Charlotte Angel Connection

Last time we spoke to Walt Frye (summer 2017 here) he was working on reinventing the Charlotte Regional Fund for Entrepreneurship (CFRE). Fast forward a year and Walt has made tremendous strides as Innovate Charlotte has become the execution arm for CRFE. Walt has taken on a job few probably wanted or truly understood since CRFE was initially funded by the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and the city of Charlotte.  As such it's a political juggling job looking to balance the desires of the Chamber and the needs (political and other) of the city - along with other stakeholders.   Yet Walt has balanced that well and is in the process of growing a mentoring program through Innovate Charlotte which targets early stage companies in Charlotte (business process, validation stage, Charlotte based, and not too much investment/revenue). If successful the mentoring program has the opportunity to serve a great role in the city's entrepreneurial space. This mentoring program has been launched through an initiative with MI