RALEIGH – Even during a global pandemic, Raleigh Founded’s membership continues to climb.
The co-working hub and business incubator, formerly known as Raleigh HQ, has reported a 27 percent hike in its membership – jumping from 932 members in 2019 to 1,187 members in 2020, according to its recently released annual report.
“While we did experience some vacancy from the pandemic, we saw an increased interest in virtual memberships, corporate memberships, and co-working in general,” Jessica Porta, Raleigh Founded’s director, told WRAL TechWire.
Raleigh Founded’s Jess Porta.
In particular, the hub saw its members who identify as a person of color jump to 27 percent – something Porta attributes to more “inclusive programming.”
Still, in a year punctuated by racial protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police, she admits: “We have a long way to go.”
One big omission from this year’s report is the sum of capital raised from headquartered companies.
Porta said its team decided to skip this question as part of its annual survey given the havoc wreaked by the pandemic.
“We know that many companies have been struggling and may not want to report on anything to do with finances.”
She added: “I do know that some companies have had success, but could not provide an actual estimate.”
A year of change
The hub has come a long way since it first opens its door in 2011, the brainchild of Jason Widen, Jesse Lipson, Brooks Bell and Christopher Gergen – a “group of serial entrepreneurs who wanted to give back.”
Back then, it started out as a landing spot for young companies to incubate and grow — most notably Pendo, now a late-stage cloud startup valued at over $1 billion.
Today, it is home to some 425 early-stage companies spread across four different locations.
They include its main headquarters on South Harrington Street in the Warehouse District; another on West Martin Street; a co-working, classroom and office space in the heart of NC State’s Centennial Campus; and an office space in the newly renovated Gateway Plaza, located just north of downtown Raleigh.
That brings its total space to around 103,000 square feet.
However, its work has evolved over time.
These days, it also provides space and community support for other types of small businesses and economic development initiatives.
Last August, triggered by a trademark lawsuit, the hub rebranded as Raleigh Founded to reflect this evolved mission.
“We’ve received a lot of positive feedback,” Porta said. “It really came to the point where we were doing so much more than just co-working space, and we needed to have a new name that was more representative of the work we have been doing over the past few years.”
New initiatives
In the last year, the hub rolled out new programming to support those in under-connected communities.
That includes opening an affiliate space in rural NC; and launching the Main Street program, a free membership campaign for those in need.
It has also beefed up its virtual offerings for existing members, including a new jobs page and resources board.
“One of the biggest challenges a company has in this area is access to talent,” Porta explained. “We thought that we just needed a common place to post and search for startup jobs. Similarly, companies spend time and money searching for resources, so we created the Resource Page to bridge that gap as well.”
Looking ahead, Porta remained optimistic.
“I hope that the startup community doesn’t just see this time period as something that held them in place but as something that required them to pivot, hopefully for the better,” she said. “We have some big plans for 2021.”
