Every month, we recap the biggest tech and startup happenings in Rhode Island. (To get this info every Tuesday, sign up for the Rhode Island Inno Beat newsletter.)
Let’s dive in.
Providence-based Feast & Fettle continued its expansion into Connecticut last month as they added West Hartford, Avon and Simsbury to the list of towns they serve. They also announced plans to serve several additional towns in Fairfield County including Trumbull, Ridgefield, Redding, Wilton and Weston by adding a second facility in the state. Feast & Fettle Director of Marketing Sarah MacDougall said the company is eyeing a second location in Connecticut to support the expanding customer base.
In September, Rhode Island startup Pointz joined the Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator out of Portland, Maine. They will spend the next three months working with mentors from Techstars and The Roux Institute. Pointz is a mapping app that crowdsources safer bike & scooter routes. The company was founded in January 2021 by Brown University students.
Last month, Rhode Island's Clarke Valve announced it was ready to scale its dilating disk valve technology, a climate-friendly alternative to traditional industrial valves after a $5 million Series D funding round led by Flowserve Corporation, with additional funding from OGCI Climate Investments, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, and New World Angels. According to CEO Kyle Daniels, his new technology helps stop methane leaks in oil and gas infrastructure and can radically reduce the release of so-called “fugitive emissions” into the atmosphere.
Last month, RI Inno spoke to the organizers of RI Startup Week to preview some of the events at the October convention. This is the second consecutive year that RIHub has hosted a full week of events centered around entrepreneurship and startup culture. The not-for-profit organization started the idea with RI Startup Day in 2018 and followed it up with RI Startup Weekend in 2020.
In late September, Branchfood, the Boston-based launchpad for food businesses, officially opened in Rhode Island with a kick off celebration at the Cambridge Innovation Center in Providence, featuring Secretary of Commerce Liz Tanner, Blount Fine Foods CEO Todd Blount and Hope & Main founder Lisa Raiola. Over the past seven years, founder Lauren Abda notes, Branchfood has helped more than 800 startups and small businesses in the New England area.
