Charlotte's got it going on when it comes to tech and startup culture in our fair city. It took me going halfway across the world to M21 in Hong Kong and all the way up to Affinity Lab in Washington, D.C. to realize it, but in hindsight (you know what they say about it), we're rockin' it!
Entrepreneurialism, tech nerdiness, and startup culture is all about community. Somewhat lately this group has been called the "creative class," and the "super-creative core" makes up 12 percent of the workforce. This 12 percent is visible through investor wooing Charlotte-based startups like Rawporter, who just received $300,000 of seed funding in September, startup incubators like Packard Place (view from the roof seen above), tech community based events like BarcampCLT, and a host of ongoing events to get engaged in this scene if you're hip to it.
When I visited D.C. and Hong Kong , when I returned to Charlotte I realized that we really enjoy a level of community comparable to these two tech hubs. I had no idea because I hadn't experienced these communities anywhere but Crown Town. w00t! It's easy to be proud of our city when you look at it this way. Here's a list of tech startup meetup groups in town and below you'll find a nice little list of upcoming tech/startup/innovation-based events to attend, go ahead, dive in!
Also, if you've got your own Charlotte startup and would like to get in front of venture capitalists, don't miss ! SXSW Accellerator 2013 is looking for you and so is SEED 20! Deadlines are coming up quickly so get your pitches in now!