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.