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Underground Main space adds another spoke to Durham’s tech hub

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Underground Main

Underground Main

Durham adds another spoke to its growing reputation as a startup and technology hub today, officially opening a new American Underground location off Main Street called Underground Main.

Located at 201 West Main Street in Durham, the new space is an extension of the award-winning American Tobacco Historic District, home to the original Underground hub. The 22,000-square foot new space opens with 40 startups and has room for 50.

It offers a meeting rooms – one in a former bank vault – something a little different from the usual ping pong table, a 50-foot-slide.

For years we heard tech employees of major firms based in Research Triangle Park – only 10 or 15 minutes from either American Underground – lacked places to grab lunch, drop off your dry cleaning, or meet and chat with colleagues. While IBM and other large tech firms retain their somewhat less populated but still large campuses in the RTP, the startup ecosystem is blossoming in downtown Durham.

Original site designed by Disney

The original American Underground site on the American Tobacco Campus, designed by Disney, complete with a waterfall, running water canal, restaurants, shops and office space, offers much the opposite, a place where entrepreneurs, organizations such as the Council for Entrepreneurial Development and even venture capital firms can easily interact with others. Downtown Durham offers similar, if less fancy amenities.

The Underground model has earned national attention.

Recent visitors include John Biggs (TechCrunch), Joe Klein (TIME), Alexis Madrigal (Atlantic Monthly) and the President’s Council for Jobs and Competitiveness, including G.E’s Jeff Immelt and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg.

Paul Singh, a venture partner with the national 500 Startups, visited recently, noting, “I’ve rarely seen an entrepreneurial ecosystem as thoughtfully developed or successfully executed as Durham’s American Underground.”

“At the Underground, we want to help launch businesses with truly innovative ways to serve real world needs and see them grow into full-fledged successes that produce good jobs,” says American Underground Chief Strategist Adam Klein.

“It’s no secret that the startup world is sometimes charged with being an ‘echo chamber’ that relies too heavily on hype. There’s not a lot of ‘hype’ here in Durham. Instead, we’re focusing on the pieces that make for real world success: good ideas, access to capital and mentors, and, ultimately, positive deal flow.”

Regional partners

Keen to capitalize on a regional entrepreneurial legacy that includes SAS and Red Hat, Underground leaders have recruited regional partners, including the Research Triangle Park Foundation.

NC IDEA — a catalyst for young, high-growth, North Carolina tech companies — will sponsor relevant content for entrepreneurs via events, networking and other programming.  Both RTP Foundation and NC IDEA are ‘founder’ partners as are Duke University, The Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce and Self Help Credit Union.

In addition to Duke, university partners include NC Central (which has an office @Main) and NC State (which has one @American Tobacco) as well as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Opening party

Opening party (Thursday, July 18) To highlight the region’s many attractions, including Durham’s burgeoning reputation as a foodie mecca, @Main’s opening party features eats and drinks from a variety of local producers. Railhouse Brewery, for example, is providing pours of its acclaimed craft beers. Republic Wireless is raffling one of its groundbreaking $19 per month mobile phone packages.

@Main’s roster includes: Archive Social, Duke University, Cloudfactory, NCCU,PopUp, Durham Cares, Sovereign’s Capital, Virtue Event Planning/ Tivi Jones Media/ Art of Cool, Zone Five Software, eyeNET Security, Knurture, PRSONAS, InfoHounds, ShiftZen,

Hazard Studios, Text2Give, 519 Games, Robotfactorial, Changemaker Capital, StoreHouse, Trust, LifeKit, Side, Z Shift and Third Track, Open’s Horse, Splitmo, CrowdSearch, Latitude, Growth Partners, Mighty Thumbs, Haiti Hub, Investors Mosaic, CleanHatch.

For more information, please visit www.americanunderground.com.

© 2013, TechJournal. All rights reserved.


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