The inaugural High Tide Breakfast on Wednesday at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) brought in a wave of aspiring business owners eager to meet and learn from each other.

The new series, which will take place every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., is designed to create a small, informal environment for exchange of ideas and information, according to Jim Roberts, executive director of University of North Carolina Wilmington’s CIE. Each 30-minute program will consist of a six-minute “value proposition pitches” from two different startups and one short presentation from a local or visiting mentor, Roberts said.

Wednesday’s program, held in the center’s coworking space, featured pitches from two early-stage companies housed at the CIE: WhittleDATA, a dashboard tool to help small businesses manage their various online services; and Trimlio, a program designed to help employers aggregate fitness data from their employees.

The third speaker was T.A. “Mickey” Finn, a consultant with the N.C. Military Business Center, who outlined resources available through the center to help small businesses sell their products to the government.

An informal networking session followed the presentations.