Taylor Mingos and Aaron Houghton are working together to help Durham startups get off the ground through their website, Downtown Durham Startups reports The Herald-Sun.
“Many people outside the area have no idea that there are one or two startups in downtown, let alone the 15 or so that we have,” Mingos said. “People in the loop are excited about it, but other people just have no idea.”
The website builds on the recent boost for entrepreneurs in Durham. Three accelerator incubators have announced plans to launch in Durham this year, including Joystick Labs, a casual video game incubator that made its debut last week. The city could also gain Durham Coworking this year, a larger incarnation of the shared workspace nonprofit Carrboro Creative Coworking.
Houghton said that within days of the soft launch, the site already added several startups that had previously been flying under the radar. Anyone can submit their company to the directory by filling out an online form.
The website features a directory of 45 startups and incubators in Durham and elsewhere in the Triangle. The directory is focusing on technology-related companies at the outset, and includes Pocketgear, a mobile applications company in Durham, School House Fashions, a socially conscious collegiate apparels company with an online store, and Argyle Social, a new social media startup.
“It’s to put downtown on the startup scene,” Houghton said. “It’s to bring visibility to this region. If someone in Boston wanted to know what kind of startups are going on in Durham, they can find that on this website.”
Screenshot from Downtown Durham Startups