WE’RE BACK!
With Investor Match Day & the Summit.
@ Events at Judson Mill
Don’t miss this chance to meet with investors, founders, and ecosystem supporters. This year we’re including breakout sessions for interactive learning focused on scaling your business.
Coming from out of town? Check out presenting sponsor Visit Greenville’s website for the best compilation of hotelsand things to do around town!
Match Day
September 17, 12 – 5pm
@ Events at Judson Mill, The Annex**
Think of Match Day as speed dating for founders. Founders and Investors must apply to participate and we pair them together for a day of introductions, pitches, and condensed networking. 2023 Match Day featured 30 investors from 22 firms, 45 companies, for 186 meetings with 1 confirmed investment! This year we’re making it even bigger!
Applications for 2024 Match Day are closed - see you next year!
You’re in good company...
Past Investors
Past Founder Companies
Networking Reception
September 17, 5 – 8pm
@ Events at Judson Mill, The Annex
Anyone attending Next Venture Summit is invited to our networking reception.
Continue great conversations from Match Day and start them prior to The
Summit on Wednesday! Drinks and heavy hors d’œuvres included.
The Summit
September 18, 2024, 8am – 1pm
@ Events at Judson Mill, The Annex and more…
This year, The Summit will feature the Next Accelerator graduate pitches
as well as deep dive breakout sessions focused on startup growth.
Summit Schedule & Speakers
8:00amDoors Open
Come in, grab some breakfast, and start your day with some networking as you find your way around Judson Mill!
8:30amKickoff
Think BIGger Keynote! Let's kick off the day, maybe quite literally....
Heather Hudsonhttps://www.9round.com/
Heather “The Hero” Hudson is the COO of Striking Brands, which houses the popular fitness franchises 9Round Kickboxing Fitness and I Love Kickboxing. In her role, she is committed to helping franchise partners achieve their financial goals through effective communication, streamlined operations, and the development of scalable business systems.
Heather enjoys paying it forward through her speaking engagements. Her authentic approach keeps audiences deeply engaged, as she shares relatable advice from her own experience running a business and helping entrepreneurs through franchising.
9:30amAccelerator Cohort 3
Our Accelerator Cohort 3 will be featured on stage!
Justin BuchananZest Vodka
Justin Buchanan launched his entrepreneurial journey by securing funding via pitch competition to create Red Harbor Rum, a super premium spirit linked to Charleston's rich history. He successfully expanded his rum distribution across South Carolina, Georgia, and New York, and established the third distillery in Charleston since Prohibition. After a decade of building Red Harbor Rum, Justin introduced Zest Vodka. This spirit features half the usual alcohol content, significantly less sugar, and zero artificial additives, setting a new standard in the market for healthier vodka brands.
Eric FragosoLarkPM
Eric currently owns Deck Creations, a residential construction company. Through his experience there, he uncovered a major pain in the industry: the bidding process. He then went on to create LarkPM, a software service that helps construction companies to drive sales by reducing bidding estimation times and increasing accuracy.
WeiWei HuangKnotty Pawz
WeiWei was born and raised in WangLi, China, where her family specializes in the recycled cotton industry. Combining her background knowledge in this industry with her love for dogs, she created Knotty Pawz, which makes sustainable pet toys from recycled cotton. WeiWei was a 2024 finalist in the Hill Institute's GVL Starts Program, and she has been enjoying the process of continuing to build Knotty Pawz through the NextGEN accelerator program.
Stijn Van de VeldeDrobot
Stijn is originally from Belgium, but moved to the US 10 years ago. Since then, he's founded 3 companies. Execution Partners LLC helps companies to solve problems, improve critical processes, and execute challenging projects. Gemba Systems Inc helps manufacturing companies to navigate Industry 4.0 technologies. Now he's focused on Drobot, which will offer a disruptive solution to mid-sized manufacturing companies.
Breakout Sessions - Pick two!
9:45 - 10am Break/Transition to breakout sessions.
Each breakout session will occur twice. YOU PICK TWO!
10:00 - 11:00amBreakout Session 1
11:00 - 12:00pmBreakout Session 2
Herbert DraytonVenture Capitalist
How to Perfect Your Pitch
The Gallery @ Judson Mill
Yes, you have to pitch when you’re looking for risk capital, but even for non-venture-backed companies, your pitch impacts your sales, your marketing, and more. Let’s dive into how you can perfect your pitch from the elevator to the term sheet.
Herbert DraytonVenture Capitalist
Herbert invests in early-stage tech startups led by BIPOC and women in the Southeastern US. With nearly 30 years of experience in the alternative investment field, he supports innovative entrepreneurs while delivering consistent investor returns. Additionally, he is a columnist for The Black Wall Street Times and hold executive nonprofit board positions in organizations with total assets approaching $1B dedicated to sustainable impact and economic inclusion.
+1
For the Love of Money: Building a Capital Stack
The Smokestack @ Judson Mill
In today's complex financial landscape, raising capital for your business isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. Join us for "For the Love of Money," a dynamic panel discussion inspired by the principles of "Adventure Finance." This session will delve into the myriad ways businesses can secure funding at various stages of growth, offering a comprehensive look at the capital stack—from micro-grants to traditional bank loans, blended capital, and venture investments.
Dylan WhitmanInveterate
Dylan Whitman is the CEO and Co-founder of Inveterate. Inveterate is a software powering loyalty for Shopify merchants like True Classic, Liquid IV, Fresh Clean Threads, Lashify and many more 9 figure brands. Backed by Vertical Venture Partners, Alpaca VC, Aglae Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, Silicon Ventures, Centre Street Partners, SuperAngel, Pari Passu Venture Partners and a phenomenal group of eCommerce merchants and SaaS operators.
Margaret GiffordAbundance Capital
Margaret Gifford is Chief Investment Officer and Co-founder of Abundance Capital. She is a professional impact investor, philanthropist and company founder. Her focus on allocating alternative investments and activating investor networks to drive social and environmental impact around the world. Margaret has successfully developed market-shifting global initiatives at Fortune 10 tech companies and hyperlocal seed-stage social enterprises in food, agriculture, real estate development, and public health.
Cliff HolekampCultivation Capital
Cliff Holekamp is Cofounder, Managing Director, and a General Partner at Cultivation Capital.
Cliff started his career in enterprise sales for IBM. Following graduate school, he was the Founder and President of Foot Healers Podiatry Centers which he sold to private equity in 2007. Subsequently, he served as the Professor of Practice and Academic Director for Entrepreneurship at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis where he was named one of the Top 100 Entrepreneurship Professors in the World and where he led the entrepreneurship program to a #1 world ranking.
His local nonprofit board service includes the South Carolina Research Authority (SC Launch), Clemson University Research Foundation, NextGEN, and Christ Church Episcopal School.
Cliff holds a BA from Washington and Lee University, where he serves on the Board of Trustees, and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, where he serves on the National Council for Entrepreneurship.
Katy DavenportCommunityWorks
Katy Davenport is the Chief Strategy Officer of CommunityWorks. CommunityWorks is building a brighter future for underserved people and places by providing equitable financial products and services.
Matt DunbarVentureSouth
Matt Dunbar is Co-Founder and Managing Director of VentureSouth. VentureSouth provides early stage capital to high-growth ventures in the Southeast through its network of angel investors and committed capital funds. We've backed more than 100 companies and we've been named a Top 10 Angel Group in North America numerous times.
+1
Female Founder Funding Panel
The Annex @ Judson Mill
Despite progress in recent years, female-founded startups still face significant challenges in accessing investment funding. In 2020, companies with all-female founders received only 2.3% of venture capital funding in the United States, and globally, female-founded startups received just 2.2% of venture capital dollars. Addressing this gap requires concerted efforts to increase diversity in investment teams and support initiatives aimed at promoting equitable access to capital for female founders. Let’s talk about this with our panel of both female founders and investors.
Dar’shun Kendrick, JD/MBA
Dar'shun Kendrick is the visionary behind Kairos Capital Legal Advisors, LLC, a pioneering corporate securities and investment advisory firm providing a comprehensive suite of capital market services. As your all-in-one resource, we offer expert legal counsel, tailored business coaching, investment strategies, and dynamic speaking engagements and training sessions. Dar’shun has facilitated the raising of BILLIONS in private investment funds, specializing in private offerings, venture capital, syndications, private equity, and mergers and acquisitions.
Dar’shun spearheads a dynamic Millionaire Mastermind group with four (4) other individuals and founded the "Friends of Financial Freedom" Facebook community, engaging over 3,000 members in pursuits of financial literacy and entrepreneurship. She is also the author of her 2nd book “Closer to a Yes: The Founder’s Guide to Getting Noticed By Investors” which is available on Amazon and her website.
Lindsey Calcutt, PhDIncora Health
Lindsey Calcutt is driven by a passion for improving the lives of women everywhere with a focus on leveraging cutting-edge technology to create novel solutions for women's health. Dedicated to fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity. Committed to breaking down barriers and empowering women to take control of their health and wellness. Incora Health is a femtech startup in Greenville, SC developing an innovative wearable earring designed for women, by women.
Carrie ColbertFounding & General Partner, Curate Capital
Carrie Colbert excels at the crossroads of creativity and commerce. With nearly two decades in the energy industry, she now focuses on empowering women by breaking down funding barriers for female founders and demystifying venture capital for potential investors. She spent over a dozen years at Hilcorp, the largest privately owned oil and gas producer in the US and then leaned into her creative side, building a following of 85,000+ on @carriec Instagram and a popular blog. Through life as a social media influencer, Carrie began connecting with women-owned brands, advising them, and investing her own money into these female-founded businesses. After five years of angel investing, Carrie realized the arbitrage opportunity for investing in female-founded consumer brands was great! With that thesis in mind, Carrie launched Curate Capital in 2021 to support female-founded consumer brands. Carrie and team closed fund 1 in 2022 at $15 million - 50% oversubscribed, with nearly 80% of investors being women, including influencers with over 10 million followers. As an influencer herself, Carrie realized the power of influencers investing and has been a pioneer of the #influentialinvesting concept. Curate plans its second fund in 2024.
https://www.curate.capital/about
Charlotte Lawson, MD
Dr. Charlotte Lawson is a board-certified emergency physician and the CEO/Co-Founder of Darby, a venture-backed health tech startup incubated out of the Harvard Innovation Lab.
Darby's Smart Intake software uses LLMs to help home medical equipment (HME) companies grow more efficiently by automating many tedious back office tasks such as document sorting, referral qualification, data entry and insurance eligibility checks.
Darby is proud to be backed by investors such as Underscore VC, Flare Capital Partners, January Ventures, Graham Healthcare Capital and VentureSouth.
When not working, Charlotte can be found running the Swamp Rabbit Trail with her wife and two kids.
Heather Hudsonhttps://www.9round.com/
Heather “The Hero” Hudson is the COO of Striking Brands, which houses the popular fitness franchises 9Round Kickboxing Fitness and I Love Kickboxing. In her role, she is committed to helping franchise partners achieve their financial goals through effective communication, streamlined operations, and the development of scalable business systems.
Heather enjoys paying it forward through her speaking engagements. Her authentic approach keeps audiences deeply engaged, as she shares relatable advice from her own experience running a business and helping entrepreneurs through franchising.
Lunch at the Annex, stay and chat at Judson Mill!
Grab your lunch from back in the Annex and find a place in Judson Mill to keep having that conversation you started earlier in the day! Grab a beer at Magnetic South or a kombucha at the Feed & Seed and keep the Summit going…
12:00 -1:00pmClosing Keynote & Lunch
We're excited to feature our closing keynote speaker while we enjoy lunch from local Feed & Seed!
David JonesFounder of Peak 10; Co-Founder and Board of Directors, Flexential
David co-founded Peak 10 in March of 2000. Aligning an expert leadership team, he built one of the industry's most admired companies in the data center and cloud infrastructure industry – consistently producing impressive, consistent year over year financial performance and growth. David led the company for 17 years as CEO and Chairman building Peak 10 to be the leader in hybrid data center operations, hosting and managed services east of the Mississippi. Flexential, a national, hybrid colocation, hosting, network and managed service data center company resulted from the late 2017 combination of two market leading data center companies, ViaWest headquartered in Denver, and Peak 10, headquartered in Charlotte. This combination created the largest national hybrid, facilities-based, hosting services company in the United States, currently with 3.2 million square feet of data center space, 37 data centers and 19 markets.
In addition to his responsibilities on the Flexential Board of Directors David serves on the Board on NUSO (a cloud based unified communications enterprise) and is on the Board of Advisors of RadixBay (enterprise software development and support), chairman of TechWorks of Gaston County, NC. David is an advisory board member for McCarthy Capital, a private equity firm in Omaha, NE, a member of Morris, Manning & Minor, LLP’s Tech Advisory Council (Atlanta, GA), advisory board of Tech Leaders Forum of Charlotte.
David was named to the 2015 class of the Carolinas Entrepreneur Hall of Fame by The McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte and in 2016 was awarded NTCA’s Beacon Award recognizing a career of achievement in technology in the State of North Carolina. In 2021 he was named Outstanding Technology Leader in Charlotte by the Tech Leaders Form of Charlotte, and in 2023 he was awarded the lifetime achievement award by the Charlotte Dealmakers Hall of Fame
David resides in Danielsville, Georgia and co-owns a Specialized cycling business in Athens, Georgia. A life-long fitness enthusiast, after losing his right hand and wrist early in 2023 and surviving near-death (enduring toxic shock and sepsis) he aggressively focused on restoring his health and wellness and has returned to his active lifestyle and engagement in business mentorship and advisory engagement.
Thank you to our Sponsors!
What past attendees say:
Next Summit has been Next level. Great networking event, very personal. They really upped their game. It was really nice to have one-on-one time at the Matchmaking event. And, I learned a lot from the Summit Series.
Matt Hudson, BildIt
As a founder, when you come to the Next Summit, you feel that you are with your people. And then the topics that are presented from investors, from founders, from community organizations, really have the takeaway of how to plug in a little better but also recommend to friends who are founders opportunities that are here they can get plugged into as well.
Tina Zwolinski, skillsgapp
Ticket Info
Tickets are non-refundable with the exception of a Match Day ticket purchased prior to application review. Tickets could be transferrable to another Venture Summit event.
Early Bird Pricing(June 1 - July 31)
Standard Pricing(August 1 - September 10)
Late Pricing(September 10 - September 16)
Match Day OnlyOnly purchase if you've applied and been accepted to Match Day.
$50
$50
$50
Welcome Reception Only
$50
$75
$100
Summit Only
$100
$125
$150
BundleIncludes Reception, Match Day, and The Summit. Must apply and be accepted for Match Day.