DURHAM – American Underground has selected five startup executives to participate in its new Landing Spot program. And the five also will receive support from cloud technologies firm DigitalOcean.

The startup executives and firms are:

  • Chuck Solomon

Previous employer: THRIVE Affordable Vet Care

Business: audition

Description: A platform to help sales managers find and hire high-performing sales reps.

  • Stuart Robinson

Previous employer: Automated Insights

Business: wrangl.io and shellfish.app

Description: Wrangl is a free online data & statistics studio where none of your data leaves the browser. Shellfish is a tool to save, share, and run command line scripts from the cloud.

  • Charles Vaughn

Previous employer: Morgan Imports
Business: D.V.Ints.

Description: A shop that celebrates the unrepeatability of Durham’s unique character.

  • Shaerie Mead

Previous employer: Gray Chenier

Business: Shaerie Mead Patterns / IONA Clothing

Description: Natural fiber apparel design, patterns and production for women and kids.

  • Mark Dixon

Business: No name yet

Description: A data exchange that connects buyers and sellers of data.

The program is designed to help grow new ventures despite the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While the Triangle’s recovery is expected to be relatively faster than other parts of the country, our businesses and workers have still been hit hard by the public health and economic impacts of the pandemic,” says Tim Scales, director of growth at the American Underground. “We had a fantastic pool of applicants and were able to select five individuals who demonstrate drive, talent and creativity.”

DigitalOcean says its technology helps firms “to launch in the cloud and scale up as you grow – with an intuitive control panel, predictable pricing, team accounts, and more.”