Just over eight months after its inaugural cohort wrapped up with a Demo Day at the Carolina Theater, the FCAT Fellowship was back in action on Wednesday to celebrate its second batch of startups.
A joint venture between the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (that would be FCAT) and American Underground (AU), this pre-accelerator program gave founders a chance to enjoy hands-on workshops and a global network of mentors. Founders also receive a year of coworking membership at AU and gained valuable networking opportunities—including (as was noted by some of Wednesday’s speakers) with alumni from the inaugural cohort in 2024.
Wednesday’s Demo Day event took place at Motorco Music Hall in Durham. American Underground Executive Director Laura Zabinski welcomed attendees from around the Triangle startup ecosystem before handing the mic over to Durham’s mayor, Leonard Williams.
Aptly stating of Durham’s general ethos, “we keep it dope,” Williams spoke about innovation “sewing the fabric of our ecosystem” and expressed his desire to make the scene on hand at Motorco more expansive in the coming years…