Four Wilmington-area startups are among the more than 90 companies from across the state chosen to participate in this year’s CED Tech Venture Conference, organizers announced Thursday.
 
The Council for Entrepreneurial Development’s conference takes place Sept. 13-14 at the Raleigh Convention Center.
 
“Groundbreaking entrepreneurs are founding and scaling cutting-edge technology companies here in North Carolina, and the annual CED Tech Venture Conference provides a platform to spotlight these companies in front of an audience of investors and tech visionaries from across the U.S.,” Joan Siefert Rose, the Council for Entrepreneurial Development’s president and CEO, said in a news release. “From pitches on the main stage to one-on-one networking in the Demo Room, this conference provides unparalleled exposure for North Carolina companies and further positions our ecosystem as a top hub for entrepreneurship.”
 
Nearly all of the 14 companies that will be able to showcase their technology on the conference’s main stage in front of an audience of more than 800 come from the Raleigh-Durham area, though a couple also hail from Charlotte.
 
Wilmington-based Kwipped Inc., however, is among 13 emerging companies invited to present on the main stage during a “lighting round” version of the pitches, according to the release.
 
“After receiving a record-breaking number of company applications, the selection committee decided to add a ‘lightning round’ opportunity for the second year in a row,” the release stated.
 
Kwipped, categorized in the Shared Economy sub-sector for the conference, is an online B2B equipment rental marketplace. Robert Preville, Kwipped’s founder and CEO, also is co-owner of the Greater Wilmington Business Journal and WILMA magazine.
 
Wilmington’s Alumn-I, listed under the Cloud/Storage category, and Petrics Inc., Internet of Things category, were selected among 70 early-stage companies to demonstrate their products and technologies at the conference’s Demo Room. FaithHealth.net, based in Wrightsville Beach and in the Shared Economy category, also was invited to participate in the demonstration room.
 
Active angel investors, local and regional venture capital firms, corporate partners and CED’s Director of Entrepreneurship Jay Bigelow made up the selection committee that chose this year’s companies, the release stated.
 
“This year’s selected companies represent our robust entrepreneurial community from early-stage, to emerging growth, to companies with significant traction,” Bigelow said in a statement. “By showcasing this spectrum of company stages, the conference attracts over 100 investors with diverse investment criteria, allowing us to match companies with investors at all stages.”