Grit Daily: Why New Orleans is a Great City to Start a Business

When you think of hot spots for startups, Austin and Silicon Valley typically come to mind. But there’s another city starting to make its mark in the business world: New Orleans. In fact, this past fall, analytics company Lucid based in NOLA sold for about $1.1 billion, making it the city’s first “unicorn.” And construction software platform Levelset developed in town was also acquired for $500 million. So, why is the Big Easy becoming a hub for big business growth?

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Silicon Bayou News: THE BREW 11 HIGH STAKES PITCH FINALISTS HAVE BEEN SELECTED

Today, Nexus Louisiana announces the three companies selected to compete head-to-head for the High-Stakes Pitch Competition. A $100,000 investment prize will be awarded to the winning company at the live pitch event during Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week on Thursday, March 10. The finalist companies are Falaya (Barett Blondeau, founder and CEO), ParkZen (Manos Chatzopoulos, CEO and co-founder) and Cluey Consumer (Maryclaire Manard, founder and CEO).

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Elko Daily Free Press: Plant expansion gives Louisiana role in battery supply chain

A planned expansion of a graphite processing facility near the Mississippi River will give Louisiana an important role in the supply chain for electric vehicle batteries, state economic officials said Tuesday. Australia-based Syrah Technologies plans a $176,000 expansion of its facility in Vidalia, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Baton Rouge. 

Read the full article on Elko Daily Free Press.

LSU: NEW DIRECTOR JOINS LSU INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION

The LSU Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization has welcomed a new director, Alex Valiaev. Valiaev is a technology commercialization professional who has worked in commercializing early-stage technologies, identifying, negotiating and realizing high-value strategic collaborations among universities and industry for the past 12 years. He has international experience from working in different industries and organizations across three continents and five countries. 

Read the full article on LSU.

Silicon Bayou News: REGISTRATION OPEN FOR NEW ORLEANS ENTREPRENEUR WEEK

New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) is back and better than ever with the in-personal festival of entrepreneurship and innovation in New Orleans slated for March 21-25, 2022.

The event will host an audience of leaders, entrepreneurs, startup founders, investors, and business-minded creatives across select venues throughout New Orleans. Pre-registration is now open at www.noew.org

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Biz New Orleans: N.O. BioInnovation Center Welcomes New Innovation Program Manager

The New Orleans BioInnovation Center has named Dr. Ha’reanna Campbell as its new Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) DRIVe innovation program manager. Campbell is responsible for setting the strategic direction, management, and oversight of all operational/programming activities related to the accelerator program and collaboration with BARDA. NOBIC is a private, not-for-profit business incubator that aims to support entrepreneurship and the development of bioscience innovation throughout Louisiana. 

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nola.com: Broadband improvements, green infrastructure: Here’s how Jefferson Parish could spend its $84M

The task force charged with recommending how to spend $84 million in federal pandemic money has urged the Jefferson Parish Council to focus on broadband improvements, land use, green infrastructure and other “transformational” projects, according to a copy of the report submitted to the council.

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