
Southeast Shoutouts 2 | New co-working space opening in Greenville
The Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator has officially launched in Bentonville, a destination that is positioned to become a global center for cycling innovation.
From Greenville, SC:
The Upstate Business Journal reports that Roam, a co-working and office space business, will open in downtown Greenville on February 3. It will take over the second and third floors in the south tower of ONE Greenville at 2 West Washington Street. The two floors were known previously as the Greenville One Center, which was primarily used to host events and conferences.
Roam’s space will total 33,560 square feet with a 274-seat auditorium, meeting rooms and event spaces, shared workspaces, and private offices.
The Greenville location marks the first in South Carolina for Roam, which currently operates in Georgia and Texas. It first opened in Alpharetta, GA, in 2008 and spawned eight Atlanta metro area locations before expanding to Dallas, TX, in 2023.
The business is led by Peyton Day, former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Day Hospitality Group, and David Salyers, who was one of the original marketing executives of Chick-fil-A’s corporate team and later served as Vice President of Marketing for the restaurant.
From Bentonville, AR:
The Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator has officially launched in Bentonville, a destination that is positioned to become a global center for cycling innovation.
This new initiative, led by cycling industry veterans and entrepreneurial experts, aims to attract a cohort of 10 exceptional start-ups from North America, Europe, and Asia. The accelerator will offer a 10-week hybrid program designed to support cycling-related tech innovation, provide access to key investors and mentors, and build strategic partnerships with top brands in the industry.
The accelerator’s mission aligns with Arkansas’ ongoing investment in cycling infrastructure, creating a unique ecosystem where tech-enabled solutions for cycling can test and scale. With its focus on both business growth and cutting-edge technology, the accelerator promises to foster long-term cycling industry growth in Arkansas.
It will be led by staff from the Startup Junkie Foundation and the University of Arkansas’ Office of Entrepreneurship & Innovation‘s Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP).
Start-ups interested in shaping the future of cycling are encouraged to apply to Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator’s inaugural cohort. Applications are open now bu the link in the news release is not live. An alternate way to get information is to send an email to agca@uark.edu. Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis until the application window closes on February 11. Decisions will be announced by February 18.
The program is sponsored by a $125,000 grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and a funding match from the Walton Family Foundation.
From Pensacola, FL:
Space Florida, the state’s aerospace finance and development authority, along with partners the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC), TechFarms Capital, and Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund, announced the recipients of the inaugural “The Takeoff: Northwest Florida Pitch Day.” Held at IHMC’s Pensacola, Florida offices, the event aimed to serve as a connector for market-ready research and start-ups in the region with investors, accelerating their path to commercialization and scaling groundbreaking technologies.
Three start-ups and three IHMC researchers presented at the event. The start-up award recipients were:
- First Place: Ator Labs $20,000;
- Second Place: RSAE Labs $7,500; and
- Third Place: Piersica $7,500.
From Summerville, SC:
The South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA), a public, nonprofit corporation that works to fuel the state’s innovation economy, announced last week that it had a more than $1.3 billion impact on the state’s economy in 2024.
According to its 2024 annual report, which was determined by a study conducted at the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business, SCRA and its investment affiliate, SC Launch Inc.:
- Supported 6,624 South Carolina-based jobs. The average annual salary of those employed by SCRA member companies and SC Launch Inc. portfolio companies was almost $92,000, which was 71 percent higher than the state’s average.
- Funded member and portfolio companies and academic institutions with almost $5.5 million.
- Owned and/or managed almost 1.4 million square feet of laboratory, office, and collaborative space.
- Enabled more than $2.9 billion, $303 million in fiscal year 2024 alone, in follow-on funding from venture capital firms and other investment entities for member and portfolio companies that received SCRA grants and/or SC Launch Inc. investments since the inception of SC Launch Inc. in 2006.
“I’m extremely proud of our hardworking team and the achievements we made in 2024. We have strong partnerships throughout the state, allowing us to provide support that helped our technology-based startups grow and hire more people, and our academic institutions make greater strides in bringing innovation to the marketplace,” said SCRA President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Quinn. “We’re able to have this significant economic impact on South Carolina with not only our partnerships but also the contributors to our tax credit program, the Industry Partnership Fund, who help to fund our programs and operations.”
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