SSR - January 5, 2024
This survey caught my attention and I feel it is important to share. Women Who Tech conducted a State of Women in Tech and Startups survey with 930 female respondents who work in the tech sector. The results are staggering. The bottom line is women continue to be harassed at alarming rates and they are barely raising a dime for their startups. According to the 2023 survey, 41% of women founders were harassed. Of these, 50% were propositioned for sex in exchange for funding. And it’s not just founders – 43% of female investors say they too have been harassed in business settings. Why do I know in my bones that this survey tells the truth? Because it happened to #metoo.
Louisiana
Louisiana has a number of exciting large-scale developments starting in 2024. First, the State is welcoming its first two offshore wind farms. Vestas-owned Cajun Wind was granted nearly 60,000 acres off Cameron Parish and Mitsubishi-owned Diamond Offshore Wind was approved for a 6,162-acre area off Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes. The former Six Flags site in New Orleans East is finally slated for redevelopment. Local businessman Troy Henry has gathered support from a number of private and public partners under the Bayou Phoenix umbrella to bring this massive $500M project to fruition. The 227-acre development plan includes youth sporting facilities, two hotels, movie theatres, a water park, amphitheater, and more. Finally, The River District, a new $1.5B neighborhood on 47 acres adjacent to the New Orleans Convention Center, broke ground in November. The development will include office buildings, apartments, entertainment venues, and other attractions, including a Topgolf driving range.
In ESO news, Opportunity Machine in Lafayette has opened Interest Forms for its Spring 2024 Cohort of The Builder Program. It’s a great program – please help spread the word! GNO, Inc. released a list of highly impressive wins from 2023. Check them out under the Our Impact section on their website. NexusLA in Baton Rouge awarded the $10K BizTech Challenge award to Southern University and A&M student Joshuai Grant. And last, but not least, The Idea Village released its FY22-23 Impact Report showing amazing results and wins from the past year. It’s IDEAinstitute program supported and educated 171 founders in launching innovation-driven businesses and its VILLAGEx accelerator served 13 companies, raising $14.7M in capital.
Alabama
According to Area Development Magazine, Alabama ranks best in the nation in terms of its favorable regulatory environment and the sixth-best nationwide for doing business. Helena Duncan, CEO of the Business Council of Alabama adds “Alabamians and business owners have long been aware of our state’s distinct advantages — a highly skilled workforce coupled with a business-friendly environment defined by low taxes and minimal regulations.” In line with this ranking, Business Alabama reported a new exports record for 2022 with $25.5B in Made-in-Alabama goods sent to 196 countries around the globe.
In Birmingham, health care startup Acclinate announced a new partnership with Merck to help boost the participation of African Americans in oncology clinical studies. Acclinate is a digital health company focused on improving health equity through predictive analytics technology and community engagement. Finally, congrats to Brilyn Hollyhand, a Tuscaloosa Academy student, for winning the Fourth Congressional District Digital App Challenge. The app that allows people nationwide to register to vote via smartphone.
Florida
Some highs and lows to report today from the Sunshine State. In 2023, Togal.AI reported impressive 940% growth. Founded by former congressman Patrick Murphy, Togal.AI has developed an AI-powered platform that streamlines the planning process for construction projects. Unfortunately, electric scooter rental company Bird has not done so well. The company recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The news comes two years after the Miami-based company went public after merging with special purpose acquisition company Switchback II in a deal reportedly valued at $2.3B. Bird’s market cap is currently about $2.08M.
There are very few equity raises to report today. FirmPilot closed its $2M seed round led by Atlanta-based Valor VC. FirmPilot is an AI platform to help lawyers with their marketing efforts, ultimately enabling them to get more leads and clients. M&A activity was very high this month. Endrock Growth and Analytics, a consumer analytics, data intelligence and growth experimentation agency, has been acquired by Power Digital, a tech-enabled growth marketing firm based in San Diego. DealPulse, a Maker5 Venture Studio company, announced that it intends to acquire Matterhorn Transactions, provider of deal analytics to attorneys and financial professionals across the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Finally, Miami-based NEORIS announced that it has acquired ForeFront, one of Salesforce’s top partners.
Georgia
There are some major developments underway in Georgia. First, Atlanta is gaining a new life science/ R&D focused development district called Science Square. Located on 18 acres west of Georgia Tech’s campus, the development will be a mixed-use space catering to R&D-heavy companies. The first tenant will be Portal Innovations, a Chicago-based life sciences VC firm. Portal is bringing two things that local life science innovators say have been missing in the city: industry-specific venture capital and fully-equipped lab space. Portal raised $100 million earlier this year. Up next - David Cummings and Jon Birdsong, two Atlanta residents best known as Partners in Atlanta Ventures and Atlanta Tech Village have revealed plans to expand to an area of the city known as South Downtown, near Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the Gulch. The plan is to purchase 53 buildings that were headed for foreclosure as part of a second location for the Atlanta Tech Village.
In ESO news, an Altanta accelerator is closing its doors. Comcast NBC’s The Farm Accelerator is winding down, however, its other ESO programs, including Comcast Sportstech, Project UP, Comcast RISE, LIFT Labs, and Comcast Ventures, will continue. Congratulations to the three winners of Startup Runway, who each brought home a $10K check: Revere XR, Simp Now, and Shown Live.
North Carolina
Belhaven, a biopharma startup in Raleigh, has devised a more patient-friendly, rapid-acting, and cost-effective way to administer epinephrine during emergencies. In contrast to the traditional EpiPen injection, Belhaven’s dry powder formulation of epinephrine can be administered into the nose with a simple, pre-filled nasal device. The startup is currently raising a $3M seed round of funding. Founded in 2021, Belhaven previously raised two seed rounds of angel investment along with two loans from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
Applications are now open for a new round of grantmaking from the One North Carolina Small Business Program, a key source of capital for North Carolina’s emerging tech companies. The program provides reimbursement to qualified NC businesses for a portion of the costs incurred in preparing and submitting Phase I SBIR or STTR proposals to federal agencies. Additionally, there are a slew of upcoming grant opportunities for organizations that support tech and entrepreneurship in NC. Check out the full list here.
Tennessee
Stuart C. McWhorter, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, commented that a recent study commissioned by his office validates what he had been feeling: Tennessee is behind many neighboring states in its investment in technology-based economic development (TBED). Titled Scaling Up . . . Benchmarking and Recommendations for Growing Tennessee’s Tech-Based Economy, the report shows that TN ranked 9th out of 10 neighboring states in TBED expenditures in FY23. Only Mississippi spent less money. Tennessee only appropriated $16M for TBED activities - compared to the next lowest state, South Carolina, at $28M. To match the funding from the top four peer states, Tennessee would need to appropriate $53.2M on an annual basis. Overall, Tennessee only invested $33 for every $1M in state GDP. Five of the other nine states invested more than $100 per $1M in GDP. Indiana ranked the highest with at $423 per $1M GDP.
In Knoxville, Holocene Climate Corporation has been named one of the 7 semifinalists in the development phase of the Direct Air Capture Pre-Commercial Prize from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. The first part of the three-phase program awarded a total of $1.05M in cash and technical assistance for technology solutions that reduce carbon dioxide pollution by removing it directly from the atmosphere.