Driving economic growth

New startup data from Innovate Carolina, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s university-wide initiative for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development, shows the economic impact of startups connected with UNC-Chapel Hill continues to grow across North Carolina. Innovate Carolina’s semi-annual analysis – which celebrates ten years of data measurement this year – demonstrates why Carolina-based startups work as engines for economic growth, creating jobs and strengthening local economies  communities. 

Significant data milestones:

• In ten years of data collection, UNC has crossed the 1,000 startups milestone with 1,011 total UNC Startups identified since 1958
• 154 startups identified with $1 million or more in revenue in 2023
• 28 startups identified with 100 or more employees in 2023

Innovate Carolina’s Data Hub presents a comprehensive snapshot, including a cumulative record of outcomes for both intellectual property (IP) and non-IP startups. During calendar year 2023, the data demonstrate how UNC startups and ventures make a significant economic impact:

• $18.4 billion in annual revenue earned by UNC-affiliated startups
• 96% of $18.4 billion in annual revenue ($17.7 billion) from ventures headquartered in North Carolina
• 15,305 people employed in North Carolina at UNC startups with 109,672 people employed by Carolina startups worldwide
• 84% of active UNC-Chapel Hill startups (539 of 644) are headquartered across 39 counties in North Carolina
• $156 million in funding raised during calendar year 2023 (a total of $19.4 billion raised since 1958)

“Carolina is a place of enormous opportunity for research & innovation and I’m energized by the impact our startups continue to make across the state and in our local communities,” says Dedric A. Carter, PhD, MBA, Chief Innovation Officer and Vice Chancellor of innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development at UNC-Chapel Hill. “As we continue to catalyze innovation here at UNC through research translation, commercialization and tech-based economic development, we are committed to nurturing a culture of innovation that empowers founders as they translate their ideas into technologies and ventures that impact the human condition.”

Innovate Carolina offers support and services to faculty and student entrepreneurs at UNC-Chapel Hill and to those outside the university. These include patent landscaping and market research services, which help entrepreneurs ensure that their ideas are market ready, as well as design thinking consultations and workshops that guide entrepreneurs to develop products and services that customers want. 

In addition, Innovate Carolina connects faculty and student entrepreneurs with several startup accelerators and communities housed at the Innovate Carolina Junction that boost local startups and contribute to the University’s economic impact: 

• Launch Chapel Hill is an award-winning startup accelerator and co-working space created through a partnership between the University, the Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County. Since 2013, 197 companies have graduated from the accelerator program and have raised $91.1 million in funding. In 2023, these companies were responsible for 4,105 jobs, nearly 91% of which are in North Carolina, and generated more than $99.3 million in revenue. 
• 1789 is UNC’s student innovation community and entrepreneurship hub. For Carolina students and alumni who are interested in starting their own venture, 1789 offers support, mentorship, business coaches and essential services. The hub also offers workshops, office hours and events. Since 2014, 1789 has supported 332 ventures and teams that have raised $107.8 million in total funding. 
• Kickstart Venture Services supports Carolina faculty entrepreneurs and research-based startups by providing education, early-stage funding and on-campus accelerator space. Since 2009, KickStart Venture Services has provided consulting, programming, funding and other support to 169 startups, including more than $3 million in awards to 85 of them. KickStart portfolio companies have raised almost $7.8 billion in total funding, including $87 million in calendar year 2023 alone.

Over the past year, a number of UNC-affiliated startups made significant advances. Beginning today and continuing over the next five days, Innovate Carolina is highlighting seven startups that garnered their own milestones this past year: AskBio, Cell MicroSystems, Eats2Seats, Focal Medical, Hope Renovations, Renovion and Spiffy.

Visit here over the next five days to learn more:

AskBio, a fully integrated gene therapy company dedicated to developing life-saving medicines and changing lives, recently announced that the first patient has been randomized in GenePHIT (Gene PHosphatase Inhibition Therapy), a Phase II trial of AB-1002 (also known as NAN-101) for the treatment of congestive heart failure. The company’s clinical pipeline covers a broad range of central nervous system, neuromuscular, metabolic and cardiovascular disorders. Started in 2001 by co-founders Jude Samulski, PhD, life science attorney Sheila Mikhail and Xiao Xiao, PhD, AskBio is on a mission to advance genetic technology and life-saving gene therapy and are singularly focused on the goal to erase genetic disease.

Cell MicroSystems allows researchers to image, identify and isolate viable single cells and clonal colonies for downstream analysis. Its core CellRaft technology was invented in the lab of former Carolina biomedical engineering professor Nancy Allbritton, MD, PhD, who co-founded the company with chemistry professor Christopher Sims, MD, and researcher Yuli Wang, PhD. The company is leapfrogging traditional technologies for single-cell cloning, culturing, analysis and isolation and its technology allows scientists to get better results, faster. The company received an additional $6.5 million investment as part of its $13 million Series B financing in 2023.

Eats2Seats, founded by Carolina alumna Mary Laci Motley, is a concessions service company that connects young adults with flexible work opportunities in sports and entertainment venues while offering nonprofit groups a fundraising opportunity through concession operations. The organization’s 3000+ team base provides top-tier service in nine states across more than 30 venues. Motley was recently named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. 

Spiffy, a premier mobile maintenance and detailing company, recently closed its Series C financing round, raising $30 million to drive growth across the business and fuel its innovative solution for automotive dealers. Headquartered in RTP, Spiffy offers convenient and eco-conscious car care for individuals and fleets across the country, including wash and detail, oil changes, brake services and mobile tire change.

Focal Medical develops targeted therapeutic products built on its active, energy-based targeting technology. The company’s implantable technology uses an electrical field to deliver drugs in higher concentrations to hard-to-reach tumor cells. It was developed via a collaboration between former UNC-Chapel Hill chemistry professor and serial entrepreneur Joseph DeSimone, PhD, and Jen Jen Yeh, MD, a distinguished cancer surgeon, who is a professor in the departments of surgery and pharmacology at the UNC School of Medicine. In January 2024, Focal Medical received clearance for its investigational new drug application from the FDA to begin a Phase Ib clinical trial this summer of its targeted therapeutic product, ACT-IOP-003, for pancreatic cancer.   

Explore Innovate Carolina’s data hub.

About the Innovate Carolina Data Hub
Innovate Carolina’s semi-annual startups analysis is powered by the Innovate Carolina Data Hub, a novel, proprietary database that captures and reports on how the University’s commercial and social ventures make an economic and social impact. The database makes it possible for the Innovate Carolina team and departments across the university to capture key information and data about Carolina’s startup companies founded by faculty, students, staff and recent alumni.