At the end of June, the Engine team hosted the first official Capital Coalition event in Raleigh, North Carolina with our friends at HQ Raleigh. We were joined by a wide range of folks from the Raleigh-Durham tech community, from investment firms like Cofounders Capital and the Carolina Angel Network, as well as startups Paradigm and Fourscore Business Law to discuss the growth of the Raleigh ecosystem and how local innovators can help influence tech policy. We were also fortunate to have representatives from the City of Raleigh join and provide invaluable insights into their Office of Economic Development + Innovation program. The investors and innovators in the room shared insights on the growth of the Raleigh ecosystem and ways that policymakers at the local and national level could help bolster the local innovation ecosystem.
Spending time in Raleigh, and visiting with members of their thriving tech ecosystem only reaffirms our belief that government needs to hear directly from regional ecosystem leaders about how to best grow the tech economy nationwide. We are grateful to the Raleigh community for their enthusiasm and warm welcome, and we’re looking forward to keeping the momentum going through the summer as we head out to Colorado later this month.
Keeping up with Capital Coalition
We’d love to hear more from you! Below you’ll find additional information on the Coalition and what we have planned for the rest of the summer. You’re also encouraged to sign up on our website at www.capitalcoalition.com for updates.
What is the coalition?
For years elected officials on Capitol Hill have looked to Engine to better understand the needs of the startup community. Engine’s thoughtful insights have been met with resounding bipartisan support. Over the years we have increasingly been asked to bring investors’ perspective to the table as well. Investors are interested and impacted by all tech-policy decisions and debates but are often without a voice when those debates take place. As stewards of the tech ecosystem, investors should play an important role in educating and guiding policymakers on issues related to the startup economy.
Engine exists to make it easy for resource-constrained startups and entrepreneurs to participate in advocacy, and it’s become increasingly clear to us that investors face the same limitations. Hundreds of VCs will regularly sign our letters, but only a handful can take the time to fly to Washington (or Springfield!) and make phone calls to rally their peers.
It’s our belief that investors are uniquely suited to advance public policy on topics like growing startup communities throughout the country; diversifying the tech sector; and bringing the best and brightest talent from around the world to work, launch, and grow businesses here in the U.S. The Coalition’s association with Engine will serve as the bridge connecting the investor and startup communities providing a unified and impactful voice in Washington.
What’s next?
We plan on doing a few events a month through the summer. We want to be as inclusive as we can, and it’s essential for us to gather insights and perspectives from folks in all corners of the country. We’ll have updates soon on our next stops as they become official!
