Latest news with #JoshCarter
Geek Wire
4 days ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
New fund in Portland aims to back early stage startups across the Pacific Northwest
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . From left: Justin Vandehey, Bobby Napiltonia, and Josh Carter. (Founder First Fund Photo) Founder First Fund, a new VC firm based in Portland, Ore., is raising its inaugural fund to back pre-seed and seed-stage startups in a variety of sectors across the Pacific Northwest. The fund is led by Josh Carter, a longtime entrepreneur and former director at Washington Maritime Blue, a nonprofit based in Seattle that supports maritime startups. Carter is general partner at the firm, along with Justin Vandehey, an entrepreneur who sold his startup Disco to Culture Amp in 2021 and is currently CEO of sales automation startup Thread. Founder First Fund recently added former Twilio exec Bobby Napiltonia as a venture partner. The firm announced Tuesday that it has raised investment from Saeed Amidi, CEO of Plug and Play, the Silicon Valley-based innovation group that recently planted its flag in the Seattle region. The firm focuses on software, clean tech, deep tech, and AI/ML companies. It plans to invest between $100,000 and $500,000 in each company. Carter, who was a manager at WeWork and CEO of a Techstars-backed bootcamp for military veterans, announced in 2019 that he was launching a fund called 1859 Ventures that would focus on Oregon's underrepresented founders. The pandemic and other hurdles kept that fund from taking off — but Carter is taking another swing with Founder First Fund. The firm will still look to find startups led by what he describes as 'ignored founders.' Carter said Tuesday he's excited about helping Pacific Northwest founders build connections to resources outside of the region, pointing to the investment from Amidi as an example.
News.com.au
05-08-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Buyers have big plans for inner Geelong house
Real estate agents resisted the temptation to use the well-worn property term 'renovate or detonate' for an original Hamlyn Heights house, despite the owner's family calling in the police over concerns a box, discovered when the property was being cleared out, contained explosives. The police bomb response unit was called to the Gladstone St property in June when the old box apparently labelled dynamite was discovered. The box had been uncovered as family members cleared the property prior to it going on the market. Bayside suburb gets green light for 2000 new homes The long-forgotten box ultimately contained fish aquarium equipment, it can be revealed. But the commotion had well and truly passed when three bidders contested Saturday's auction for the three-bedroom weatherboard house, which sold for $720,000. A young family has grand plans to renovate and extend the original weatherboard house. Buxton, Newtown agent Josh Carter had listed the three-bedroom house with $600,000 to $660,000 price expectations. 'All three were showing interest to occupy and add value and further extend and make really good use of the block,' Mr Carter said. 'It's in a flat position in Hamlyn Heights, which is pretty difficult to obtain sometimes. 'A really quiet streetscape and a really tightly-held street surrounded by homes that have all the value added to them, whether that was through further renovation or extension, or complete rebuild.' Mr Carter said the buyers would be relocating from Melbourne. 'They've had aspirations to get here before their kids start school,' Mr Carter said. 'They're going to put their foot to the floor and get in and start a build pretty much straight away.' Mr Carter said the wide block afforded the opportunity to add a garaging and extend the house to the rear. The vendors had owned the house since the 1950s when it was a skillion cottage and was further extended in the 1960s. Mr Carter said the buyers had missed out on a property in Geelong West and had also been searching in neighbouring Herne Hill. 'I think the fact they could come to Hamlyn Heights, it's five minutes down the road on a nice big clock with a great house that could be serviced well by any renovation they do. For schools it's obviously handy for them.'
Business Insider
31-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
The Pentagon launched a military-grade Y Combinator, signaling that defense tech is officially cool on college campuses
The Department of Defense is scouting the next Palantir — and it's starting on college campuses. This week, the Defense Innovation Unit — the Pentagon's emerging tech arm — launched a university accelerator, open for applications through late June. The 12-week program will be a military-grade Y Combinator of sorts, offering early-stage startups funding, mentorship, and DoD connections. Fifteen teams spun out of US universities — working in AI, cyber, space, and more — will evenly split $500,000. The initiative builds on the National Security Innovation Network's earlier Emerge program, which also targeted college founders, according to DIU project manager Josh Carter. "Though its name has changed over the years, its mission remains the same: to help early-stage tech companies founded within the US university system engage with the DoD," he said in an email to Business Insider. It's also tapping into a growing appetite on college campuses for working in national security, in part fueled by geopolitical urgency and venture dollars flooding the space. Students at top colleges like Harvard and Stanford who once chased jobs at Google and Meta are increasingly eyeing Palantir — or even launching defense tech startups of their own. Beyond rising student interest, the accelerator also reflects growing investor intrigue in dual-use startups — ones building tech for both the battlefield and commercial buyers. The DIU believes this business plan gives startups a better shot at longevity. Having public and private sector applications, Carter said, gives startups "a better opportunity to achieve long-term sustainability and growth." A handful of scaling startups are already operating in both arenas. "The most promising companies will prove their product market fit in one end market — either commercial or government — and then leverage that success to break into the other," Mina Faltas, founder and chief investment officer of Washington Harbour Partners, told BI in an email. Hadrian, which is building automated factories that can make parts for hardware companies, especially those in aerospace and defense, raised $117 million in 2024 in a mix of equity and debt from investors including RTX Ventures, the venture arm of defense prime RTX, formerly Raytheon. CHAOS Industries, which develops a software platform for critical industries and defense, raised a $275 million Series C in May, co-led by New Enterprise Associates and Accel. And Scale AI, which provides AI heavyweights like OpenAI with training data, inked a contract with the Defense Department in March. Investors say that becoming dual-use doesn't just happen overnight. "Typically, startups focus first on selling to either commercial or government customers, since the execution of each lane is quite distinct," Faltas said. Jackson Moses, founder of defense tech fund Silent Ventures, said most dual-use startups only expand into a second market once they've matured. "Startups require early, narrow focus to succeed, and I prefer founders to focus on proper upfront market research and a single GTM strategy," he told BI in an email. "Some of the most successful dual-use defense plays organically achieve product market fit over a medium- to longer-term horizon, a function of strategy, execution, and patience." Moses has backed some such startups, including CHAOS. Others are still skeptical of the approach. Jake Chapman of national security-focused firm Marque Ventures says that the industry's obsession with dual-use can be a distraction for founders and investors. "Too many DoD problems are defense problems, not dual-use problems," he told BI in an email. "If we insist on directing all our early-stage support to dual-use companies, we turn defense tech startups into second-class citizens."
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Science Hill principal accepts central office post
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Science Hill High School will have a new principal at the helm for the 2025-26 school year. Johnson City Schools (JCS) announced on Tuesday that principal Josh Carter will move to the district's central office and fill the role of secondary supervisor. ETSU preps for start of hurricane season while reflecting on Helene Carter has worked at Science Hill for the last 26 years as an English teacher, assistant principal and principal. He has led the Hilltoppers as principal since 2021. While a teacher, Carter was named the 2009 Science Hill Teacher of the Year. 'With almost three decades of experience as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, and principal at Science Hill, Dr. Carter brings a deep understanding of our students, staff, and community to this role,' Johnson City Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Greg Wallace said in a provided statement. 'His proven leadership and unwavering commitment to excellence make him uniquely prepared to support our district. We are confident that Dr. Carter will continue to elevate the work we do in Johnson City Schools.' In a news release from JCS, Carter said he is looking forward to his new role. 'I am excited and honored about the transition to secondary supervisor,' Carter said in a statement. 'I have loved my time at Science Hill and look forward to supporting the students, teachers, and administration in a different way.' A JCS spokesperson confirmed that the school district is in the process of searching for a new principal at Science Hill. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
