Courtesy of Upstate Business Journal
Returning for its eighth year, the NEXT Venture Summit will highlight 10 of the region’s most exciting startups and offer expanded opportunities for entrepreneurs to connect with funders, founders and other experts over two days starting Sept. 12.
The summit has evolved into the premier gathering of the area’s startup community and showcases the dynamic nature of entrepreneurship in Greenville and the wider region, according to Eric Weissmann, NEXT’s executive director.
The summit kicks off Sept. 12 from 1-5 p.m. at Huguenot Mill with an invitation-only investor match day where startups will have the chance to connect with potential investors.
The summit conference follows on Sept. 13 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Greenville One Center with a variety of keynote speakers. The day will also spotlight 10 of the region’s most exciting startups.
“(These companies) represent a good narrative of what is going on in this region,” Weissmann said. “It’s a great mixture of companies. Some have raised money, some are hiring people — as well as some that are spin-outs or about to take off.”
The featured companies are:
- Boyd Cycling, a Greenville-based bicycle wheel manufacturer specializing in high-end wheels for road, gravel, cyclocross, and mountain bikes. The company designs and produces carbon and alloy wheels at its manufacturing facility off White Horse Road and is a key player in the area’s cycling economy.
- CarbonCents, a Walhalla-based firm which provides software platform solutions for companies and organizations to collect and analyze data on energy usage with an eye toward reducing their carbon footprint.
- Kiyatec, a Greenville-based company which uses predictive modeling to assess how a patient’s unique cells will respond to a given cancer treatment. This rapidly-growing startup’s technology promises to enable physicians to isolate only the effective treatments for their patients as quickly as possible.
- Rymedi, a Greenville-based company which has developed a blockchain-enabled platform that empowers health workers and patients to improve the quality and efficiency of care by securely linking the patient, provider, institution, employer and lab, creating a marketplace of health solutions with each module optimized for a client’s unique needs.
- ScopeStack, a Greenville-based software solutions firm which provides a business-to-business platform managing scoping and pricing for IT services. The company raised $1.5 million in series A funding earlier this year.
- Skillsgapp, a Greenville-based firm which aims to transform career awareness, access to job pathways, and skill development into engaging mobile video games. In 2021, the company was selected to use its apps to provide a customized curriculum to students in a California school district. Skillsgapp is an SCbio partner in workforce development initiatives fro life sciences.
- StarkRFID, a Greenville-based event and venue management solution provider which uses radio frequency identification to deliver the security, control, engagement and intelligence venues need to ensure a safe and successful event.
- SyncMD, an Anderson-based company which provides patients secure mobile technology to collect, store, and share their personal health information. The company’s patented technologies put the patient in control of their medical information.
- TrebleHook, A Greenville-based project pursuit platform developer for architecture, engineering and construction projects that helps teams centralize project data and enhance customer relationships.
- WAVS Custom, a Greenville-based startup which uses high-resolution scans using a cell phone camera to produce custom-fit earbuds. The company’s patented process allows customers to 3D scan their ears to produce earbuds that are a fraction of the cost of comparable alternatives.