Three young Wilmington companies will be touting their products and technologies at the 2014 Tech Venture Conference in Durham Sept. 16-17 by invitation from the Durham-based Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), which hosts the conference.
 
Indigru Home Cleaning, Sivad Business Solutions and WaterPlay USA are among more than 60 “demo” companies from around the state that will be on hand, according to a news release from the CED.
 
“These companies have distinguished themselves as among North Carolina’s most exciting early-stage companies,” the release stated.  
 
The three Wilmington picks use technology in different ways. Indigru’s website allows customers to order cleaning services online easily and quickly; Sivad is a software company that has developed EasyVote, software to make elections cheaper to run and easier to analyze; and Waterplay USA uses proprietary software that allows vacationers to research, select and book U.S. water-related vacation spots and activities online.

Waterplay USA CEO Will Smith said his company, which he co-founded in 2012 with his brother Walt, has worked with the CED from the beginning, so he appreciates the resources available through the council and the recognition that will come from being featured at the conference.

"It goes to show what we've built over the past three years: a company that generates revenue and is the nation's largest provider of water-related tours and activities," he said. "We can show our technology to investors and to other potential partners."
 
Earlier this month, the CED invited Wilmington-based nCino Inc. and Next Glass to present at the conference as “showcase” companies. nCino is a banking software company that spun off from Live Oak Bank in early 2012; Next Glass uses technology to develop individuals’ wine and beer taste preference profiles and is ready to launch its beverage-selection app very soon, according to company officials.
 
The CED’s director of entrepreneurship, Jay Bigelow, said that together, the showcase and demo companies “demonstrate the full gamut of companies, from early stage to growth stage, that can be seen at the conference – and bring the number of companies to be featured at this year’s conference to more than 80.”
 
He characterized those companies as “the hottest and most promising up-and-comers and growth-stage companies from the Triangle, across North Carolina and nearby states,” noting that the conference will feature companies from Virginia and Kentucky as well as from North Carolina.

“This year’s demo and showcase companies truly demonstrate how much bench strength exists here, with companies thriving at every stage of growth,” Bigelow said in the release. “For a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem to sustain itself, it needs companies at all stages of evolution - from ideation to maturity and exit.”