Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Past Events

2014 

High Tide Breakfast 

Every Wednesday, 8:30am, CIE

Two 6 minute value proposition pitches from two startups and one introduction to a local or visiting mentor. Students and community are welcome to help building our startup community.

Social Marketing Leads to Raising the Next Glass at CIE Social Gathering 

December 16, 4:00pm, CIE

How did Next Glass use social marketing to push into 100,000 downloads in 48 hours? Panelists included Josh Harcus, Huify; Mandy Curtin and Robyn Deely, Next Glass; Jamie Mottram, For the Win and was moderated by Jeanne Persuit, assistant professor of communication studies at UNCW. A reception followed celebrating our successes that contributed to a GREAT year for CIE. This event was hosted in partnership with the UNCW Swain Center and Next Glass. Thank you to our event sponsor: Wide Open Technologies.

TechTalk - Internet of Things with Scott Moody

November 19, 4:00pm, CIE 

TechTalk is a free quarterly series for the tech industry hosted by WaveRiver, Inc. Scott Moody was the featured guest. Moody is the previous co-founder of AuthenTec which was aquired by Apple in 2012 (the only public company ever acquired by Apple). You now know their products as the Touch ID featured on the iPhone 5s-6 Plus. It is that same focus on the consumer, on making lives better, that forms the foundation of Moody's current company, K4Connect.

Entremanureship: "What business schools don't teach you about entrepreneurship"

October 23, 4:00pm 

Overcome the "Never-Ending Maybe" in the Sales Process 

October 16, 4:00pm

The original way to grow your company and make more money is to sell more products. A huge challene in sales in a convervative market is overcoming the "never-ending maybe," or how prospects delay decision-making until you stop asking. Attendees learned better qualifying skills to improve sales results with prospects and even potential investors from the experts at Accelerence.

Coastal Connect Entrepreneur and Capital Conference

September 4, 8:45am

 The Business of Beer at the Beach

August 11, 4:00pm 

David Gardner, Angel Investor for Fortnight Brewing Company, Dino Radosta ofWhite Street Brewing Company, and Derek Allen and Hayley Wells of Ward and Smith, P.A. were here to discuss the growing business of microbreweries in North Carolina. Thank you to our Event Sponsor, Ward and Smith, P.A andPort City Brew Bus.

Seahawk Bored Meeting 

August 8, 4:00pm

CIE partnered with the traditional Seahawk Bored Meeting to learn about Elite Innovations' Maker Space in Wilmington. A 6,000 square-foot facility is being outfitted with all the prototyping equipment makers/inventors would need to turn their ideas into working products and possibly even take them to market.

Tom Fisher, Senior VP & CIO of Cloud at Oracle Corp. 

July 17, 4:00pm

Fisher has worked with some of the tech titans of the world and for some of the largest tech companies in the world such as IBM, Gateway Computer, eBay and Qualcomm. He is now the senior vice president and CIO of the cloud for Oracle. Tom is a proud NC native, UNC Charlotte graduate and a technology rock star and investor. Thank you to our Event Sponsor, Carlyle & Conlan.

Early Angels, Angel Groups and Venture Capitalists 

June 19, 4:00pm

Need investor capital for your business? Attend this discussion with John Cambier from Idea Fund Partners, Mike Rhoades from Wilmington Investor Network and Tobin Geatz from Seahawk Innovation Funds. Discussion moderated by Tracy Harris, GCM Grosvenor. Thank you to our Event Sponsor, UBS, Pearson Patterson & Smith Wealth Management.

NCTA Tech Tour 

May 29

An initiative of the North Carolina Technology Association to highlight both the statewide impact of the Assocation and the vibrancy of the tech sector. This was NCTA's second tour of Wilmington.

Greater Wilmington Business Journal Coastal Entrepreneur Awards 

May 22

The winners listed below were honored at a large awards breakfast. The overall winner for 2014 was Next Glass.

Cape Fear Clinic - www.capefearclinic.org (Non-Profit)
DocsInk - www.docsink.com (Emerging Company)
National Speed - www.nationalspeedinc.com (Retail)
Next Glass - www.nextglass.co (Internet-Related Company)
Odyssey Fire Protection - www.odysseyfire.com (Manufacturing & Distribution)
Quality Chemical Laboratories - www.qualitychemlabs.com(Biotechnology)
SIVAD Business Solutions - www.sivadsolutions.com (Technology)
TOZAL - www.tozalrx.com (Health Care)
Wilmington Area Rebuilding Industry - www.warmnc.org (Non-Profit)
Without Limits - www.iamwithoutlimits.com (Services)

Internship Summit 

May 13

The UNCW Career Center hosted a presentation and panel discussion on the new Certified Internship Program, legal updates on internships and how to create a great internship program.

The Big 5 Employers: Pains That Keep Us Up at Night

April 24

innovat!on fund North Carolina 

April 15

Tony Mifsud of theInnovation Fund North Carolina (Kauffman Foundation) based in Hickory, N.C., presented on who should apply, how to apply, and why to apply for funding with the Innovation Fund of North Carolina. CIE Tenant GO2 recently earned $75,000 from this fund.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship with the Military 

March 25

Speakers included: Brad Guay, U.S. Army Research Office; John Pannacione, Logic Bay; TA Mickey Finn, North Carolina Military Business Center

Connecting with Connectors: Building a Bridge from the Coast to the Triangle 

February 20, 4:00pm

Speakers included: Larry Steffan, Wireless Resource Center of North Carolina; Merrill Mason, Smith Anderson Law; Michelle Calton, North Carolina Technology Association; Bob Creeden, Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network. They discussed the basics of entrepreneurial development and the building blocks of a technology economy and how to connect to NC resources.

Wilmington Area IT Professionals Breakfast Panel: Status of Software Development and Innovation in Wilmington 

February 18, 7:30am

 Our panelists came from a variety of backgrounds with experience from working for large organizations to smaller consulting/contracting firms to start up IT industries. Panelists included John Berry (IBM), Tanner Clayton (WaveRider), Forrest Maready (NextGlass.co) and Ron Vetter (UNCW).

NC IDEA Spring 2014 Grant Cycle 

February 7, 12:00pm 

NC IDEA visited Wilmington to speak on how to apply for a grant, what they look for in an application and what types of companies are eligible for funding. Justin Beard of SnapYeti and a UNCW graduate is a recent NC IDEA grant winner who presented at the program as well. Check out this video of SnapYeti and the CIE on Time Warner Cable News!

3D Printing with Tom Kurke (GeoMagic) and local General Electric engineers 

January 16, 4:00pm

Former President of GeoMagic, Inc. which sold to 3D Systems for $55 million. According to reports, 3D printing will be a 6 billion dollar industry by 2017. Tom discussed the potential of advanced manufacturing within the local and US economy.