Several Wilmington startups are venturing to the Research Triangle Park this March for the annual Venture Connect Conference hosted by The Council for Entrepreneurial Development.

The event is an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to present their ideas and connect with potential resources and investors and has a special focus on technology and biotechnology.

The locally founded startups chosen for the pitch conference include:

• Active Defender – a real-time emergency map that seeks to eliminate chaos and confusion during an emergency at a school or business. Users can know where to go and what to do regardless of the emergency;
• Boreas Monitoring Solutions – a cloud-based platform that monitors cryogenic storage tanks 24/7. It’s scale has audible and visual indicators that alert the user and directs them to the correct tank if an alarm condition is active;
• EasyVote Solutions – an election management software that helps cities, counties and states with running elections. Some assistance it provides includes managing poll workers and inventory management;
• Essential Personnel – a digital platform for managing providing performance management, safety/wellness and training for public safety agencies through a software-as-a-service model;
• F3TCH –  a mobile app that replaces corded telephones at hotels and resorts with the goal of better connecting guests and hotels.
• OpiAID – a data-science startup with the goal of tackling the opioid epidemic. The company has developed a cloud-based software product using data science that Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) rehab centers can use to improve shared clinical decision-making and that can lead to intervention preventing relapse or preventing a potential overdose;
• Wisely Inc. – a company with a patent-pending product that seeks to reduce food waste with a food storage system to save food, time and money.

There will be 180 companies participating in the showcase and they will get a chance to “pitch live, sharing their company goals to gain visibility and potential funding in under five minutes,” the CED website states. Click here for the full list of companies.

Jim Roberts, founder of Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington, was part of the CED Conference selection committee. 

There will be multiple stages and two full days of pitching. The two-day event is March 29-30 at the GlaxoSmithKline campus.