The startup culture in Wilmington continues to grow as more entrepreneurs discover and want to be immersed in the area’s quality of life. While challenges remain, such as the need to attract more capital to the coast to help local startups thrive and potentially stay in the Port City, early entrepreneurs say they’ve found a welcoming atmosphere and important resources. The following are the stories of three Wilmington startup founders, in their own words.

In 2020, AJ Trelease started CareHome, a medication management tool for seniors and caregivers. Trelease also graduated that year from the University of Connecticut with bachelor’s degrees in business management and sports management. The 26-year-old said CareHome’s mission is to “empower seniors and caregivers with a more independent and sustainable lifestyle through advanced technology. By ensuring precise medication management and offering proactive emergency solutions, we provide daily reassurance to families and loved ones.”
 

First job ever: “Delivering pizzas for a local restaurant in my hometown of Oxford, Connecticut. I did this for about three years, starting when I first got my driver’s license.”
 

Inspiration: “CareHome started as a passion project during COVID, stemming from a business class project idea at UConn to help seniors retain a high level of independence. My grandma, Graciela – which is actually the name of our device – takes 13 medications per day using one of those weekly pill strip containers. I noticed how this method of medication intake was not user-friendly, nor did it account for those with memory loss and/or arthritis, which are both common deficiencies in older adults.
 

There was also no way to know if she took the right ones, at what times, or if she missed any dosages.
 

This led me to start researching the larger effect of medication mismanagement, and I was shocked at how commonplace it has become for us to not have a sure way of knowing if our loved ones take the right medications at the right times. Of course, there are many other issues we try and reduce, such as high caregiver turnover, poor work-life balance, poor communication technology, etc.”
 

Thoughts on Wilmington’s startup environment: “I don’t think I’ve ever been immersed in such a helpful, connected environment. Every person I have connected with has introduced me to others they feel could help me and CareHome succeed, whether that be in the form of customer discovery, device feedback, business plan help or grant/pitch/investor funding opportunities.
 

I constantly fill my schedule with networking events and individual meetings with interested parties, all thanks to resources like this, UNCW’s CIE, Cape Fear Community College, SBTDC and so many more.”
 

Where do you hope your company will be in a year? Five years? “We are hoping to be in the doors of several assisted living facilities within a year. We have been moving fast lately: improving our prototype, receiving grant funding, developing relationships, etc. We hope to build on this momentum and deliver our device to hundreds of seniors in the Wilmington area before scaling to other cities and states. Another goal of ours is to expand our team, bringing in passionate people with new perspectives is, in my opinion, the deciding factor on whether a startup can morph into a revenue-generating business.
 

When I close my eyes and envision five years down the road, I imagine a fully dedicated team of 10-plus part of our revenue-generating company. I imagine being partnered with hundreds of assisted living and home health care agencies in the Southeast, with more on the way in other regions of the U.S. It excites me even writing about it.”
 

Advice for other startups: “Keep going. I’ve applied to dozens and dozens of grants and pitch competitions and only heard back from a couple. I never let this deter me from continuing to work on building CareHome.
 

I’ve always had a problem with rejection, but I’ve learned it comes with the territory of trying to build something like this. I’d rather say ‘too bad’ than ‘what if’ when it’s all said and done. If it doesn’t work, fine – I’ll know I gave it my full effort and went down swinging.”
 

What else do you want people to know about you and your company? “CareHome builds smart medication management devices for seniors, marketed toward those in assisted living and home healthcare agencies. Our Graciela devices, named after my grandmother, dispense pills and liquid at custom times throughout each day. If the cup is not picked up or if it’s not placed back in the system, both within a preset time frame, a notification is sent to the emergency contact on file.”