Education & Play Takes the Win at Pitch for Pitchers

With spring in full swing, Pitch for Pitchers took to the outdoors last week on the side patio of Urban Orchard Cider Co. Five entrepreneurs stepped up to the mic to pitch their inspiring 1-minute business ideas to an engaged crowd. The crowd favorite was Corey...

UGoTour and Local Flavor Win WCU Pitch Competitions

Mobile app startups took top prizes during pitch competitions held last week at the LEAD: Innovation Summit at Western Carolina University. Paul Hedgecock, co-founder of UGoTour and a One Million Cups AVL organizer, won 1st place and $2,500 in the Bright Ideas Rocket...

City of Asheville Ranks #40 in InfoWeek’s Elite 100

Pop quiz. Which of these organizations is most innovative based on their IT performance: Intuit, General Motors, Humana or the City of Asheville? Did you guess Asheville? Booyah! Nailed it. InformationWeek's Elite 100 rankings are out and the City of Asheville ranks...

North Carolina 2nd Fastest Growing State for Solar Power

Solar companies take heart; North Carolina is booming in solar energy deployment. Driven by a cost drop of more than 50% in recent years as a result of technology advancements and smart tax credits, the NC solar market is forecast by Pew to attract $7.8 billion in new...

1 Million Cups Asheville Startup Presentations Now Online

Venture Asheville's anchor weekly event, One Million Cups of Coffee, is now online. Since last fall when we launched 1MC, over 30 startup founders have taken advantage of the forum to present their businesses to our growing startup community. We're now capturing video...

One Million Cups presents AnthroWare 5/6

Anthroware, a local software design and development agency, is creating a new app designed to make in-person networking more efficient and effective by identifying who's in the room and what you need to know about them. On Wednesday, May 6 at 9am at RISC Networks (81...

Tech Networking 5/6 with Tech Talent South

Join TTS for a drink with fellow entrepreneurs and coders at Wicked Weed on Wednesday, May 6th at 6pm to chat about what's new in Asheville's tech and startup scenes and kick around some awesome ideas.  Tech Talent South offers full and part-time coding programs to...

#1 Leather Shop on Etsy, In Blue Handmade, Wins $25,000 FedEx Grant

As one of only 10 small businesses nationwide – and the only one in the Southeast – to win a FedEx grant, In Blue Handmade has been awarded $25,000 to fund its growth. In Blue Handmade is the #1 ranked leather shop on Etsy.com, boasting over 43,000 units sold and more...

ScaleUp WNC Invites 2nd Round of Entrepreneurs

Scaling a high-growth startup is a huge undertaking. If you're looking for expert guidance and to round out your entrepreneurial skills, apply now for the next round of ScaleUp WNC starting this summer. The training program includes six class-based sessions and 10...

The Support Center to Invest $450K in WNC Small Biz Loans

Searching for a cash infusion to supercharge your growing startup but can't get a traditional bank loan? The Support Center is investing a total of $450,000 into qualifying WNC small businesses with 100% financing through its Ready.Set.Grow! initiative. Businesses...

Virtual Job Shadow Launches Career Exploration App

In the first of a series of anticipated mobile app releases by Asheville startups this spring, VirtualJobShadow launched a new career app for its existing customer base of educational institutions, with another version for the consumer market coming soon.  The app...

Which AVL Startup has 400,000+ Facebook Fans?

How do you go from 0 to 416,000+ FB fans in just two years? That's the secret sauce for local e-commerce company Sweet Blossom Gifts. The startup specializes in personalized and custom handcrafted jewelry and gifts made by talented independent artisans across the...

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