Mid-Week News Roundup

It's the middle of the week, and we have again the week's most relevant news and information from our community. Enjoy!

The Nanotech Commercialization Conference will be occurring today and tomorrow in Bay 7 of the American Tobacco Campus in Durham. The agenda, which includes list of speakers, can be found here.

At the event, Neal Fowler, CEO of Liquidia, and Dr. Charles E. Hamner, chairman of The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, will speak on a panel, "How to Create 54 New Liquidias".


Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook, was at NC State University on Monday for the 2012 Harrelson Lecture. Hughes is from Hickory, NC, and recently purchased The New Republic, where he also serves as editor-in-chief. Prior to the lecture, Hughes met with undergraduates pursuing entrepreneurial ideas.

Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association, will be on site at UNC-Chapel Hill next week to present a talk on the current state of venture capital. He is sure to address the JOBS Act, among other topics. The event is free to UNC-CH staff, students, and faculty, but open to the general public as well.

Xanofi made headlines recently. This story on the Triangle Business Journal quotes CEO Miles Wright as revealing the company recently landed a multimillion-dollar contract that will allow the company to expand into a new facility and hire a sales team and customer service team.

Slots are still available for Triangle Startup Weekend. A few CED folks will be there, and we hope you will be as well.

The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce is hosting Business Expo '12 on Thursday, May 3, 2012. Startups and entrepreneurs can apply for Start Up Alley. The startups with the most votes will win a presentation slot at the event and pitch to a panel of experts.

Red Hat continues to talk about their move into the Progress Energy building in Raleigh. In a brief conversation with the Triangle Business Journal, Charlie Peters, CFO, said that Red Hat anticipates to increase staff by "upwards of 100 people".

Dr. Charles E. Hamner talks about the growing nanotechnology sector in the Research Triangle, anticipating growth in the industry and here locally until at least 2035.

CED Member DataSync is hiring a CRM Developer. Information here.

And, finally, if you haven't yet seen it, UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorpe recently interviewed Ryan Allis, founder of iContact. In the interview, Allis and Thorpe discuss the Carolina Entrepreneurship Club, founding iContact, and more.