Editor’s note: Investor and entrepreneur David Gardner is founder of Cofounders Capital in Cary and is a regular contributor to WRAL
TechWire. Startup Spotlight is a regular part of our Startup Monday package that includes updates to our exclusive Triangle Startup Guide, a list of Triangle meetups, three posts focusing on future calendar events (Triangle, North Carolina, next month) and our recap of last week’s news via our Startup Rewind.
CARY – It’s hard to believe we are almost halfway through 2021! In the world of innovation and startups, the first two quarters have been a mixed bag. I’ll discuss these bags in three sections; the good, the bad and the mixed blessings.
The Good
The big news in NC is the possible reinstatement of the NC Qualified Business Venture tax credit. This is a credit that disappeared in 2013 for early stage investors. It has big advantages for both entrepreneurs and investors thus encouraging these much-needed seed-stage investments in NC. It helps entrepreneurs attract capital and lowers risk for investors by offering up to a 25% tax credit on their investments. The new iteration of this incentive would increase the total cap from $7.5M to $10M and include a 10% Diversity Bonus for investors that invest in companies located in rural counties or opportunity zones. Many of us have been campaigning for this incentive for years to put NC back on par with other states.
Between the American Rescue Plan and the American Jobs…
