Jim Roberts has led the transformation of the once tiny startup ecosystem of coastal Wilmington, North Carolina into an environment on par with cities like Charlotte and Raleigh. This has resulted in national attention and the establishment of Wilmington as an emerging hub for tech entrepreneurs. We spoke with Jim about the importance of community building organizations, his experience leading an angel investor capital network outside of a traditional tech hub, and the impact of a more restricted definition of an accredited investor on startups.

As a mom, Laurel Hess understands the difficulties of multitasking and juggling competing priorities around the home. She created hampr to provide busy people with freshly done laundry and community members with a source of additional income. We spoke with her about the multiple ways hampr benefits local communities, the impact of various data privacy laws on her business, and her experience as a mom and woman founder.

Modgarden is on a mission to provide city residents with an opportunity to take control of the way their food is grown. After food cured his own illnesses, Founder and CEO Aamar Khwaja wanted to find a way for everyone to access organic, healthy food, and built tinyFarm. We spoke to him about his background on Wall Street, the unique difficulties he faces with a hardware company, and his goals for Modgarden.

Mavity offers businesses a unique chance to find and hire a dream team of creative professionals at a fraction of the traditional cost and time. We talked to Co-Founder and CEO Tomás Uribe about his Colombian background, his experience within the U.S. immigration system, and the impact of having an international employment structure.

With an academic and entrepreneurial background in the sciences, Utopic Ventures Founder and General Partner Neil Thanedar seeks to provide pre-seed capital to an underserved segment of the innovation ecosystem: scientist-run startups. We spoke with Neil about his passion for scientific and deep-tech companies, the impact of the accredited investor definition on the investing world, and his desire to make Michigan the next tech hub.

100 percent-disabled veteran Dr. Ahmad Glover had a goal of developing touchless wireless power networking technologies that would recharge devices and provide power the same way that we get WiFi: over the air. We spoke with Dr. Glover about his unique experience with the U.S. innovation ecosystem, the importance of telecom and power in rural areas, and how policymakers should think about spectrum selloff and prioritizing

Zinnia Founder & CEO Lauren Marturano founded her company with the goal of making offsite corporate planning a seamless process by simplifying travel and agenda planning for groups. We spoke with her about her experiences as a woman founder fundraising and building a product, the importance of startup accelerators, and how it’s been navigating data privacy issues. 

After first hand experience with California’s water crisis, Lumo CEO Devon Wright decided to create a solution to make farmers’ water use cost-efficient and remotely accessible. We sat down with him to hear about his experience as a serial entrepreneur, the importance of broadband access to rural communities, and the ways the U.S. can realize our sustainability goals.

getWise is an online platform that offers affordable access to exclusive video tips and training from vetted and trusted experts. When major life events forced her to restart her career, founder Kathryn Rose used the power of her professional network and crafted a vision for getWise. We spoke with her about her arduous fundraising journey, navigating numerous privacy frameworks, and the need for resources for women entrepreneurs. 

Emily Brown, Co-Founder and CEO of Free From Market, is an ardent believer that food is medicine. She has firsthand experience with the impact that a lack of access to healthy foods can have on health outcomes, and created an e-commerce service to address this very issue. We spoke with her about her thoughts on barriers to accessing capital, compliance with data privacy rules, and current restrictions around SNAP and EBT eligibility.

Lightscline is building AI-based software that helps engineering teams achieve up to 90 percent cost reduction in sensor data pipeline management. The software collects 2-10x fewer data, reducing the power, compute, storage, transmission, and latency in digital transformation applications. Deep tech-focused founder Ankur Verma gave us insight into his background as a student entrepreneur operating with his University’s support, his experience navigating the U.S.’s immigration system, and his goals for Lightscline.

Global Response Systems ("GRS") provides physicians, dentists, chiropractors, and urgent care clinics with HIPPA-compliant communications tools such as messaging solutions and secure file sharing. We sat down with CEO Joshua Denhardt to get a sense of current interoperability between electronic medical record systems, his experience building a company headquartered in rural Wyoming, and the importance of net neutrality for startups.

After many encounters with financial advisors who failed to understand her on a cultural and personal level, Tani Chambers wanted to create a judgment-free space for Black women to achieve their wealth goals. As Founder and CEO of RAVN, a wealth-planning platform that matches women with finance professionals and peer accountability groups based on their values and goals, she’s done just that. We spoke with Tani about her background, how RAVN operates within state-based privacy frameworks, and how policymakers can step in to make capital access more equitable for startups.