Durham's startup ecosystem is defined by its focus on deep tech industries, including biotech, healthcare, and manufacturing. This concentration has attracted significant investment to the region.
Teamworks, an operating system for sports, leads in funding with over $422 million raised. Other major players include FlexGen in energy storage and Restor3d in personalized medical implants.
Below is our list of 16 Durham startups worth keeping an eye on.
Failory's Top 10 Picks
Tool
Fundraising OS
Everything you need to raise funding for your startup, including 3,500+ investors, 7 tools, 18 templates and 3 learning resources.
Buy It For $97 $297 →Sheet
2,189 Accelerators & Incubators
Information about the industries, countries, and cities they generally invest in.
Get the Sheet for $50Sheet
1,600+ Unicorns
Information about their valuation, HQ's location, founded year, name of founders, funding amount and number of employees.
Get the Sheet for $50Sheet
250 BioTech & Health Investors
List of startup investors in the BioTech, Health, and Medicine industries, along with their Twitter, LinkedIn, and email addresses.
Get the Sheet for $50Sheet
250 AI Investors
List of 250 startup investors in the AI and Machine Learning industries, along with their Twitter, LinkedIn, and email addresses.
Get the Sheet for $50Sheet
250 Fintech Investors
List of 250 startup investors in the FinTech and Finance industries, along with their Twitter, LinkedIn, and email addresses.
Get the Sheet for $50Spreedly operates a payment orchestration platform that connects businesses to any payment service through a single API. Their technology helps merchants and platforms simplify global commerce and securely accept payments in more than 100 countries.
| Year Founded | 2007 |
| Founders | Alexander Kohlhofer, Duff O'Melia, John Carlin, Justin Benson, Nathaniel Talbott |
| Funding Amount | $81.1M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Private Equity |
| Top Investors | Spectrum Equity, E-Merge, Harold Mechelynck |
Pluto Health uses AI to bring together fragmented health data, creating a single, unified view for care providers. Their platform helps care teams manage patient services more effectively by connecting previously siloed medical information.
| Year Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Guruprasad Kora, Joy Bhosai, MD, MPH, Noah Hayes |
| Funding Amount | $8.9M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Seed |
| Top Investors | Plug and Play, Sierra Ventures, Afore Capital, Mucker Capital, Asset Management Ventures (AMV) |
Vulcan Elements manufactures rare-earth magnets for critical defense and commercial applications. Their specialized components are integral to advanced systems within the aerospace and industrial manufacturing industries.
| Year Founded | 2023 |
| Founders | John Maslin, Piotr Kulik |
| Funding Amount | $70.2M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series A |
| Top Investors | FJ Labs, One Investment Management, Altimeter |
Restor3d builds personalized 3D-printed orthopedic implants by combining AI-driven design with advanced biomaterials. Their patient-specific implants are designed to improve surgical precision and enhance recovery for people with musculoskeletal conditions.
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Andrew Miller, Ken Gall |
| Funding Amount | $291.7M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | Trinity Capital, Partners Group, Duke Angel Network, Summers Value Partners |
Teamworks builds a comprehensive operating system for sports teams that handles talent acquisition, daily operations, and performance development. The software helps organizations streamline their complex workflows and provides tools for holistic athlete support.
| Year Founded | 2009 |
| Founders | Mitch Heath, Shaun Powell, Zachary Maurides |
| Funding Amount | $422.2M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series F |
| Top Investors | General Catalyst, Delta-v Capital, Teamworthy Ventures, Dragoneer Investment Group, Seaport Capital |
FlexGen builds large-scale battery storage systems designed to modernize the electrical grid. The company's core software, HybridOS, provides the energy management and control needed to support the transition to renewable power.
| Year Founded | 2009 |
| Founders | Josh Prueher |
| Funding Amount | $357.5M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | Apollo, JP Morgan, Vitol, Altira Group, Caterpillar Ventures |
Atsena Therapeutics develops novel gene therapies to treat inherited forms of blindness. The clinical-stage company focuses on bringing these treatments for rare retinal diseases through clinical trials.
| Year Founded | 2019 |
| Founders | Sanford Boye, Shannon Boye |
| Funding Amount | $237.6M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | Wellington Management, Lightstone Ventures, Hatteras Venture Partners, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Abingworth |
Incyclix Bio develops small molecule inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases for the treatment of advanced and resistant cancers. The clinical-stage company is advancing a new class of therapeutics with its lead product candidate, INX-315.
| Year Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Fred Eshelman, Jay Strum, John Bisi, Patrick Roberts |
| Funding Amount | $47.2M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | RA Capital Management, Eshelman Ventures, Pharmacosmos, Eli Lilly & Company Foundation, Boxer Capital |
ServiceTrade offers a software platform for commercial maintenance businesses to manage their service operations. The system connects the office, technicians in the field, and the end customer to improve efficiency and communication.
| Year Founded | 2012 |
| Founders | Billy Marshall, Brian Smithwick |
| Funding Amount | $119.8M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Private Equity |
| Top Investors | JMI Equity, Frontier Growth, Bull City Venture Partners |
Vestaron develops peptide-based insecticides that give farmers a new way to combat crop-destroying pests. Their bio-insecticides offer an effective and sustainable alternative to traditional chemicals, while being safe for farmworkers and beneficial insects.
| Year Founded | 2005 |
| Founders | Glenn King |
| Funding Amount | $284.9M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | Novo Holdings, Sandbox Industries, Pangaea Ventures, Anterra Capital, iSelect Fund |
6 Additional Durham Startups Worth Following
Our top picks only scratch the surface of the activity happening across the city. Founders are building companies in a wide range of fields, from biotech to fintech, and have collectively raised over two billion dollars.
These companies represent a mix of new and established players, all contributing to the area's growth. Here’s a closer look at the other startups shaping Durham's future.