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GrepBeat Hosts Wilmington Happy Hour to Cap Off NEW’s Investor Buzz In
Posted Friday tl;dr GrepBeat quickly organized a Happy Hour at Flytrap Brewing in Wilmington right after a successful Investor Buzz In event, even though they only had about 10 days to plan it. Despite rainy, humid weather, nearly 100 people walked over to join, making it one of the best-attended Happy Hours in years. The event was made possible by teamwork, sponsors like Aprio, the welcoming staff at Flytrap, and the Wilmington crew who organized the whole day’s activities. |
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Friday Fix: Announcing our Executive Director, NEW’s BUZZ IN, and More!
Posted Friday tl;dr GrepBeat.com is a website that shares news about startups and technology, and every Friday they post a "Friday Fix" to help readers catch up on anything they missed that week. In the week of September 11th, GrepBeat covered a story about a Charlotte-based company called Joyntly, announced their new Executive Director named Katy Breitenbach, and recapped a fun conference and happy hour event in Wilmington. Readers can listen to a podcast that explains all these stories in more detail, and they can subscribe so they never miss an update! |
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Meet GrepBeat’s Executive Director: Katy Breitenbach
Posted Wednesday tl;dr GrepBeat, a nonprofit that highlights startups and innovation in North Carolina, has hired Katy Breitenbach as its first-ever Executive Director. With over 15 years of nonprofit experience, Katy is excited to build on GrepBeat's strong foundation, help it grow, and boost fundraising so it can keep telling important stories about innovation in the state. In a fun interview, she also shared personal details about her life, including her love of movies, her family, and her two quirky mixed-breed dogs. |
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Charlotte’s Joyntly Aims to Improve Behavior, Leadership Skills at Work
Posted September 8, 2026 tl;dr Joyntly is a Charlotte startup founded by Kate Frear that helps managers build better leadership skills using quick, personalized weekly assessments based on behavioral science, instead of long courses or coaching sessions. Drawing on her background in organizational psychology, Frear designed the platform so leaders spend just 5-10 minutes a week identifying habits to improve, making it easy to fit into a busy workday. Since launching in 2025, Joyntly has gained support through grants and is now working with companies in industries like finance and retail to refine its product based on customer feedback. |
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Monday Mix: NEW’s Investor BUZZ IN with our GrepBeat Happy Hour, and Much More!
Posted September 7, 2026 tl;dr This week's Monday Mix highlights several exciting events happening around North Carolina, including a PitchBreakfast in Charlotte, an AI-focused coffee chat in Chapel Hill, and a hands-on AI workshop in Durham. The biggest event is the Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington's Investor BUZZ IN on Thursday, a full day of networking, panels, and pitches at the beach. Afterward, Team GrepBeat is hosting a happy hour at Flytrap Brewing so people can relax and connect with others in a casual setting. |
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Friday Fix: ConvergeSouth, Fizz Studio, a QuantumBloom Catch-Up, and More!
Posted September 4, 2026 tl;dr GrepBeat.com covers lots of news about startups and technology, and every Friday, David Schwartz gives a quick recap called the "Friday Fix" to help readers catch up on anything they missed. This week's recap included stories about the 2026 ConvergeSouth Conference, Fizz Studio, Ask a Shop Owner, and the founders of a startup called QuantumBloom. You can listen to the full recap and subscribe to The GrepBeat Podcast to stay updated on local tech news. |
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QuantumBloom Co-Founders on Proving STEM Retention Infrastructure, Expanding Reach, TopGolf and Thrifting Dates, and 4:45am Workouts
Posted September 3, 2026 tl;dr QuantumBloom is a company that helps STEM (science, tech, engineering, math) employees stay at their jobs and develop important human skills like communication and judgment, especially as AI takes over more technical work. The founders, Anne Hungate and Andrea Mohamed, started by focusing on women in STEM but expanded their program to help all young tech workers because the same skills benefit everyone. Their program has shown great results, like higher retention and promotion rates, and now they're working on selling their services to bigger companies while staying true to their mission of proving their methods actually work through careful measurement and research. |
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Ask A Shop Owner Helps SMB Owners Answer Hard Questions With Relevant Expertise
Posted September 2, 2026 tl;dr Ron Nussbaum, a former Marine turned construction entrepreneur, teamed up with business coach Rawlings Barnes to create Ask a Shop Owner (AASO), an AI platform that helps small business owners get clear, practical advice instead of just endless information. Unlike typical AI chatbots, AASO pulls its answers from over 19,000 real business experiences rather than the whole internet, and it's honest when it doesn't have a good answer instead of making one up. Since launching in 2025, the Wilmington-based startup has grown to serve 20 industries and hundreds of business niches, with founders now focused on improving the platform and building a supportive community for business owners. |
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Chapel Hill’s Fizz Studio Makes Data Visualization Accessible to the Blind
Posted September 1, 2026 tl;dr Doug Schepers, who used to help set web standards, started a company called Fizz Studio to make charts and graphs understandable for blind people, since simply listing every data point on a chart isn't very helpful. His product, ParaCharts, uses computer programs to spot important trends in charts and turn them into clear, consistent written descriptions, sounds, or spoken words, all without sending any data over the internet. Schepers believes these accessibility tools—like ramps that help strollers as well as wheelchairs—end up making charts clearer and easier for everyone to understand, not just people with disabilities. |
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Startups From the Southeast (and Beyond) Converge in Winston-Salem
Posted August 31, 2026 tl;dr Last week, Winston-Salem hosted the 10th ConvergeSouth conference, where over 150 startups from North Carolina and beyond gathered to pitch their ideas and show off their work in fields like health, food, and technology. Instead of following a strict schedule, the two-day event let attendees explore speakers and startup booths based on their own interests, making each person's experience unique. A pitch competition ran throughout the conference, with Chonex, a company that uses insects to improve soil for farmers, winning the grand prize of a chance to compete for $1 million in funding. |
