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Developers believe that if you build it in RTP, biotech companies will come

N&O Innovation and Technology Newsletter: January 21, 2022

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A $100 million is a whole lot of cash, but it’s starting to seem like a small amount when it comes to real estate in Research Triangle Park.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, one of the nation’s largest lab developers, spent that amount of money on 122 empty acres in the heart of RTP this past week, buying up land that had once been eyed for a huge factory for the company ApiJect.

The ApiJect deal fell apart for numerous reasons, as I reported late last year, opening up the opportunity for Alexandria.

Alexandria will assuredly spent a lot more on the property, and its founder Joel Marcus told me it’s got another life sciences campus in mind.

And his purchase only came a week after Trinity Capital said it would spend $1B on a biotech campus in nearby Morrisville.

[Read more here]

Philanthropy funds the Innovate Raleigh fellowship. Consider supporting philanthropy-funded journalism by going to www.newsobserver.com/donate



2021 was a record year for new business creation in N.C.

New business filings in North Carolina grew by 40% to 178,300 in 2021 – the largest number ever recorded, according to the N.C. Dept. of the Secretary of State.

2020 had also been a record year, after there was a surge of entrepreneurship in the wake of layoffs during the pandemic, The N&O previously reported.

It’s assuredly a great sign that more startups are filling the state’s pipeline. But it should also serve as a warning sign, said Thom Ruhe, the CEO of NC IDEA, a foundation that supports startups in the state.

“That’s going to be a lot of people that are going to need help and resources,” he told me, adding that it should be setting off alarm bells across government offices, economic development organizations and philanthropic groups.

“If we don’t all collectively step up and support these record startup cohorts, it’s only going to be a matter of time until we’re going to see record closings.”

Tech news from the Triangle

  • Indianapolis software company Greenlight Guru set expand to the Triangle after buying Raleigh startup CanvasGT. [N&O]

  • NC IDEA greenlights seed funding for seven Black-led startups, part of increasing equity in its investments. [N&O]

  • Durham’s Wrangle raises $2M from Triangle investors. [TBJ]

  • Laid-off IBM workers can’t sue for age bias as a group - appeals court. [RTRS]

  • Business travel through RDU hasn’t recovered – even as 8.8M passengers flew in 2021. [WRAL]

  • Spiffy Expands To Five New Cities and Crosses Its Millionth Service. [GrepBeat]

What I’m reading

  • The renderings are grand. But what is Raleigh’s Downtown South without a sports arena? [N&O]

  • Peloton to halt production of its Bikes, treadmills as demand wanes. [CNBC]

  • Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Deal to Power Its Netflix-of-Gaming Aspirations. [WSJ]

  • How 5G Clashed With an Aviation Device Invented in the 1920s . [NYT]

  • Why Netflix keeps cranking up its prices. [The Verge]

  • Second Life’s founder doesn’t believe in VR. [Protocol]

Other Triangle business

  • The ArtsCenter could have another new home in Carrboro. Why the plan has changed. [N&O]

  • The latest Raleigh barbecue joint will showcase the Latin side of pork. [N&O]

  • 321 Coffee, a cafe and roaster that exclusively employs people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is opening a new storefront in downtown Raleigh. [N&O]

Let me know what you’re seeing. Email me at zeanes@newsobserver.com. Tweet me @zeanes. Call me at 919-829-4516.

Zachery Eanes is the Innovate Raleigh reporter for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun. He covers technology, startups and main street businesses, biotechnology, and education issues related to those areas.

This newsletter was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate