On Tuesday, members of Wilmington’s startup community are scheduled to attend The Business of Innovation workshop. The event is being hosted by the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) in partnership with the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC).   The workshop is ...

Emma Brinkley struggled with pottery when she started learning how to make it in middle school. The Wilmington resident made a mug and the handle broke off. She made cups that had to be turned into planters because they ended up with holes. “I was really bad at it,” Brinkley said. “It’s one of those art forms that you can’t convince your ...

Some Wilmington-area companies have been nominated for the NC Chamber's annual Coolest Thing Made in NC online competition. The chamber announced the 130 nominees Thursday for the contest, which will recognize two winners – one for businesses with fewer than 100 employees and the other for those with 100 or more. "This is the fourth year that the NC Ch ...

Logistics firms, a software company and a pet resort chain are among the companies based in the Wilmington area that ranked on this year’s list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. The Inc. 5000 list, released Tuesday by national business publication Inc. Magazine, ranks companies in the U.S. based on three years of revenue growth, with this year&r ...

A Wilmington-based startup has successfully completed its latest capital raise, netting $2.8 million – more than it anticipated.  Ohanafy is a craft beverage management software launched last year. Its founder, Natalie Waggett, had previously worked for nCino and embarked on the venture after realizing small breweries often didn’t have the tools necessa ...

A Wilmington fintech firm is expanding with the help of an infusion of $3 million. Approve, a company that offers a financing platform for equipment sellers, will bring as many as 50 new tech jobs to Wilmington in the coming months as part of an expansion fueled by the $3 million series A funding round recently completed with support from Cofounders Capital, Live Oak Ve ...

Every time The Wall Printer sells one of its vertical wall printers in North and South America, a new business is born, said Heather McWhorter, speaking to a crowd of entrepreneurs at UNCW on Wednesday. The Wall Printer, a Wilmington-based company founded by Paul Baron, took home the 2023 Coastal Entrepreneur of the Year Award at a ceremony Wednesday morning. Hosted ...

Who would you invest $100,000 in?  That’s one of the pieces of advice we give our Coastal Entrepreneur Award judges each year when they’re faced with the task of making their picks.  Who shows high-growth potential? Who is making a name for themselves and cutting through the noise? Who, out of these stacks and stacks of nominations, do you see a ...

Since 2010, Dawn Ellis has been working diligently to help end food insecurity in eastern Pender and Onslow counties. As the executive director of Share the Table, Ellis is growing the organization as the need continues to grow.  When Ellis first started offering free food for members of the community, “people were rushing to get to the food, and we realized ...

Paul Baron’s international business focus led him to his newest vertical: literally and figuratively. Although he retired about five years ago from a career as an international business consultant, Baron couldn’t stifle his entrepreneurial instincts. While involved in several endeavors, he learned about the process of vertical printing, which can be done by a s ...