ConvergeSouth 2026 Wrap Up
The 10th ConvergeSouth brought more than 550 attendees to Winston-Salem’s Innovation Quarter for two days of pitching, exhibiting, and connecting. Founders came from across North Carolina, South Carolina, the broader Southeast, and beyond, and the format gave everyone room to build their own version of the event: pitch rooms running alongside an exhibit floor, speaker sessions a few blocks away, and meetups forming on the fly.
Here is how it added up.
The Numbers
● 550+ attendees over two days
● 126 exhibiting companies
● 52 participating investors
● 6 distinguished keynotes
● 20 pitch stage sessions
● 15 mastermind sessions
● 15 meetups created
● 118 scheduled 1:1 meetings
● 200+ attendees at the Investor Reception
● 122,650 sponsor impressions
Grand Prize Winner: Startup World Cup Regional
Chonex took the grand prize and, with it, a spot competing for a $1M investment at the Startup World Cup. The Birmingham, Alabama company uses insect-derived materials to enhance soil, giving farmers better plant nutrition and improved crop yields.
Pitch Stage Title Round
Pitching ran as a gradual competition across both days, narrowing to a Title Round in each track. Here are the top-scoring companies.
Track 1: Healthtech & Biotech
● Claradele Pharmaceuticals
● Intra Therapeutics
● NuShammah Pharmaceuticals
● Quellios
● Unify Medical’s SurgiSight (Title Round Winner)
Tracks 2 & 3: AI / B2B SaaS / Food, Beverage & Agtech
● BabelBox.AI
● Chonex (Title Round Winner)
● Hardshell
● Instarails
● Talicent
Every year I think we’ve hit the ceiling on what this region can put on a stage, and every year the companies prove me wrong,” said Peter Marsh, founder of Flywheel and the Flywheel Foundation, who has run the event for all ten years. “None of this works without the investors who show up ready to meet founders, the sponsors who fund and support the room, and the Flywheel team and community volunteers who make two days look easy. Chonex heading to the Startup World Cup is a great reminder that what starts here doesn’t have to stay here. Ten years of that is not luck.”
Congratulations to every company that pitched, and thank you to the investors, speakers, sponsors, and volunteers who made the tenth ConvergeSouth what it was. We will see you next year!
