Millennial Magazine - Special PORTAL Issue

Official Magazine of the Charlotte Research Institute

PORTAL Special Issue 2014

industryuniversity partnership

welcome to

PORTAL

contents PORTAL Special Issue 2014

3 Grand Opening 4 PORTAL Floor by Floor 5 PORTAL Café 6 Ventureprise Overview 7 Ventureprise Programs 8 49er Foundry Student Incubator 9 Spotlight On C5 Insight 10 Code for America 14 Charlotte Venture Challenge Overview 17 Regional Economic Overview 18 Charlotte Venture Launch 19 Contacts Peter Brentlinger

Official Magazine of the Charlotte Research Institute

PORTAL Special Issue 2014

industryuniversity partnership

welcome to

PORTAL

Aaron Cress

on the cover

This Special Issue of Millennial celebrates the opening of UNC Charlotte’s new Partnership, Outreach, and Research to Accelerate Learning (PORTAL) building.

With nearly 100,000sf of business incubator, accelerator, and corporate innovation office and support space ready for lease, the PORTAL Industry-University Partnership facility represents a substantial commitment to research, business development, and job growth in the Charlotte region.

Official Magazine of the Charlotte Research Institute

Editorial Staff

Editorial Director Chip Yensan, lyensan@uncc.edu Copy & Editorial Assistants Karen Ford, kjford@uncc.edu Julie Fulton, jfulton4@uncc.edu Robyne Vickers, rvicker4@uncc.edu Creative/Design SPARK Publications, info@SPARKpublications.com

Photography Cress Photography, www.cressphotography.com Peter Bretlinger, www.peterbrentlinger.com Copyright 2014 Charlotte Research Institute at UNC Charlotte is the portal for business-university partnerships. UNC Charlotte’s research capabilities represent a vital economic development tool for business attraction and is a geographically distinct part of UNC Charlotte located on the University’s Charlotte Research Institute Campus.

Photography by Wade Bruton

Members of the community gather in the 4-story atrium to dedicate the new PORTAL building.

Chancellor Philip Dubois offers PORTAL building dedication remarks.

It's Official! Cutting the Ribbon (from L to R): Board of Trustees Chair Karen Popp, Chancellor Philip Dubois, Inventor and Entrepreneur Louis Foreman, Vice Chancellor Bob Wilhelm, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory Edifice PORTAL Project Team Members (from L to R): Bud McKinney, Scott Alger, Mark Novasad, Kyle Hanrahan, Jen Evans (UNCC), Lisa Gerard, Chip Yensan (UNCC), John Hajney, and Eric Laster.

Charlotte Research Institute PORTAL Champions (from L to R): Barry Burks, Gail Keene, Jim Currie, Bob Wilhelm, and Chip Yensan

Celebrating PORTAL (from L to R): Bob Wilhelm, Louis Foreman, Governor Pat McCrory, Chancellor Philip Dubois, and Karen Popp.

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PORTAL P FLOOR-BY-FLOOR

ORTAL is tangible evidence of UNC Charlotte’s commitment to serving the innovation economy of the Charlotte Region, the State of North Carolina, and beyond. Involving no state dollars in its construction, PORTAL - Partnership, Outreach, and Research To Accelerate Learning – is an industry-university partnership facility that was designed to facilitate idea and knowledge exchange between entrepreneurs, corporate innovators, faculty, and students on a daily basis.

PORTAL’s contemporary interior design, 4-story atrium, and open circulation combine to create a workplace milieu that supports collective pioneering and shared pathways to business success and job creation.

The first floor PORTAL main entrance is framed by two large high bay areas of roughly 2,700 and 2,900 square feet, each ready for custom build-out and individualized tenant occupancy Jim Currie requirements. Nearby on the same floor are a conference room, mail delivery center, and facilities designed for classified research.

On the second and third floors PORTAL is home to Ventureprise, Inc., providing incubation and acceleration support resources and services for early stage innovationbased enterprises in 25,000 square feet of flexible office space.

Located just across the hall from the second floor Ventureprise administrative office suite, the 49er Foundry Student Incubator is a program which offers students the unique opportunity for handson guidance in their ventures. The UNC Charlotte Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), also located on

Photos by Peter Bretlinger

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the second floor, supports the commercialization of university research and intellectual property and works closely with faculty, students, and staff to help bring

new technology and innovation to market. And this summer we will add a PORTAL café, complete with an outdoor eating patio, for the building and our colleagues and

Featuring Menu Variety and Chef Experience

neighbors within the Charlotte Research Institute sector of campus.

With almost new dining location will open on campus in fall 20,000 square 2014. Located inside the PORTAL building, this feet of exceptional new dining spot will be operated by Chartwells office licensing the company which runs the UNC Charlotte Dining space, the fourth Services program. While the name has yet to be floor provides Chef Chandra Hoffman selected, Dining Services has already named a chef who several flexible has begun molding a menu to fit the unique campus office suite options to PORTALenvironment that is the Charlotte Research Institute (CRI) campus. based corporate partners and Dining Services knew that this location needed the perfect chef innovators. Several fourth floor to match the desired culinary vision and Chef Chandra Hoffman was offices are configured in a move-in selected from the Dining Services executive culinarian team to operate ready condition with mounted glass the café and develop a unique menu. Chef Chandra’s culinary experience office partitions and contemporary is unlike any other on campus. When asked about her background in office furnishings already in place. the culinary field, Chef Chandra said: Others are ready to be configured “I started in food service over 30 years ago working at Inns in the and furnished to the custom foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. During this time, I found a needs of the partner tenant. passion for cooking from the earth as local farmers would barter their A variety of first and fourth produce at the back door and our menus would change daily based on floor tenants–including private fresh options of the day. You learn to respect the farmer and develop a businesses, industry consortia, certain attitude when you are cooking ‘fresh from the fields.’ I received government agencies, corporate my culinary arts degree from Johnson and Wales in Providence, Rhode innovators, and public private Island and began an “artistic” phase of my career. Before joining the partnerships will actively engage UNC Charlotte Dining Services team, I worked in country clubs; owned with the University in a capacity an Inn in the VA Mountains with my husband; cooked in the Bank of that brings leverage to the America executive dining room; and mentored future culinarians at partnership through involvement Johnson and Wales- Charlotte. Some of my proudest moments in the with students and/or faculty, and kitchen include: a spread in Gourmet magazine; being a guest chef access to the highly specialized at the James Beard Society; received a Golden Pin award at Westfield and unique facilities and programs Yearly while employed for their business; created a wedding cake for of UNC Charlotte.

Bill Cosby’s daughter; was part of the wedding reception team for Alan PORTAL is clearly about the Greenspan and now serving as an honorary member of the Compass private office spaces that it corporate ‘Farm to Fork’ team. I look forward to my next adventure with provides to its partner tenants…

UNC Charlotte Dining Services as we open a new dining location unlike and so much more. It is about any other on campus.” bringing vision, talent and energy Chef Chandra and UNC Charlotte Dining Services Executive Chef, together, making connections Jason Shillinglaw, have been working side by side this semester between them, and expanding developing the menu. Their vision is to create a menu full of fresh upon them. PORTAL tenants share variety to cover your breakfast, lunch, beverage and snack needs. The daily access to three conference kitchen set-up will allow them to offer a changing menu with a daily rooms, a large presentation space, feature from the EVO grill. The EVO grill will be the first of its type on and an available board room, all campus and is “recognized for delivering the natural flavors of food, with the technology one would cooking versatility, and distinct design.” (evoamerica.com) The menu expect in such a facility. In addition, will offer fresh baked goods made on-site, gourmet sandwiches, and the building’s large central atrium “function” beverages, including smoothies. and informal gathering spaces The PORTAL dining option is set to open with the start of the fall 2014 add to the abundant meeting semester. Stay updated on campus dining using the Dine on Campus and convening space for PORTAL website at www.dineoncampus. clients as well as the UNC Charlotte com/unccharlotte and through Questions about campus dining can be community and outside partners. social media platforms directed to Lindsay DePrey, Dining Services This is the new PORTAL for UNC including Facebook at UNC Marketing Director at lmdeprey@uncc.edu Charlotte.

Charlotte Dining Services. or 704-687-0693.

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VENTUREPRISE OVERVIEW

entureprise, Inc., located in the PORTAL building, is the region’s non-profit venture development organization. Ventureprise™, a university-private sector partnership formerly known as the Ben Craig Center, has supported Charlotte’s entrepreneurs since 1986.

The organization collaborates with others to strengthen the regional innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. It provides entrepreneurial support for UNC Charlotte’s faculty and students. And, innovation-based entrepreneurs benefit from expert guidance available to clients of the Ventureprise accelerator at PORTAL. The Ventureprise mission is grounded in the reality that innovation—in technology, business models, or business processes—is the critical component for economic competitiveness.

Innovation is a word whose meaning has been diminished through broad use; Ventureprise agrees with the late Peter Drucker that it is “change that creates a new dimension of performance.”

Innovation creates value for customers, wealth for entrepreneurs, and a productive economy for society.

The Ventureprise team is focused on assisting inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs accomplish these outcomes.

The new PORTAL building provides the perfect venue for this work. The contemporary design supports transformational collaborations between entrepreneurial, corporate, and academic resources.

At PORTAL, Ventureprise works with innovationdriven enterprises from start-up through their early growth stage (revenue of less than $5 million). It is the one Charlotte location that offers a state-of-the-

art facility, intellectual property expertise, University resource access, and proven business advisory services.

Beyond PORTAL, Ventureprise initiatives are designed to find the most promising talent and ideas, make connections, and help launch customerfocused ventures. The Charlotte Venture Challenge is the most visible and oldest of these initiatives.

Newer efforts include Pitch Day, Charlotte Venture Launch, Innovation Connection, and the 49er Foundry student business incubator.

As a non-profit, Ventureprise is focused on serving the community. Its work is made possible by long-term, substantial financial support from UNC Charlotte.

The strategic direction is guided by a 14-person board of directors that represents community stakeholders including entrepreneurs, investors, economic development, government, and higher education.

The Charlotte region is rapidly developing a stronger entrepreneurial sector. New organizations have emerged to serve social entrepreneurs and specialized industry sectors. The private sector now offers a Center City entrepreneurial hub and more angel investors are emerging.

Ventureprise has adapted by refining its focus to support the innovation-driven enterprises that have the greatest impact on the region’s economic performance. The outstanding PORTAL environment will enable new collaborations and an excellent venue for high growth ventures. As the University’s long-time partner for entrepreneurial initiatives, Ventureprise looks forward to powerful results from this new combination of people and place.

Ventureprise collaborates with others to strengthen the regional innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

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VENTUREPRISE PROGRAMS entureprise initiatives complement the innovation services it offers. By connecting entrepreneurs, corporations and academic leaders, Ventureprise creates networking opportunities that facilitate the innovative thinking needed to accelerate business growth and commercial success.

Charlotte Venture Challenge (CVC)

The Charlotte Venture Challenge is a business competition for early-stage, high potential companies.

The competition has a history of showcasing the Southeast’s most successful early-stage companies.

CVC has been the launch point for hundreds of companies and has awarded a quarter of a million dollars in prizes.

offers shared, furnished workspace for multiple student ventures. Companies have access to services including wireless Internet, conference rooms and office equipment. The space supports business-oriented social interaction and networking.

Charlotte Venture Launch

Early customer discovery is the foundation for identifying scalable and profitable business models.

Ventureprise guides founders through the customer discovery process modeled on proven best practices such as the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps.

Create your compelling business model – vetting out opportunity assessments and finding the best and ready customers – with the help of Ventureprise.

Charlotte Venture Launch is a multi-week, highintensity, focused effort for innovators and inventors to determine if an idea is worth pursuing.

Innovation Connection

The Innovation Connection is a keystone program of Ventureprise that gathers constituents interested in specific technology and industry topics. Aimed at promoting open idea exchange between innovationbased entrepreneurs, corporate innovators and thought leading academics, there is no other forum like it in the region. Innovation Connection participants are invited based on their interest and expertise relative to each program’s topic. Current topics emphasize Charlotte regional clusters and UNC Charlotte research expertise.

Student Incubator

The Student Business Incubator, 49er Foundry, assists UNC Charlotte junior, senior, and graduate students in completing a business opportunity assessment. The assessment determines if the idea is worth pursuing and identifies activities required to move toward a successful business. The Student Business Incubator

Ventureprise creates networking opportunities that facilitate the innovative thinking needed to accelerate business growth and commercial success.

To learn more about Ventureprise programs, please contact Marilyn Carpenter by phone at 704-687-8058 or email, marilyn.carpenter@ventureprise.org.

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49er foundry

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he 49er Foundry Student Incubator located on the 2nd floor of the PORTAL building has already showcased some exciting student - led companies during the grand opening of the facility. The Foundry will be the home of a select group of UNC Charlotte student entrepreneurs.

It provides business advisory services, connections, and a learning community that support the launch of successful student-founded ventures.

The 49er Foundry is a part of the Ventureprise eco-system that provides incubation and acceleration services to innovation

The Foundry will be the home of a select group of UNC Charlotte student entrepreneurs. driven enterprises. The Foundry provides students with an intensive hands-on program designed to launch and scale ventures. The program is open to junior, senior and graduate students in good standing as well as UNC Charlotte graduates within 12 months of their graduation date. If selected into the program students are provided with services that include: hared furnished office space S including work area, private meeting space, conference room access, mailing address, wireless internet, copier, and fax. ustomer Discovery, Business C Model Canvas and Opportunity Assessment guidance. millennial

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Launches L earning community programs featuring expert resources and Ventureprise entrepreneurs.

usiness advisory services B including: Connections to regional business resources; Business building assistance including business plan and marketing plan guidance, accounting and financial systems design, and financial strategy; Coaching through our structured business development process and through informal interaction.

Milestone Achievement: Monthly progress and counseling sessions with formal assessment every six months.

Continued participation in the program contingent upon milestone achievement.

Participation in the program begins with the submission of an application followed by a face-toface interview. If selected into the program, students are provided free space during the launch phase of the business followed by below market rent once a business model has been found for the first 18 months.

Since being launched as a pilot program in January 2012 at the Ben Craig Center, the Student Incubator has served 15 student companies.

Three student companies were featured during Governor McCrory's PORTAL Grand Opening business roundtable: Minds Mesh, Noire Naturals, and Tapity are all currently generating revenue and have graduated from the incubator.

MindsMesh – Minds Mesh is an education technology startup founded by Chad Stachowicz.

The company focuses on enhancing mobile technology and collaborative learning within education institutions and has raised a round of angel investment.

NoireNaturals – Noire Naturals is an all-natural hair-care products company founded by Ashleigh Thornton. Ashleigh and her company have been featured in Seventeen Magazine and she was the winner of the undergraduate student category in the 2013 Charlotte Venture Challenge.

Tapity – Tapity is an Apple Design Award winning company that Jeremy Olson co-founded with his father and brother, during his sophomore year at UNC Charlotte. T ogether they have built some of the most popular tools on the App Store.

To learn more about 49er Foundry, contact Devin Collins at devin.collins@uncc.edu or by phone, 704-250-5753.

C5 INSIGHT F

ounded in 2002, C5 Insight is a regional leader and trusted partner in the everevolving business practices of enterprise collaboration and relationship management. Their team is comprised of 25 business consultants, technical architects, and solution experts who address the subtle issues and common challenges many organizations face as technology expands and pressure to keep up increases. Managing Partners Geoff Ables and Curtis Hughes, who joined their firms to create C5 Insight, have set a goal to maintain a moderate growth trajectory over the next 10 years, with an average growth rate of 25% year-over-year.

C5 Insight emerged as a technology consulting and implementation firm, and now focuses on proven business practices and methodologies. “We recognize that while technology can deliver tremendous value, our people and collective knowledge are our greatest assets,” said Hughes. “As user adoption continues to be a frustration for business leaders, companies look to their partners and consultants for guidance on how to get more out of their investments. C5 Insight is much more than a ‘technology firm.’ We believe strongly in providing thought leadership for both our clients and colleagues.

The goal we have for our entire company is to add value to every interaction that we have.”

By challenging how people collaborate and helping develop stronger connections - both internally and externally - the resulting impact is continuous improvement of organizational performance, more engaged clients and prospects, and work place satisfaction. “We empower people

to work together better, creating more productive business relationships, inspiring more loyalty inside and outside of their organizations,” said Ables when asked of the company’s brand promise. “We look beyond initial implementation and also forecast ways to ensure technology and business practices keep up with demands and changes, with ongoing coaching to guarantee sustained value,” he concluded.

It is this notion of ongoing support that sets C5 Insight apart from other consulting businesses.

Many firms offer custom solutions and optimized platforms without taking the time to really get to know their clients. Once deployed, they are rarely seen or heard from again, unless something fails to function and additional, often costly, repairs to the system are needed. By understanding the full scope of needs and gaining insight into the value end users are hoping to extract, C5 Insight consultants are adept at both integration and continuing education. Their clients receive a detailed business process analysis and scope of work up front, to avoid surprise costs, and unnecessary frustrations.

As for the culture of the business, the team prides themselves on being a different kind of corporate. “We enjoy what we do, and we hope that it shows,” said Marketing Director Alison Kendrick.

“Our management team truly understands that happiness in the workplace matters, and has a direct impact on the quality of work. We are laser-focused on delivering excellence to our clients – every proposal, every project, every time. But we’re also a group that

genuinely likes being around one another, and we show that through team lunches, planned outings, and acts of service and kindness all around the office.” Hughes labeled this as “A deliberate focus on others and not on ourselves. If we seek first to serve rather than to be served, the rest will follow.”

C5 Insight currently resides in the newly built Partnership and Outreach Research To Accelerate Learning (PORTAL) Building on the University of North Carolina at Charlotte campus. PORTAL also serves as home to Ventureprise, the University’s entrepreneurial resource, connecting the university to developing businesses while offering strategic and analytical resources to their partners in a state of the art facility.

About C5 Insight

C5 Insight is a team of strategists and consultants that help organizations work together better. By utilizing a number of proven practices and solutions, we challenge how people work together both inside and outside of their business. The resulting impact is continuous improvement of organizational value, more engaged clients and prospects, and workplace satisfaction.

Learn more about C5 Insight by visiting their web site at www.c5insight.com, by email at luck@c5insight.com, or call them at 704-895-2500.

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CODE AMERICA

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What can a city do to improve government and delivery of government services for its citizens and ultimately drive a culture that will consistently enhance the livability of the city?

Engage citizens to learn what is important?

Create and nurture an innovationdriven ecosystem within a city to break-through on ideas for what could be?

Introduce entrepreneurial risk into city government?

Rally together diverse citizens - coders, engineers, designers, urban planners, graphic designers, teachers, bankers, government employees, students … the list is long … to provide a groundswell of talent and know-how to get big things done?

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ode for America initiatives encompass all this. What’s more, Code for America has proof from their past engagement with tier 1 cities and sister cities to Charlotte for improving government services, enhancing city living, and now with a seemingly increasing focus on engaging civic entrepreneurs, as the way to do both.

What is Code for America?

Code for America –CFA - was founded in 2009 by Jennifer Pahlka as a 501(c) 3 to “change how we (as citizens) participate in government to: connect citizens and governments to design better services; encourage low-risk settings for innovation; support a competitive civic tech marketplace.”

Code for America has technology giants as board members, including a Google executive, successful entrepreneur and author Eric Reis, Tim O’Reilly, CEO of O’Reilly Media, and John Lilly, former CEO of Mozilla, among others.

There are unique terms used by the greater CFA cities/communities that define certain aspects of their operation. To fully understand a city engagement team from Code for America the City of Charlotte has committed to for 2014, it helps to know these definitions.

Fellows: The Fellowship is CFA’s best known program and it is the channel through which CFA engages with cities. The Fellowship is a one year residency for people of various ages and stages in their careers to lead/be part of a city’s engagement with CFA. Every year, thirty Fellows Light My Fire Photography

are hired to move out in teams of three into ten cities to lead the CFA initiative. After a period of discovery, input from citizens is used to select a project that will solve a city problem, improve city services, or enhance the livability of the city for residents - possibly all three in one project.

Charlotte’s three Fellows are Danny, Tiffany and Andrew. Both Danny and Tiffany were well into their careers when they decided to apply for the Fellowship, while Andrew is one of the few in the entire Fellowship who is a recent college graduate.

The Charlotte Fellows describe the application process to become a CFA Fellow as “rigorous and PORTAL 2014

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lengthy.” They began the process in September 2013 and were selected in January 2014. The Fellowship residency for 2014 attracted 700 applicants.

When asked how they viewed their selection in such a competitive heat, 30 out of 700 applicants, the Fellows agree that the CFA selection team is looking for authentic social entrepreneurs. “Does the candidate care about playing a role towards more open government?”

their input and volunteer their time and talent to their city’s CFA initiative.

The Charlotte Brigade is the fastest growing Brigade at 159 members, and is still growing. So, what does this Brigade distinction say about Charlotte, NC and our citizens?

One aspect might be that the Charlotte discovery process (equivalent of the Lean Startup – Customer Discovery) led by the Brigade in February is focused

entrepreneurship waters.

One aspect that may just be unique to the Charlotte Brigade is our civic leadership and burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem that has been convening for some years now to make big things happen. This ecosystem is now a large, ready group of talented and inspired people – ready to speak out and offer ideas, ready to volunteer time and talent, and ready to make a difference in the city of Charlotte.

Jim Van Fleet, well known in the entrepreneur community and a renowned coder, is the leader for Charlotte's Brigade. Jim has the network to get the word out to the very diverse groups of citizens that the Brigade desires to attract, and to actually get the engagement and commitment needed.

The City of Charlotte “Our engagement with Code for America provides a unique opportunity to directly support and quickly demonstrate Charlotte’s emerging strategy for citizen engagement.”

—CIO Jeffrey Stovall, City of Charlotte

Twyla McDermott with the City of Charlotte, Office of the CIO.

The Fellows moved to San Francisco, the CFA headquarters, for the residency year, and they get paid a stipend, enough to live on.

Training occurred in January and our three Fellows arrived in Charlotte in February to begin their Charlotte discovery process. They have returned to San Francisco and will be back and forth to Charlotte, coast to coast, throughout this year.

The Brigade This is us, folks. Actually, the Brigade is made up of the citizens who join the CFA initiative to give millennial

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on capturing citizen perspectives and these perspectives are ideally featured in the project that is selected to move forward. Being heard and seeing ideas become reality is tremendously rewarding.

Another aspect that may weigh prominent is that in many of us, especially those who have worked most of our careers as an employee of a large company, there is a frustrated entrepreneur just waiting to be expressed.

Civic entrepreneurship and the path that CFA brings to citizen and government engagement is an appealing way to test the

Code for America doesn’t engage with cities, they engage with city government leaders to get a city initiative approved, funded and moving. More often than not, it takes a Champion within city government to drive the change that is needed, and Charlotte’s City Champion is Twyla McDermott. Twyla McDermott’s title line indicates “innovation and technology,” – she works in the Office of the CIO. As Twyla recounts the journey of bringing CFA to Charlotte, it’s no surprise the journey was met with starts and stops and at one point was in jeopardy of being funded.

As the City of Charlotte lead and Champion for CFA initiative, McDermott led the Fellows in February on their discovery process

feature

“Across America, government employees are accelerating city innovation by sharing their best ideas, collaborating with local civic hackers, and enlisting elite technologists for a year of service.”

—Code for America

“There is no replacement for government stepping out of their offices and listening to citizens for how to improve city services.” which included over 60 meetings (30+ different departments at the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, 17 neighborhood associations, 8 citizen interviews, 7 nonprofits, and more).

The Fellows left Charlotte at the end of February with a host of project ideas that emerged as a result of these meetings, and are now refining ideas under three areas: neighborhoods, planning, and transparency.

“There is no replacement for government stepping out of their offices and listening to citizens for how to improve city services,” commented McDermott during an interview last week for this article. “We (citizens) don’t have a voice for what gets built.

When a project hits the planning department, how do I find this out?” she continued.

Twyla McDermott’s exuberance over the “gush of interest” from

citizens and the growing Brigade does not overpower her sense of how this needs to go this year. “We need a small success.”

McDermott’s idea is that the small success will serve to instill the culture of open government and citizen engagement as the way to operate. And, then, make room for the breakthrough, the innovation, the spark that creates something entirely new!

To learn more about Code for America Charlotte and how citizens are finding the power to help their cities: http://www. codeforamerica.org/geeks/ If you have interest in learning more about civic startups, Code for America has information to help: http://www. codeforamerica.org/about/startups/ PORTAL 2014

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he Charlotte Venture Challenge (CVC) has become the Southeast’s premiere startup competition attracting over 300 early-stage high growth companies in the past three years. The multi-stage competition connects startups with investors and large potential corporate customers. The 13th annual competition will take place in UNC Charlotte's new PORTAL Industry-University Partnership building on May 1st, 2014.

The 2014 Charlotte Venture Competition has attracted 101 startup applicants located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, and Washington, DC. Student applicants were eligible if they were enrolled in accredited universities, colleges, and community colleges in the same geographical area. We define eligible early-stage startups as: Less than $350,000 investment not including sweat equity Less than $350,000 cumulative revenue excluding research grants

The 2013 Charlotte Venture Challenge Grand Finale presentations.

The competition is divided into the following six categories: New Energy and High Tech – Description: Advanced, clean and sustainable energy, and other high tech companies including materials sciences, aerospace, etc.

IT and Informatics – Description: Computer software, information systems, computer hardware, SAAS, Web applications and informatics.

Health IT & Biotechnology – Description: Health IT, biomedical technologies, life systems technologies, biotechnology, biomedical devices and other similar fields. millennial

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Consumer Products and Services – Description: Innovative consumer products and services including inventions, unique retail models, specialty consumer services and other similar companies.

Graduate Student Ventures – Description: Graduate student startups or university spin-outs from Southeast based universities.

Undergraduate Student Ventures – Description: Undergraduate student startups from Southeast based universities, colleges, and community colleges.

The Charlotte Venture Challenge Competition Process The competition is designed to filter the startups in order to identify innovative ideas and technologies with viable business models. As startups advance through the various filters they are provided acceleration resources including workshops and mentorship. The acceleration resources are designed to inform, educate, and connect entrepreneurs through interactive experiences. Each year activities are broadcast live via webinar as part of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s regional exchange group which allowed entrepreneurs all over the Southeast to participate.

The competition filtering process is conducted in a couple of rounds with emphasis on identifying the most exciting and compelling new startups.

The filters include the following groups of people, investors and corporations.

CVC Entrepreneur Alumni Filter – All of the applications are initially filtered by CVC alumni winners and industry experts who select startups to move forward from each of the six categories of competition.

discovery. Past corporate participants include corporate tech scouts, innovation executives, and venture development executives at Lowes Inc., Electrolux Inc., Wells Fargo Inc., Belk Inc., Duke Energy Inc., MasterCard Inc., Husqvarna Inc., Ingersoll Rand Inc., SPX Inc., Bank of America Inc., Microsoft Inc., Flextronics Inc., Midrex Inc., Areva Inc., Carolina Healthcare Systems, and many others.

UNC Charlotte spinout Sustainable Ethanol Technologies makes their final presentation.

Mentor Filter – Those startups selected to move forward are then reviewed by the CVC ambassador and mentor community.

Over 50 individuals volunteer their time to work with the companies. This community of volunteers is made up of entrepreneurs, lawyers, and various business executives.

Investor Filter – The finalist are filtered by the southeast investment community. Past investor groups include Grotech Ventures, Idea Fund Partners, Noro-Moseley Partners, Sunbridge Partners, T2VC, Hatteras Venture Partners, 8 Rivers Capital, Upstate Carolina Angel Network, IMAF West, Blue Ridge Angel Network, NJ Angels, 460 Angels, Wilmington Angel Network, IMAF Charlotte, Charlotte Angel Fund, IMAF Cape Fear, Virginia Angel Network, Angel Capital Group, Piedmont Angel Network, Family offices group and many others.

Corporate (Fortune 500) Filter – The finalists are filtered by the corporate experts in customer

2013 Charlotte Venture Challenge category winners receive their checks!

Over $75,000 in prize money was awarded at the finals.

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Past Winners of the Competition Winners by Year 2002 (The Original Five Competitors) Analyticia US Metrology Midvalve OpSource Photonex

2012 New Energy and High Tech category winner – InfoSense, Inc (Charlotte, NC)

2003 Non-Student Track – InsituTec

Consumer Products and Services category winner – Mobile Potential (Asheville, NC)

2004 Non-Student Track – Sure Foods Inc. (FKA Shore Shedders)

Life Science and Biotech category winner – Qualiber, Inc. (Chapel Hill, NC)

2005 Non-Student Track – Ometric

Social Enterprise category winner – Bamboo Apparel (High Point, NC)

2006 Non-Student Track – SoyMeds

Student category winner – Instruct Health (Queens University)

2007 Student Track – Accunetix Non-Student Track – Kiyatec, LLC

Grand Prize Winner – CanDiag, Inc. (Charlotte, NC)

2008 Retail / Service Track – iRealtyManager.com Advanced Manufacturing Track – Filigree Nanotech, Inc. Biotech Track – GOPS Group IT Track – Wisteme Student Track – Virtual Officer 2009 IT / SaaS Track – Balaya Biotech Pharma Track – Countervail Corporation Biotech Device Track – HepatoSys, Inc. Service / Retail Track – TrackLok Corporation Student Track – Entogenetics 2010 Life Sciences Track – TactileMED, Inc. Green Tech / Energy Track – BioRxn Information Technology / SaaS Track – Stash Games Service / Retail Track – All Sports Endurance Student Track – nKind Rewards Network 2011 Non-Student Track – MailVU Student Track – SolarMax renamed Amergy Systems millennial

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IT and Informatics category winner – Deal Cloud (Charlotte, NC)

2013 New Energy and High Tech category winner – Bio-Adhesive Alliance (Greensboro, NC) IT and Informatics category winner – Robocent, Inc. (Norfolk, VA) Consumer Products and Services category winner – Greenbug, Inc. (Beaufort, SC) Life Science and Biotech category winner – WeRx.org (Charlotte, NC) Graduate Student category winner – ProVaso, Inc. (University of Virginia) Undergraduate Student category winner – NoireNaturals, LLC (UNC Charlotte) Corporate Strategic Partnership winner – Sustainable Ethanol Technologies (Charlotte, NC) Grand Prize Winner – Bio-Adhesive Alliance (Greensboro, NC)

Regional Economic Overview Attracting Innovation Driven Enterprises from throughout the Southeast

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he Charlotte Venture Challenge (CVC) has a 13 year history of showcasing some of the Southeast region’s most innovative early-stage startups. Many of these companies have grown into thriving businesses in the Carolinas driving our region’s economic development.

Since 2012, over 300 early-stage startup companies have entered the competition. Applicants have come from the Carolinas, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia.

Regional University Technology Commercialization The competition is designed to help commercialize technologies throughout the southeast region.

We attract innovative technologies from a number of top universities and colleges. Since 2012, the CVC has included competitors from 35 universities, the largest proportion of which came from UNC Charlotte.

University of North Carolina at Charlotte Duke University University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Emory University Wingate University University of Virginia Johns Hopkins University The University of Memphis University of South Carolina Clemson University Appalachian State University Christian Brother University North Carolina State University Queens University of Charlotte The University of Memphis University of South Carolina University of Tennessee Vanderbilt University Wake Forest University James Madison University Asheville-Buncombe Technical College Virginia Intermont College Western Carolina University High Point University The College of William & Mary University of Tennessee at Knoxville Virginia Tech East Carolina University Vance-Granville Community College Johnson C. Smith University Davidson College North Carolina A&T State University Elon University Old Dominion University Belmont Abbey College Lenoir Rhyne University Morehouse College Pfeiffer University Agnes Scott College Central Piedmont Community College

Economic Development in North Carolina

The competition attracts earlystage companies from throughout North Carolina, driving new company formation. The competition works to accelerate the creation of a strong regional innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in “Charlotte USA.” In the past two years, CVC attracted competitors from 25 counties and 27 cities in North Carolina. In 2014, half of all participants (51%) were located in Charlotte, USA.

North Carolina City Participation 2011-2014 Charlotte Belmont Andrews Concord Henderson Marshall Raleigh Davidson Elon

Durham Chapel Hill Asheville Denver Hickory Marvin Sanford Huntersville Cary

Cornelius High Point Boone East Bend Kernersville Matthews Wake Forest Trinity Indian Trail

Waxhaw Mooresville Cleveland Gastonia Locust Mount Holly Winston-Salem Burlington Greensboro

Clayton Apex Asheboro Conover Harrisburg Lincolnton Misenheimer

2014 Charlotte Venture Challenge Entrants by Category New Energy and High Tech 13% IT and Informatics 23% Health IT and Biotechnology 11% Consumer Products and Services 20% Graduate Student Ventures 12% Undergraduate Student Ventures 21% PORTAL 2014

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CHARLOTTE VENTURE

LAUNCH

E

arly customer discovery is the foundation for identifying scalable and profitable business models. Beginning in March 2014, five teams made up of at least two entrepreneurs started the Charlotte Venture Launch program.

Each of the teams came into the program with a business idea and will spend six weeks interviewing potential customers to test and validate their business models.

The five teams were made up of community entrepreneurs, UNC Charlotte faculty, and PhD students.

“Customer Discovery will enable participants to discover high growth business models before expending substantial time and money to start a company” says Devin Collins, Teaching Team member at Ventureprise.

Charlotte Venture Launch is a Ventureprise initiative available to community and university entrepreneurs. Its purpose is to help entrepreneurs discover scalable business models before spending needless time and money in the traditional venture startup process.

Fashioned after the famed NSF I-Corps program, teams commit to a six-week intensive program that focuses on the customer discovery process. Through a combination of learning workshops, high impact presentations, numerous customer interviews and guided mentoring, entrepreneurs and innovators will: Learn and actively engage in this critical Customer Discovery process using the Business Model Canvas.

Collaborate with other participating teams, the teaching team, and members of the Charlotte startup community. millennial

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stablish valuable connections E with potential customers, investors, mentors, and other entrepreneurs through the program workshops, presentations, customer visits, and office hours.

Emerge with an executable business model or no-go decision.

“Customer discovery is essential to transferring innovation ideas/ technology to commercialization,” says Chief Science Officer, CetoTech Inc. Luna Lu, participant in NSF 2012 I-Corps program. “This program helped us understand the entire ecosystem of our product including potential market and customer needs. The knowledge we gained is vital to CetoTech’s recent success of NSF SBIR Phase I funding and Fall 2013 NC IDEA finalists.”

Participants experience a unique startup culture

Charlotte Venture Launch is designed to get right the most critical phase of a startup – the opportunity assessment - through customer discovery.

Successful participants and teams are agile. They don’t show up to defend and prove out their business model; they participate so they will emerge with a business model that works and provides the best opportunity to accelerate their venture and be successful.

Successful participants are willing to scrap everything and begin again when the customer discovery process fails to prove out the business model.

Participants stay agile through this intense process, willing

to consistently question their business model until they become a company ready to launch.

Charlotte Venture Launch is best described as a boot-camp for startups and is designed to challenge participants at every turn. The teaching team delivers direct dialogue, direct feedback, all designed to accelerate this process.

The teaching team is experienced, and they realize how difficult this initial phase of a startup is to move an idea forward.

“Truly understanding a customer’s needs and processes is perhaps the most critical aspect to the successful launch of a new venture and, unfortunately, an area where many technologists and entrepreneurs fall short. I can foresee Charlotte Venture Launch providing great value to teams that think they have a great technology or idea, but need to validate whether and how it fits with customers.” says Idea Fund Partners' John Cambier.

Want to participate?

Individuals are not accepted to participate in the program.

We want teams of 2-4 people working together. The reason we require teams is that participants can expect to spend 15 hours a week outside the classroom interviewing customers.

If you are interested in participating in Customer Discovery email devin.collins@ uncc.edu, or call 704-250-5753.

Dr. Bob Wilhelm

Vice Chancellor Research & Economic Development Charlotte Research Institute Executive Director (704) 687-8428 rgwilhel@uncc.edu

Chip Yensan

Associate Director Charlotte Research Institute Research & Economic Development (704) 687-8283 lyensan@uncc.edu

Jim Currie

Associate Director for PORTAL Research & Economic Development (704) 687-7573 jcurri13@uncc.edu

James Hathaway

Research Communications Research & Economic Development (704) 687-5743 jbhathaw@uncc.edu

Karen Ford

Events Manager Charlotte Research Institute (704) 687-5598 kjford@uncc.edu

Julie M. Fulton

Interim Executive Assistant to the Vice Chancellor Research & Economic Development Charlotte Research Institute (704) 687-8428 jfulton4@uncc.edu

Robyne R. Vickers

Technical Specialist Charlotte Research Institute Research & Economic Development (704) 687-8022 rvicker4@uncc.edu

CHARLOTTE RESEARCH INSTITUTE CAMPUS P. Gail Keene

Business Officer & Manager CRI Campus Business Office Research & Economic Development (704) 687-8286 pgkeene@uncc.edu

Lolita Gonzales

Assistant Business Manager CRI Campus Business Office Research & Economic Development (704) 687-5697 lgonza19@uncc.edu

Pearl Brown

Business Office Specialist CRI Campus Business Office Research & Economic Development (704) 687-7733 plbrown@uncc.edu

VENTUREPRISE Paul Wetenhall

Executive Director / President Ventureprise, Inc. (704) 687-8057 paul.wetenhall@ventureprise.org

Marilyn Carpenter

Director, Venture Development Ventureprise, Inc. (704) 687-8058 marilyn.carpenter@ventureprise.org

Carolyn Smith

Client Services Ventureprise, Inc. (704) 687-0900 carolyn.smith@ventureprise.org

CRI AT NCRC Devin Collins

Assistant Director, Entrepreneurship and Business Development Charlotte Research Institute Research & Economic Development (704) 250-5753 devin.collins@uncc.edu

Clare Cook Faggart

Program Manager Life Sciences Conference Charlotte Research Institute Research & Economic Development (704) 250-5760 clarefaggart@uncc.edu

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