increase on March 31. 1. Hyper-efficient use of the company’s resources DIG the deal. How much would it cost…
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DIG SOUTH Unveils 2017 Speaker Lineup, Featuring 155 Top Executives, Entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists
Fifth annual conference to include C-Suite presenters from Vox Media, Jet.com, Casper, DraftKings, Rubicon Global, Blackbaud, BoomTown, MakerBot and more Charleston, SC – March 20, 2017 – DIG SOUTH Innovation Conference (DIG ICON), the Southeast’s premier event for digital innovators, today announced its 2017 speaker lineup featuring 155 leading executives and entrepreneurs including Jet.com President Liza…
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10 Southern Companies Fueling E-Commerce Innovation
Whether you read the data or not (or you just have the email subscriptions and online coupon codes to prove it), it should come as no surprise that online retail is growing at a staggering rate. From 2016 to 2020, US e-commerce sales are expected to increase from $396.7 billion to over $684 billion. And…
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DIG the Innovators: March 14, 2017
DIG the Innovators is a bi-weekly brief on the latest and greatest from leading brands and fiercely ambitious entrepreneurs across the South. These are the people and companies who make our #SucceedInTheSouth motto ring true. Casper brings rest to the weary at SXSW DIG ICON presenting company Casper has been snoozing in Austin since last…
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9 Southern Female Founders to Know During Women’s History Month
March is Women’s History Month, so we thought it’d be fitting to honor a few trailblazing female entrepreneurs who are forging new paths in medicine, technology, media, and finance right here in the South. It’s not an easy path to forge, either. Only 9 percent of high-growth tech startups have female founders, an estimated 94…
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DIG the Innovators: February 28, 2017
DIG the Innovators is a bi-weekly brief on the latest and greatest from leading brands and fiercely ambitious entrepreneurs across the South. These are the people and companies who make our #SucceedInTheSouth motto ring true. Accelerator Opportunities Abound The BridgeCommunity, an Atlanta-based startup commercialization program founded by Coca-Cola, has officially opened applications for its second…
