Regional Support Organizations and Information Sources

Council for Entrepreneurial Development, the catalyst for business growth in NC. The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) was founded in 1984 to stimulate the creation and growth of high impact companies in North Carolina.

Piedmont Triad Research Park (PTRP) a regional research park located in Winston Salem offering facilities for established companies as well as wet lab space for new ventures. PTRP is being developed by Wake Forest University.

North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) is the statewide non-profit trade association representing the technology industry. The organization is largely focused on information technology but does includes some other areas.

Small Business and Technology Development Center a business development service of the University of North Carolina system in partnership with the US Small Business Administration (SBA).

Wake Forest University Angell Center for Entrepreneurship – The Angell Center is part of the Babcock School of Business and provides educational and community resources in the area of entrepreneurship.

Wake Forest University Office of Entrepreneurship and Liberal Arts – This office is responsible for pioneering undergraduate educational models and providing entrepreneurial resources to WFU undergrad students.

Wake Forest University Office of Technology Asset Management (OTAM) the technology transfer office at Wake Forest University.

Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce Technology Council – the high tech support group within the local chamber of commerce.

National Organizations

The Angel Capital Association is North America’s professional alliance of angel groups. This fast-growing association brings together many of the 265 angel organizations in the United States and Canada to share best practices, network, and help develop data about the field of angel investing. The site also has an excellent directory.

The Angel Capital Education Foundation is an organization to assist and educate angel investors. The site contains excellent resources on investing, deal terms, and valuations.

Edward Lowe Foundation The Lowe Foundation is an organization dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs. The foundation maintains a rich set of helpful articles in the resource section.

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is an operating and grant making foundation that works toward the vision of self-sufficient people in healthy communities.

Incubator.com – a global, virtual community of incubators, startups, and investors where the critical success factors of business incubation are provided online and free of charge.

National Business Incubation Association NBIA provides thousands of professionals with the information, education, advocacy and networking resources to bring excellence to the process of assisting early-stage companies.

National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers The National Consortium has been formulated and developed over the last five years through the vision and support of the Kauffman Foundation Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Through the leadership of the University of Maryland, University of Southern California, and Ball State University, conferences were developed to bring together the best entrepreneurship centers in the United States. These conferences lead to the realization that greater collaboration among the directors of Entrepreneurship Centers would enhance and foster improvements in curriculum, research, outreach, projects and financial support for entrepreneurship.

National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer (NCET2) An organization to support universities and university spinouts. The organization hosts conferences and workshops. There are also topical resources available at the site.

National Venture Capital Association (VC trade association group…list and links to member firms (extensive), order books other information).

U.S. Small Business Administration is a great source of a variety of information regarding small businesses and entrepreneurship.

STI (State Science and Technology Institute) Excellent source of economic development information and how to use technology to expand local economies. They have an excellent guide to high tech economic development available for free download.

Grants and Awards

Grants.gov – the primary place to find opportunities for grants and awards from US Government agencies.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs provide over 1 billion dollars a year to small businesses and university affiliates for research and development in a wide range of scientific and technical areas.

SBIR Gateway – an excellent portal linking almost all resources needed to research SBIR/STTR grants.

SBTDC SBIR/STTR Support Information an essential collection of supporting resources for obtaining grants including guidelines and sample grant submissions.

Regional Angel Investor Groups

North Carolina

Blue Ridge Angel Investment Network (BRAIN) – Asheville, NC

Inception Micro Angel Fund a growing network of angel investors across North Carolina

Piedmont Angel Network Triad area, NC

SilkRoad Equity Winston-Salem, NC

Wed3 Charlotte, NC

Triangle Accredited Capital Forum Wake Forest, NC

Wilmington Investor Network Wilmington, NC

Southeast

Angel Network of Sumner County Hendersonville, TN

Ariel Savannah Angel Partners Savannah, GA

Atlanta Technology Angels Atlanta, GA

Charleston Angel Partners Charleston, SC

Emergent Growth Fund Gainesville, FL

Nashville Capital Network Nashville, TN

New World Angels Boca Raton, FL

Seraph Group Atlanta, GA

Springboard Capital Jacksonville, FL

Winter Park Angels Winter Park, FL

Mid Atlantic

Active Angel Investors Vienna, VA

Angel Investors of Greater Washington, Washington, DC

BlueTree Allied Angels Pittsburgh, PA

Delaware Crossing Investor Group Doylestown, PA

Jefferson Corner Group Charlottesville, VA

Virginia Active Angel Network Charlottesville, VA

Regional Venture Investors

A. M. Pappas & Associates – life sciences focused firm

Hatteras Venture Partners RTP based biosciences specialty firm

Idea Fund Partners a seed and early stage fund in North Carolina

Intersouth Partners general firm located in RTP

Southern Capital Ventures an early stage North Carolina venture fund

Books/Articles

The Art of the Start. Guy Kawasaki

Corporate Entrepreneurship & Innovation Kuratko, Covin, and Morris

The Entrepreneurial Venture. Stevenson, Roberts, Bhide, and Sahlman

Founders at Work. Jessica Livingston

The Intentional Entrepreneur. Bodde

Technology Ventures From Idea to Enterprise. Byers and Dorf

The Entrepreneurs Guide to Business Law Bagley and Dauchy

Additional Resources

American Venture Magazine An extensive site with discussions, articles, and resources on venture capital and entrepreneurship.

The Angel Journal A publication dedicated to angel investing. Many articles and resources are available for entrepreneurs and investors alike.

The Business Plan Archive a research database for scholars interested in studying high-tech entrepreneurship in the Dot Com Era and beyond.

eClips A site with an extensive set of videos on entrepreneurship sponsored by Cornell University.

edCorner. A site with extensive educational resources on entrepreneurship including videos by Stanford University.

Entrepreneur.com An extensive web site of information for entrepreneurs sponsored by Entrepreneur Magazine.

The Entrepreneur’s Help Page features many items and resources for new businesses.

FoundationCenter.org The Foundation Center’s mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy.

Guy Kawasaki’s Blog A rich set of guidance on startups by Guy Kawasaki, one of the most prolific and practical writers on startups.

Jason Caplain’s Blog Jason is a venture partner at Southern Ventures and comments extensively on venture capital and especially venture activity in the southeast.

Southeast Techwire A daily newsletter on entrepreneurial activity in the Southeast.

The Philanthropy Journal is dedicated to helping people understand, support and work in the nonprofit and philanthropic world, and help them recognize and solve social problems.

WRAL Local Techwire A website with available email alerts that tracks startup and high tech activity in North Carolina and the Southeast.