Innovate Raleigh Is Just One of the Many Assets of the Raleigh Entrepreneurial Community

Wake County Economic Development (WCED) is sponsoring this year’s Innovate Raleigh Summit. The Summit will explore inclusivity and diversity for organizations of all sizes with a panel, keynote speaker and breakout session.

With diversity in the workplace being a hot topic, the Summit will discuss what true diversity and inclusion looks like, with speakers such as Nzinga Shaw, the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer of the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena organization. She is the first person to hold this position in the NBA. Mitchell Silver, former City of Raleigh Chief Planner, will speak to how city development has a significant impact on, and can shape cultural diversity and inclusion. Innovate Raleigh is a non-profit, community-driven organization working to catalyze innovation efforts in the region. Its vision is to make our region one of the top-five centers for innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. WCED fully supports this effort. Innovate Raleigh is just one of the many reasons why our region is “smart.”

Innovate Raleigh is one of the many organizations in the area that helps drive innovation and entrepreneurship. Thanks to co-working spaces such as the American Underground, a Google for entrepreneurs tech hub, and HQ Raleigh, backed by The RTP and The Frontier in The RTP, innovation thrives here. Groups like these also have the benefit of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) a network that helps Triangle entrepreneurs build successful companies. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs that come from places like the American Underground and HQ, hoping to thrive past the startup phase.  

In addition, N.C. State has its own Entrepreneurship Initiative. Thanks to N.C. State, 100+ Startups have been launched by students, creating a hot bed of innovation in Wake County. Plus, 848 patents have come out of N.C. State’s technologies and discoveries.

Entrepreneurial endeavors in the Triangle are funded by local backers such as Southern Capital Ventures, Idea Fund Partners and Sovereign’s Capital. Bright ideas are also backed by NC IDEA, which has its own grant program to provide North Carolina startup companies with funds to grow their business.

All of these combined help startups and entrepreneurs grow and thrive in Wake County. As the county grows, so will the innovation that happens here. Great startups are flourishing in Wake County, such as WedPics, Stealz, EmployUs, Undercover Colors, Offline, Citizen and many more.

Follow @RaleighWake, #RaleighWakeSmart, @InnovateRaleigh and #InnovateRAL on Twitter to learn more about the innovation happening every day in our community.