Financial Resources
Venture Capitalists (VC’s), Seed Investors, Angel Funds
Bull City Venture Partners
201 West Main Street, Suite 100, PMB 28 Durham, NC 27701
Email: jason@bcvp.com or david@bcvp.com
A venture capital firm investing $250K to $2M in founders building software and tech-enabled companies.
Carolina Angel Network (CAN)
123 West Franklin Street, Suite 520, Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Email: brett@carolinaangel.net
A network of successful alumni, donors, and friends of UNC who are passionate about helping early-stage companies that are managed by UNC alumni.
Cofounders Capital Lab
122 E. Chatham St., Suite 301, Cary NC 27511
Provide strategic guidance and capital to promising early-stage startups. They leverage their network to support portfolio companies in recruiting, sales, finding strategic partnerships, and more. Only invest in early stage B2B software ventures in North Carolina and the Southeast USA.
Hatteras Venture Partners
280 S. Mangum St., Suite 350, Durham, NC 27701
Phone: (919) 484-0730
Hatteras’ mission is to build transformational human medicine companies that benefit patients and the professionals who serve them.
IDEA Fund Partners
101 Glen Lennox Drive, Suite 300, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27517
Email: Info@IdeaFundPartners.com
One of the most active seed and early stage venture investors in NC and throughout the Southeast. IDEA typically provides the first institutional money for the companies in which it invests. IDEA likes to make small initial investments and set aside plenty of follow-on capital for future rounds.
Intersouth Partners
4711 Hope Valley Road Suite 4F – 632, Durham, NC 27707
Phone: (919) 493-6640
Email: marketing@intersouth.com
Intersouth Partners seeks a broad range of investment opportunities in the technology and life science sectors. Their experienced team has full-cycle experience in the complex matters associated with investing in fledgling companies, including technology assessment and transfer, management team development, corporate partnering, sales growth, and successful exits.
Piedmont Angel Network (PAN)
Email: admin@piedmontangelnetwork.com
PAN is a committed capital angel fund that focuses on investment opportunities in early-stage companies that present high growth opportunities. Primary focus on the life science, technology, software, and advanced materials fields
RTP Angel Fund
Email: info@rtpangelfund.com
A committed capital fund launched in Summer 2023 to invest in and work with companies to help them grow and achieve scale. Typical early stage investments range from $50k to $250k, with an average investment amount of $150k.
RTP Capital Associates
2 Davis Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Email: info@rtpcapital.org
RTP Capital Associates is a consortium of individual accredited angel investors passionate about entrepreneurship. They have a sincere desire to help the entrepreneurs in whom they individually invest. Members of the consortium typically provide insight, guidance, mentoring, connections, and other strategic resources (including Board of Director representation) in an attempt to mitigate investment
Triangle Angel Partners
6002 Meadow Run Ct., Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Email: inquire@triangleangelpartners.com
An experienced band of angel investors in the high-tech and life sciences industries. They are interested in investing their time, analysis, and money into early life cycle companies.
Triangle Tweener Fund
Website: www.tweenerfund.com
Makes smaller investments in a relatively large number of Triangle-based companies. The focus is early stage (Seed / Series A) or Tweeners ($1 million/year and up). risk and enhance value for the regionally based seed stage companies in which they invest.
True Bridge Capital
1011 South Hamilton Rd., Suite 400, Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Phone: (919) 442-5201
Email: info@truebridgecapital.com
Identifies and invests in high-performing, access-constrained venture capital opportunities that generate premium value for its partners. The firm is recognized for its data-driven approach to investing in both venture funds and venture-backed companies.
Wolfpack Investor Network
NC State University, Campus Box 7565, Raleigh, NC 27695-7565
Phone: (919) 513-3546
Email: wolfpackinvestornetwork@ncsu.edu
The Wolfpack Investor Network (WIN) brings together the NC State entrepreneurial community, NC State alumni network, and innovative private companies to empower the businesses that drive our future. Their mission is to support the global NC State entrepreneurial community with an angel investing platform that engages and leverages the power of the NC State alumni network.
Loans
Carolina Small Business Loans & Carolina Small Business Development Fund
3128 Highwoods Blvd., Suite 170, Raleigh, NC 27604
Phone: (919) 803-1437
Provides small business loans and financial training to start-ups and existing businesses along with lending services to community-based organizations.
NC Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Center - Loans & Grants
600 Park Offices Dr., STE LL-50, Research Triangle, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 294-3740
Email: mcmbda@doa.gov
Capital needed to keep operations going and to pay bills and access to capital remains a major barrier to many minority-owned firms. Let MBDA help you better position your company. Visit one of our Minority Business Centers for more in depth one-on-one financial counseling for growth and success of your business. Get started by gathering together some basic loan documentation. MBDA does not provide loans or grants to start or expand your business. The grants MBDA does provide are to organizations that operate MBDA’s Minority Business Centers throughout the United States. These organizations provide business consulting, procurement matching, and financial assistance to minority-owned firms.
SBA Lenders
Raleigh (Virtual Office)
Website: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans
Phone: (704) 344-6563
The SBA works with lenders to provide loans to small businesses. The agency doesn’t lend money directly to small business owners. Instead, it sets guidelines for loans made by its partnering lenders, community development organizations, and micro-lending institutions. The SBA reduces risk for lenders and makes it easier for them to access capital. That makes it easier for small businesses to get loans.
Self-Help Credit Union
1405 Promise Beacon Cir, Raleigh NC 27610
Phone: (919) 827-1901
Boost your business or nonprofit with a loan, from $15,000 and up, depending on your next project. Use the loan to expand, purchase equipment or a building, or undertake renovations. Their goal is to support your vision with financing that makes good business sense. Please note that to be considered for a loan, your business must have cash flow.
Crowdfunding
NC PACES Act - NC Secretary of State
2 South Salisbury Street Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: (919) 814-5400
North Carolina has enacted its own intrastate crowdfunding law, the PACES Act. Visit the crowdfunding section of North Carolina Secretary of State’s securities site to learn more about this new option for your business venture.
Localstake North Carolina
Website: https://incolo.io/localstake/
Localstake NC is the first investment crowdfunding platform exclusively serving North Carolina. Startups and existing businesses ranging from technology startups to retail shops and restaurants can use the platform to raise money to get a company started or to help it grow. This means that your faithful customers, family, friends, and others in your network can serve as your investors.
iFund Women
41 Watchung Plaza #524, Montclair, NJ 07042
Website: https://www.ifundwomen.com/
iFund Women is a crowdfunding platform for women-led startups and small businesses.
Tax Credit
Small Business Healthcare Tax Credit
IRS Tax Office, 7751 Brier Creek Pkwy, Raleigh, NC 27617
Phone: (919) 850-1100
A federal tax credit created in 2010 to assist in offsetting the rising cost of health insurance. Starting in 2014, the maximum credit is 50 percent for small business employers and 35 percent for small tax-exempt employers. For more information on the Small Business Healthcare Tax Credit, please contact the Small Business Technology Development Center.
Work Opportunity Tax Credit / Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit
Website: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/work-opportunity-tax-credit
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is a federal tax credit program available to all private-sector employers who hire new employees from nine “targeted” groups, which have historically experienced high rates of unemployment and have had difficulty in securing employment due to a variety of employment barriers. Due to the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, this tax credit program now includes the Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit.
North Carolina Department of Commerce
Division of Employment Security, 700 Wade Ave. Raleigh, NC 27605
Customer Call Center: (888) 737-0259
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Line: (866) 847-7209
U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
Phone: (866) 487-2365