Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

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March 29, 2023 | Tom Ballard

Southeast Shoutouts | Carolinas are making the most news

From VentureSouth reaching a milestone to the annual "DIG SOUTH Tech Summit" and "SCRA Summit," there's a lot going on in the Magnolia State.

From Greenville, SC:

VentureSouth has reached a major milestone with the announcement that Darby, a healthcare technology start-up based in its hometown of Greenville, marks the 100th company in the firm’s portfolio.

Darby is working to simplify at-home care delivery for providers and vendors with a modern and efficient order flow platform, drastically reducing time, friction, and errors in the process. The company is led by Founder Charlotte Lawson who was previously an Attending Physician and Champion for Innovation at Prisma Health, then went on to Harvard Business School where she recognized the need for Darby’s solution as she continued practicing medicine while pursuing her MBA.

VentureSouth got its start 15 years ago with the launch of the Upstate Carolina Angel Network. Since then, the early-stage investment group has deployed nearly $75 million across those 100 companies.

From the Holy City:

It’s four weeks until the 10th annual “DIG SOUTH Tech Summit” takes place at the TD Arena in Charleston, SC. The event begins with a reception on April 26 and a full day of sessions on April 27 including the always exciting “Wild Pitch” competition. The latter part of the event is described as “the South’s Capitol of Capital” where early and growth-stage start-ups pitch to a live audience of top-shelf investors, founders, tech executives, and other business leaders.

The kickoff keynote speaker is Tarra Stubbins, a certified Lifestyle Manager, Accountability and Time Management Coach, Celebrity Concierge, and the self-proclaimed Marie Kondo for tech start-ups. She is also the founder of Take It Easy Personal Concierge Inc, a luxury boutique concierge firm and Take It Easy Group, a business services company providing fractional Executive Assistants to help start-ups grow at a rapid pace.

Other speakers include:

  • Srikant Chellappa, Co-Founder and President of Engagedly, who created a new performance management software that bridges the gap between people and strategy, securing the likes of Experian, Deloitte, Rite Aid, and Upwork as clients; and
  • Mahati Sridhar, a Vice President on the investment team at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. She joined the firm in 2021 and focuses on sourcing, due diligence, and supporting existing portfolio companies.

From Columbia, SC:

Joseph Hanna, who currently serves as Chief Product Officer of Magnit Global and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ENGAGE Talent, will keynote next month’s annual summit hosted by the South Carolina Research Authority.

Scheduled for April 18 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, the event also features five fireside chats on topics starting with ideation and continuing through developing, accelerating, scaling, and funding technology-based businesses. That’s consistent with the 2023 theme of “Founders First,” a celebration of the hard work of founders who are growing the state’s innovation economy.

The full agenda and a link to registration can be found here.

From Ashland, KY:

With a theme of “Appalachia Rises ©: Resilience, Strength & Transformation,” the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has announced that its annual conference will be held September 11 and 12 in the city. Through April 21, the very unique organization that is a partnership between the federal government and 13 states is accepting ideas for programming for the two-day conference. Those can be submitted at this link.

From North Carolina:

Two North Carolina cities are among the fastest-growing communities in the nation in terms of technology salaries. That’s according to a new report from Dice, a tech career hub connecting employers with skilled technology professionals and providing tech professionals with career opportunities, data, insights, and advice.

While the national average tech salary increased 2.3 percent between 2021 and 2022 to $111,348, Charlotte recorded an increase of 11.1 percent, nearly five times the national average, while Raleigh was not far behind at 9.4 percent. That growth placed Charlotte #10 nationally for average tech salaries, just behind Atlanta which came in at #9.

 


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