You don’t need to be in Silicon Valley to grow a unicorn.
Just ask Pendo, the downtown Raleigh firm that's focused on product adoption software. On July 28, the company closed a $150 million round.
Or ask growing solar technology firm Strata Solar, the Chapel Hill company that reported a $150 million round on April 1. And then there's Epic Games, the Cary-based video game developer behind “Fortnite,” which reported a $1 billion raise on April 13.
Inch by inch, Triangle’s growth-stage companies are making ground. And exit rumors are swirling.
And while universities fuel much of the innovation, entrepreneurs from outside of the region are starting to figure out the Triangle’s secret, too.
Take Wild Earth, a vegan dog food company famous for its appearance on “Shark Tank.” During the pandemic, CEO Ryan Bethencourt made a break for it – escaping the density of San Francisco for the Triangle – a move that allowed his firm to save about 50 percent on business costs. And it didn’t put a dent in its funding, as the firm recently closed $23 million.
Similarly George Kirkland left San Francisco for the Triangle. Kirkland, whose last startup, RaiseMe, sold to CampusLogic, decided on Durham for his next startup, HomeCloud.
As of Triangle Inno’s launch on Sept. 14, Triangle area startups had publicly reported nearly $2.4 billion in outside capital raises so far in 2021 – proving investors, too, are buying into the region’s value proposition.
Here's a look at who's raising cash: