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Raleigh-Durham Startups to Watch in 2027: 10 Verified Research Triangle Companies in AI, Biotech, Climate and SaaS, Where They Get Funding and Lessons for Founders

Raleigh-Durham Startups to Watch in 2027: 10 Verified Research Triangle Companies in AI, Biotech, Climate and SaaS

Raleigh-Durham, the Research Triangle of North Carolina, grows companies from three research universities (Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State), a research park founded in 1959 and a dense network of grant makers, incubators and angel groups. The 2026 version of this article listed ten startups. When we checked them, only four still fit: one carrier had been sold, one company had no working website, one had changed its product and gives no office address, and three are headquartered elsewhere or show no Triangle base. For this 2027 edition we checked every company on its own website in October 2026: that it still operates, that its headquarters or main office is in Raleigh, Durham or Research Triangle Park, what it sells and what it publishes about its funding. What happened to the old names is listed near the end.

Quick answer: the Raleigh-Durham startups and scale-ups to watch in 2027 are Relay (voice and AI devices for frontline workers), Pendo (product analytics), Teamworks (software for sports teams), Pairwise (CRISPR-edited crops), Phononic (solid state cooling for AI data centers), Locus Biosciences (phage therapies), Natrx (nature-based coastal resilience), Stern Security (cyber risk software), Levitate (relationship marketing) and TheralinQ (pediatric therapy app). Relay raised $36 million in September 2026, the most recent large round on this list. For support, start with NC IDEA grants, CED's GRO Incubator, Research Triangle Park and your university's entrepreneurship programme.

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Why Raleigh-Durham Matters for Founders in 2027

The Triangle's startup scene rests on research. Research Triangle Park was founded in 1959 between the three universities; according to its own site, its 7,000 acres hold more than 385 companies, from biotech and clean tech to government agencies and startups, and its Frontier RTP and Hub RTP sites add space for young companies. Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State each run programmes that turn research and student projects into companies, and the region's life science firms grow next to them.

The second strength is software. Pendo, Teamworks, Relay and Levitate are all software or software-plus-hardware companies run from the Triangle, and Relay traces its roots to two earlier Raleigh companies, Bandwidth and Republic Wireless. The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), a local nonprofit, cites a Dealroom figure of $185 billion for the Triangle's combined startup enterprise value; treat that as CED's number, not ours. For the wider picture, compare our guide to the best startup cities in North America and our city lists for Chicago, Baltimore, Providence, Lincoln and Columbus.

Raleigh-Durham Startups to Watch in 2027 Compared

Company	What it does	Triangle base	Latest funding we cite
Relay	Voice, AI and purpose-built devices for frontline teams	Raleigh	$36M, September 2026 (company); over $90M in total
Pendo	Product analytics, in-app guides and feedback	Raleigh (corporate headquarters)	Not cited here
Teamworks	Operating platform for sports organizations	Durham	Not cited here
Pairwise	CRISPR gene editing for crops (Fulcrum platform)	Durham	Not published
Phononic	Solid state cooling chips and thermal control	Durham (headquarters)	Not published
Locus Biosciences	Bacteriophage therapies for infections	Research Triangle Park, Morrisville	$3.3M NIH award, January 2026 (company)
Natrx	Nature-based coastal resilience infrastructure	Raleigh (enterprise office)	Not published
Stern Security	Cyber risk quantification software (Velocity)	Raleigh	Not published
Levitate	Relationship marketing platform for small firms	Raleigh	Not published
TheralinQ	App connecting families and pediatric therapists	Raleigh	Not published

Sources: each company's official website, press release, contact page or privacy policy, checked 31 October 2026.

The Raleigh-Durham Startups to Watch in 2027

1. Relay: voice and AI for frontline workers

Relay started as a screen-free first phone for children and is now what it calls a system of action for physical operations: handheld devices, voice technology, its own AI models and software that let factory, hotel and venue teams talk, work across 35 languages, and log and organize what is said on shift so it reaches the right person before a problem becomes a breakdown. It says it is approaching 10,000 live sites and works with nearly 10% of the Fortune 500. On 30 September 2026, in a release datelined Raleigh, it announced $36 million in new funding led by International Paper, bringing its total to more than $90 million; G2 Venture Partners and Wind River Ventures also added to their investments. Its roots go back to the Raleigh companies Bandwidth (2008) and Republic Wireless (2011).

Lesson for founders: Relay kept its core skills (voice, connectivity and simple hardware) and moved from families to industrial customers who pay more and stay longer. A pivot can keep the technology and change the buyer.

Best for: founders in industrial AI, hardware and B2B software for deskless workers.

2. Pendo: product analytics from downtown Raleigh

Pendo sells a product experience platform: usage analytics, in-app guides and user feedback that show software teams how people use their product and help them raise adoption. According to its about page, it has 10 offices, more than 850 employees and more than 14,000 companies using it; it also runs the Mind the Product community for product managers. Its corporate headquarters is at 301 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh; in December 2018 its founder and CEO Todd Olson announced a long-term commitment to Raleigh for the headquarters, with plans for 590 new jobs.

Lesson for founders: Pendo built a large global company without leaving Raleigh. A strong local talent base and state support can be enough to scale software from the Triangle.

Best for: founders in SaaS, product management tools and analytics.

3. Teamworks: the operating system for sports

Teamworks sells one platform for sports organizations: data-driven talent acquisition, day-to-day operations such as schedules and travel, and athlete performance development. Its site says it works with more than 7,000 teams, including more than 520 college athletic departments, 330 professional organizations and 65 leagues and governing bodies. Its press releases are datelined Durham, North Carolina. We do not cite a funding figure because its site does not publish one.

Lesson for founders: Teamworks started with college athletics and added product after product for the same buyer. Owning one industry's daily workflow makes each new product easier to sell.

Best for: founders in vertical SaaS, sports tech and data products for one industry.

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4. Pairwise: CRISPR for better crops

Pairwise was founded in 2017 by early CRISPR pioneers and is based in Durham. Its Fulcrum platform combines CRISPR gene editing, AI and plant biology to develop crops that cope with climate stress and disease and taste better, and it licenses Fulcrum to dozens of organizations working with plants, animals, insects and microbes. On 27 October 2026 it announced that Kaveri Seed Company, one of India's leading seed companies, had licensed Fulcrum for maize, cotton, rice, pearl millet, mustard and vegetables, its first partnership in India. It has also introduced Fontana, a compact blackberry plant for commercial growers.

Lesson for founders: Pairwise proves a trait in one crop, then licenses its platform to others. Licensing lets a deep tech startup earn from many markets without building every product itself.

Best for: founders in agtech, food tech and gene editing.

5. Phononic: solid state cooling for AI data centers

Phononic makes solid state (thermoelectric) chips that cool and heat without refrigerants. Its main focus now is AI data centers: its Thermal Fabric and Thermal Control Systems cool optical transceivers, co-packaged optics and GPUs and give operators real-time thermal data, and it also sells cooling for grocery and HVAC uses. Its headquarters is on Capitola Drive in Durham.

Lesson for founders: Phononic moved its technology to the market with the most urgent need, AI data centers. A platform technology should follow the customers with the biggest problem today.

Best for: founders in hardware, climate tech and data center infrastructure.

6. Locus Biosciences: phage therapies from Research Triangle Park

Locus Biosciences develops precision medicines from bacteriophages, viruses that kill specific bacteria, to treat antibiotic-resistant infections. Its GUARDIAN automation platform helps it find and develop new phage therapies, and its lead candidate, LBP-EC01, is a clinical-stage treatment for E. coli infections. On 7 January 2026 it announced a $3.3 million award from the US National Institutes of Health for a clinical trial of an AI-designed phage therapy for pneumonia caused by resistant bacteria, and in October 2025 it started a research collaboration on eye infections. It is based on Davis Drive in Research Triangle Park (Morrisville) and runs its own manufacturing facility in North Carolina.

Lesson for founders: Locus funds part of its work with government awards. In biotech, non-dilutive money from public research agencies can carry a company through early clinical trials.

Best for: founders in biotech, infectious disease and AI for drug discovery.

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7. Natrx: nature-based infrastructure for coastlines

Natrx, on the old list, builds nature-based infrastructure that protects coasts and land from erosion and flooding while creating habitat. Its Adaptive Infrastructure platform helps clients find, fix and monitor problems, its products include ExoForms, and it designs living shorelines. Its enterprise office is on Angus Drive in Raleigh, and it runs a Resilience Center of Excellence in Morgan City, Louisiana. It does not publish its funding.

Lesson for founders: Natrx sells to engineers, contractors and landowners, not only to public agencies. Climate startups grow faster when they serve several buyer groups with one technology.

Best for: founders in climate adaptation, construction tech and environmental engineering.

8. Stern Security: measuring cyber risk

Stern Security, on the old list, sells Velocity, software that puts numbers on cyber risk so security leaders can choose what to fix and show the return on their spending. Velocity also handles third-party risk management, with analysts who check vendor evidence and automated reviews of SOC 2 reports. There is a free Velocity Freemium version, an edition for managed service providers, plus penetration testing and virtual chief information security officer (vCISO) services. Its office is on North Harrington Street in Raleigh, and it is a certified North Carolina HUB (historically underutilized business).

Lesson for founders: Stern Security pairs software with expert services. Selling both lets a small security company earn early revenue while the product matures.

Best for: founders in cybersecurity, risk and compliance software.

9. Levitate: relationship marketing for small firms

Levitate sells a marketing platform for relationship-based businesses such as insurance agents, financial advisers, lawyers, accountants, mortgage brokers and real estate agents. It combines personal-looking email at scale, social media posts, texting, websites and cards printed in a handwritten style with an AI assistant and a dedicated success specialist for each customer. Its contact page says it is proudly based in Raleigh.

Lesson for founders: Levitate adds people (success specialists) to software for customers who are not marketers. For non-technical buyers, service can be the feature that wins the sale.

Best for: founders in martech and software for small professional firms.

10. TheralinQ: an app for pediatric therapy

TheralinQ, on the old list, connects parents and caregivers with their child's therapists: a customized care plan, medically validated motor development exercises to do at home, and direct contact with the therapist. It was co-founded by Brennan Barber, who started it after raising a child with a disability, and pediatric therapist Bethany Darragh. Its privacy policy lists Theralinq, Inc. in Raleigh, and Duke's Pratt School of Engineering reported in January 2024 that its students helped build the product in Duke Engineering's Product Lab.

Lesson for founders: TheralinQ started from the founder's own problem and used a university product lab to build it. Student programmes can stretch a small budget in the early months.

Best for: founders in health tech, care coordination and parent-facing apps.

Where Raleigh-Durham Startups Get Support

NC IDEA: a Durham-based foundation that has given more than $27.7 million in grants since 2006. Its MICRO grants are $10,000 for companies still proving their concept, and its SEED grants are $50,000 for companies with a product that are ready to scale; at least one full-time founder must live in North Carolina. Its Fall 2026 SEED cycle picked 19 semi-finalists from across the state.
CED (Council for Entrepreneurial Development): a nonprofit that has supported Triangle founders since 1984. It runs the 12-week GRO Incubator for early tech and biotech startups, Strength in Numbers for women in the innovation ecosystem, workshops, and the Venture Connect conference, listed for 22 to 24 March at DPAC in Durham.
Research Triangle Park: the park's Frontier RTP and Hub RTP sites host startups, events, shops and restaurants next to large research employers.
American Underground: a startup hub and coworking community in downtown Durham, open since 2010, with coworking, private offices, events and programmes for founders.
NC State Entrepreneurship: runs the Andrews Launch Accelerator, the Albright Entrepreneurship Garage, the Wolfpack Investor Network and student competitions such as the Pack Startup Challenge.
Innovate Carolina: UNC-Chapel Hill's innovation office, with startup accelerators, venture services, technology commercialization and investor programmes.
Duke: Duke Engineering's Product Lab, part of the Christensen Family Center for Innovation, lets students build products for real startups, as it did for TheralinQ.

Raleigh-Durham Companies From the Old List That Changed or Could Not Be Verified

The 2026 version of this article listed ten companies. Here is what we found when we checked each one in October 2026:

Kept: Relay (now an industrial frontline platform, no longer the family walkie-talkie the old article described), Natrx, Stern Security and TheralinQ still operate from Raleigh.
Epic Hire: still operating, but as a platform that connects companies with university student clubs, not the AI pre-screening tool the old article described. Its terms say its owner is based in North Carolina, with courts in Raleigh, but its site gives no office address, so we left it out of the main list.
Republic Wireless: the Raleigh Wi-Fi-first carrier was sold to DISH in 2021, according to the news coverage listed on Relay's press page, and its old web address no longer loads. Its technology lives on in Relay.
Novocor Medical Systems: we found no working website and no recent company news, so we removed it.
Click Therapeutics: real and operating, with an office on Fayetteville Street in Raleigh, but its headquarters is in New York.
Foodsmart: its site blocked our check and we found no Triangle base, so we removed it.
Avidity Biosciences: its site gives its address in San Diego, California, not Raleigh. See our list of San Diego startups to watch for that region.

We also removed the old article's unsourced figures (a $4.2 billion yearly contribution, average tech salaries and a ranking as the East Coast's second-largest tech hub) and its links to third-party startup lists.

Which Raleigh-Durham Startup Should You Learn From?

You are thinking about a pivot: study Relay, which moved from families to factories without dropping its technology.
You build B2B software: study Pendo for scaling from Raleigh, and Teamworks for owning one industry.
You are commercialising research: study Pairwise for licensing, Phononic for finding the right market and Locus Biosciences for public research funding.
You work in climate: study Natrx, which sells nature-based infrastructure to several buyer groups.
You sell to small firms: study Levitate and Stern Security, which combine software with people and services.
You are building from your own problem: study TheralinQ and how it used Duke's Product Lab.
You are just starting: apply for an NC IDEA MICRO grant, join CED's GRO Incubator, and work from American Underground or Frontier RTP.

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How Founders Use the Research Triangle Startup Scene

Notice the order in which the money arrives: grants first (NC IDEA, NIH and other public research funds), then local angels and incubators such as CED, and only then large rounds from national investors and corporate partners, as in Relay's round led by International Paper. Plan for all three. Compare investors in our guides to angel investors in North America, early-stage VC firms and deep tech VCs in North America, and for non-dilutive money see our lists of deep tech grants in North America and grants for female entrepreneurs.

Competing for a grant is a good first test: NC IDEA's SEED grants are competitive, with semi-finalists chosen each cycle. Find more in our lists of startup competitions in North America and AI accelerators in North America, and meet other founders at the startup events for female entrepreneurs.

Before you copy any of these business models, validate your startup idea with real customers. Most Triangle startups on this list sell across the US and abroad, so they need to be easy to find online: list your startup in the F/MS marketing directories, publish your startup press release, and write about your product with the F/MS AI SEO Tool or the AI SEO Blog so customers, investors and AI assistants can find you.

FAQ About Raleigh-Durham Startups in 2027

Which Raleigh-Durham startups should I watch in 2027?

Our verified list: Relay, Pendo, Teamworks, Pairwise, Phononic, Locus Biosciences, Natrx, Stern Security, Levitate and TheralinQ. Each still operates and gives Raleigh, Durham or Research Triangle Park as its headquarters or main office on its own site, checked in October 2026.

Which Raleigh-Durham startup raised money most recently?

Relay announced $36 million in new funding on 30 September 2026, led by International Paper, bringing its total to more than $90 million. Locus Biosciences announced a $3.3 million NIH award in January 2026.

Is Raleigh-Durham good for biotech startups?

Yes. Research Triangle Park hosts dozens of biotech and life science firms, Locus Biosciences develops phage therapies there, and Pairwise uses gene editing for crops in Durham. Public research funding is a large part of how these companies start.

Are there climate tech startups in the Triangle?

Natrx builds nature-based coastal resilience infrastructure from its Raleigh office, Phononic makes refrigerant-free solid state cooling in Durham, and Pairwise develops climate-ready crops.

Where can Raleigh-Durham startups get grants?

NC IDEA offers $10,000 MICRO grants and $50,000 SEED grants to North Carolina startups and has awarded more than $27.7 million since 2006. Life science companies also apply for federal research awards such as those from the NIH.

What is CED in Raleigh-Durham?

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, a nonprofit founded in 1984. It runs the 12-week GRO Incubator, the Strength in Numbers community for women, workshops and the Venture Connect conference in Durham.

What happened to the startups on the old list?

Relay, Natrx, Stern Security and TheralinQ stay. Republic Wireless was sold to DISH in 2021, Novocor has no working website, Click Therapeutics is headquartered in New York, Avidity Biosciences in San Diego, Foodsmart gave no Triangle base, and Epic Hire changed its product.

Where can I find startup space in Durham or Raleigh?

American Underground in downtown Durham offers coworking and private offices, Research Triangle Park has Frontier RTP and Hub RTP, and NC State's Albright Entrepreneurship Garage serves student founders.

What can founders learn from Triangle startups?

Start with grants and university programmes, keep your core technology when you pivot, own one industry's workflow, and sell beyond North Carolina early.

Where can I get a backlink by writing about my startup?

You can publish a guest post in one of the Fe/male Switch startup blogs, which rank in Google and in AI tools. Get a quality backlink.

About the Author

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.

Violetta Bonenkamp

2026-10-31 19:51 Best Startups