Echo NC

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Entrepreneurs build entrepreneurs at echo. We connect Triangle founders with capital, trusted relationships, and learning that fits where they actually are.

Any age, any stage, you belong here. Your community is your capital. The Helius is bringing equity to entrepreneurship in Durham. We provide free business mentoring and resources to necessity-driven entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities within the entrepreneurship landscape, with the goal of empowering our clients to earn a fair living wage. Our vision: We see an America where everyone has the capability to support themselves and their families with dignity, in the face of racial, educational, and financial inequality.

10/08/2026

Three won. All nine left with a community behind them, and here’s what that looked like.

Before Friday, these founders spent weeks preparing with echo coaches and community members. On the night, they cheered each other on from the sidelines. Between rounds, each of them put three real asks on the Exchange wall: an intro they needed, a connection for the next 30 days, and one big goal. The people in the room answered with offers. That support doesn’t end when the event does.

Meet the founders who stood up and pitched:
Alexis Owens, AKONIC Entertainment AKONIC Entertainment  Brennan Barber, Theralinq Theralinq  Michael Bisse, RDU Mental Health Stacie King, The Human-Canine Alliance The Human-Canine Alliance  Jordan Nobles, Wealth Oracle Jordan Nobles  Theresa Tate, Her Firm Foundation Kwame Asare, Blossoms Village Blossoms Village  Ami Patel, Gallery Box Gallery Box  Sheba & Vincent Brown, APlus Credentials Aplus Test Prep

If one of these businesses solves a problem you have, or you know someone who could help, reach out. Community is capital.

Swipe for how they really felt about it. 😄

10/06/2026

This Wednesday at 1MC Durham: Meet Aayush Chayan and Shashir Maddineni, co-founders of AeroSleeve. They’re ready to share their journey and could use your questions, connections, and insights. Join us Wednesday at 9 AM. Your questions, connections, and experience matter.

⏰ Every Wednesday | 9AM - 10AM
📍 echo | 404 Hunt St, Suite 500 (5th Floor)
💰 Free and open to everyone

Want to present your startup? If your business is less than 5 years old and you’re ready to share your story, apply at the link in bio.

Want to volunteer? Help coach presenters, support Wednesday events, or recruit speakers. Sign up at the link in bio.

Stay updated: Follow 1 Million Cups Durham for weekly email announcements and event reminders. Link in bio.

Grab a cup, pull up a chair, and build with us.

10/05/2026

Friday night was our first Pitch & Prosper, and it was everything we hoped it would be.

Nine founders stood up in front of a room full of their community and pitched their businesses in two minutes each. There was no panel and no experts at a table. The room voted, and the room decided.

Congratulations to our winners:
1st place: Ami Patel, Gallery Box
2nd place: Kwame Asare, Blossoms Village
3rd place: Sheba Brown, Aplus Test Prep

All three now move into Prosper, four months and eight sessions with an echo community mentor. And to all nine founders: you did the work. You spent weeks in the Prepare Phase getting ready, and you showed up with courage and clarity.

Pitch & Prosper is one of the ways we follow through on our Access to Capital strategic pillar, because community is capital, and money is capital too.

Thank you to NC IDEA and PNC Bank for making this possible, and to everyone who came to vote and filled the Exchange wall with offers. That’s what echo is built on. Entrepreneurs build entrepreneurs.

This was the first one, and we can’t wait for what comes next.

&Prosper

10/03/2026

🎙️ Meet the Voices Behind Brunch with Boots!

Every meaningful conversation starts with the people willing to ask the questions, share the stories, and create space for connection. 💬✨ Swipe to meet the moderators and invocator who helped guide our morning at Brunch with Boots, bringing together creativity, community, storytelling, and the power of entrepreneurship.

👋 Dasan Ahanu — Co-founder, Black Poetry Theatre
👋 Ariana Hoskins — Founder, Sugar Symphony & echo YAC Co-Chair
👋 Brian Hardy — Senior Associate, Videomentum

We’re grateful to everyone who used their voice to make this gathering meaningful.

🎬 Presented by echo + Duke Cinematic Arts
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09/21/2026

Brunch with Boots Riley 🎬☕

Last Friday, we welcomed filmmaker, musician, and activist Boots Riley to echo for a morning of brunch and real conversation.

Local creatives, entrepreneurs, students, and community voices came together for a candid discussion about building a creative life that’s both meaningful and sustainable, moderated by our own Teen Founder and echo entrepreneur.

One line from Boots that’s stuck with us since:
“Things are not made of things; they are made of people’s time.”

Thank you to everyone who showed up, shared a seat at the table, and made this morning what it was. And a huge thank you to Duke Cinematic Arts for partnering with us to bring this to Durham.

More from the morning coming throughout the week, stay tuned. 👀

09/14/2026

You are invited 🎬

echo and Duke Cinematic Arts are bringing I Love Boosters to Durham, and the echo community gets first look.

I Love Boosters follows Corvette (Keke Palmer) and her crew as they lift high-fashion clothing from department stores and redistribute it to a neighborhood that can’t afford to shop there. From the mind of Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You, I’m a Virgo), it’s an electric, mind-bending journey through high fashion and low-rent economies.

Reserved for the echo community, with seating for up to 200 guests.

📅 Wednesday, September 16, 2026 · 7:00 PM
📍 Rubenstein Arts Center Film Theater, Duke University
🅿️ Free parking in the Campus Drive Lot on Anderson St.

Doors open 30 minutes before showtime. Free and open to the echo community.

Two more free screenings open to the public are happening the next day, swipe to see the details ➡️

09/07/2026

How much are you paying every month for software you’re terrified to cancel? 🤨

$20 here, $50 there… and suddenly you’re spending hundreds every month on platforms you barely use half the features. What if you could build custom tools tailored specifically to your workflow without writing complex code? Join us for Get Unstuck with Mark Hinkle: AI App-Building for Business Owners.

We’re breaking down how to create your own internal apps and streamline your business using AI.

🗓 Friday, September 11
🎟 Limited spots available
👉 Hit the link in bio to secure your seat before it fills up.
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09/04/2026

Meet the 10 founders taking the stage on October 2nd. 🎤

Ten founders competing for $7,500 in prizes. This was a genuinely competitive group. Three outside reviewers scored every application before these ten made the cut.

To everyone who applied: thank you for putting your business out there. And to the 10 who made it through, huge congratulations. The Prepare phase starts now!

(In no particular order)

1️⃣ Estella Struck | Rent Indie
2️⃣ Theresa Tate | Her Firm Foundation
3️⃣ Brennan Barber | Theralinq
4️⃣ Stacie King | The Human-Canine Alliance
5️⃣ Mikal Ali | Blossoms Village
6️⃣ Sheba & Vincent Brown | APlus Test Prep
7️⃣ Ami Patel | Gallery Box
8️⃣ Nijil Persaud | Novexa Technologies
9️⃣ Alexis Owens | AKONIC Entertainment
🔟 Michael Bisse | RDU Mental Health

Sponsored by PNC. Come cheer them on with the crowd and echo’s own community as the judges.

📅 October 2nd, 2026
🕠 5:30–7:30 PM
📍 echo, 404 Hunt St., Suite 500, Durham

Shoutout the founder you’re rooting for. 👇

09/02/2026

This one’s different. 👀

Anjanette Miller, CEO of echo, and someone who has built, scaled, and navigated entrepreneurship across the private and public sectors for 25+ years, is bringing her own Huddle series to the table. Fail Fast is for founders who have been told to test their ideas but have no idea how to do it without wasting money, disappointing customers, or rattling their confidence.

Bring an idea, an offer, or a stubborn decision you need to test. Leave with a plan.

📅 Tuesdays | September 8, 15, 22 & 29
🕑 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
📍 echo Community Hub | 404 Hunt St., Suite 500, Durham
💸 FREE for echo members | $10/session for non-members (pay at check-in)

RSVP at the link in bio. Show up, check in, and if you’re a non-member, pay $10 on-site.

09/01/2026

You asked for it. Sally’s back. 👏

Her LinkedIn Huddle series was such a hit that we had to run it back for September. Sally Starrfield is a learning and development consultant and owner of HR & Educational Solutions, and she’s spent the last three years building her own business through LinkedIn. She knows exactly what works and what doesn’t.

Whether you missed the first round or want to go deeper, bring your questions to her Huddle series, LinkedIn Like It’s 2026.

📅 Mondays | September 8, 15, 22 & 29
🕐 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
📍 echo Community Hub | 404 Hunt St., Suite 500, Durham
💸 FREE for echo members | $10/session for non-members (pay at check-in)

RSVP at the link in bio. Show up, check in, and if you’re a non-member, pay $10 on-site.

Address

404 Hunt Street, Suite 500
Durham, NC
27701

Website

http://www.echo-nc.org/

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