Kyle
Greenville’s startup community is looking to make their place on the map more defined this summer as 12 software startups head there for the NEXT Big Thing. The three month incubation program will happen at Greenville’s NEXT Center. Journalwatchdog is equating it to ” a sort of a Rocky Mountain Boulder, Colo., in the Blue Ridge foothills”
Kevin Survance former Chief Technology Officer for MapQuest is heading to the NEXT Big Thing to work on a new mobile app for smartphones this summer. Survance told journalwatchdog.com “It has all the marks of putting Greenville on the map as a technology hub…But it won’t happen overnight”
More after the break
Peter Barth, the Managing Director of The Next Big Thing has aligned the incubator with the TechStars Network. TechStars has VC backed incubation centers in thriving technology communities throughout the US, and outside of the Valley, including Boulder, Boston, Seattle and more. Barth was on hand for the New York kick off of the TechStars/Startup America joint project. The NEXT Big Thing is one of the 22 initial members of the global Tech Star and Startup America High Tech Network.
The initial 12 companies will report to the NEXT Center on June 11th. They will be provided with “a little” seed money to off-set their cost of living. They’ll be given space to use at the NEXT Center free along with the help of a staff of 7 MBA interns and 5 graphic artists. In addition Barth has set up more than 100 mentors for the young companies.
“The cool thing about Greenville is you not only get to experience technology but also the community,” said Survance. “People live in Boulder because it is Boulder. Greenville has that ambience. It is really attractive to technologists, especially the twenty-somethings who tend to dominate the disciplines in these programs.”
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