Convene, Connect, Celebrate: Innovate Raleigh Summit 2024

Innovate Raleigh Summit 2024 was an immense success, with a focus on convening, connecting, and celebrating Raleigh's innovation and startup ecosystem. Michael Haley, Executive Director of Wake County Economic Development and Senior Vice President of Economic Development at the Raleigh Chamber, kicked off the summit by welcoming attendees and highlighting Raleigh's high quality of life, startup and coworking spaces, universities, and networking opportunities that make it a highly supportive environment for entrepreneurship. As attendees discovered, Startup Genome named Raleigh the No. 2 Top Global Startup Emerging Ecosystem in 2023, and for good reason. Michael's speech was followed by several speakers who shared their insights on entrepreneurship, innovation, artificial intelligence, sustainability, and more in Raleigh and the surrounding region.

Cindy Eckert, a self-made serial entrepreneur and a vocal advocate for women, gave a dynamic keynote speech on advocating for Raleigh, inspriring everyone present. Cindy shared her experiences in the bioscience industry, where she built and sold two businesses for more than $1.5 billion. Her work today in The Pinkubator continues to break barriers by investing in and mentoring other women to realize the same success. Cindy's speech was an inspiring reminder that innovation is not just about technology, but also about rethinking how we promote our city and our region to other entrepreneurs and investors.

Attendees then heard from the Raleigh Success Panel, which brought together a group of inspiring small business owners, entrepreneurs, and innovators who are doing big things right here in our community. The panelists, including Terrence Holt, President of Holt Brothers Construction, Maggie Kane, Founder and Executive Director of A Place at the Table, Meg Powell, Pharm. D., CEO of 501 Ventures, and Scot Wingo, Co-Founder and CEO of Spiffy and General Partner of the Triangle Tweener Fund, discussed the positive changes, improvements, and enhancements they have seen in the Raleigh innovation ecosystem over the past 10 years and the most pressing gaps that need to be addressed.

The event also featured flash talk sessions, one on Artificial Intelligence and another on Social Entrepreneurship, Sustainability, and The Makers Movement. Tom Darden, the Founder and CEO of Cherokee Fund, and Kyle Touchstone, the Executive Director of Raleigh Economic Development, shared their insights on potential ways that AI will impact our daily lives and work. Aly Khalifa, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Positive Company, and Brian Burnett, Founder and Head Designer of Bespoke Venture Partners, shared their experiences incorporating sustainable practices into big ideas and dealing with the dreaded “no.” These sessions highlighted the role of innovation in creating a more sustainable and equitable future.

The summit concluded with remarks from Adrienne Cole, the President and CEO of the Raleigh Chamber, who announced the start of the first comprehensive innovation strategy aimed at making the Raleigh metro the most dynamic, creative, and inclusive innovation ecosystem in the nation. Adrienne emphasized the importance of collaboration and partnership in achieving this goal. She also stressed the need for a shared strategy that outlines the investments, partnerships, and milestones needed to achieve this vision before leading attendees to a special networking session with AI-generated conversation prompts.

Thank you to all who came together and discussed the latest ideas, technologies, and strategies for building a better future. We are also extremely grateful to each of the Innovate Raleigh Summit sponsors. Their support helped to make the event possible and highlighted the importance of convening, connecting, and celebrating together. Find more coverage of this event on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn using #innovateRAL.