In search of the next SAS, Triangle investor donates $900k to NC State
A year after he sold his Triangle startup for $300 million, entrepreneur Bill Spruill is funding a new North Carolina State University program that aims to help promising research projects become real, revenue-generating businesses.
With a $900,000 donation, Spruill will kickstart the school’s 2ndF Research Commercialization Fund. It is a name derived from the company Spruill founded after his first venture, Global Data Consortium, was acquired for an envy-inducing price in May 2022.
2ndF, the company, invests in early-stage local startups. Similarly, the 2ndF fund at N.C. State will provide additional dollars to the handful of business ideas that are selected each year by the school’s Chancellor’s Innovation Fund.
The Chancellor’s Innovation Fund backs six commercially focused research projects each year, with recipients receiving up to $50,000. But Spruill said young startups often need more to jump from being good ideas to actually making revenue.
His $900,000 will be allocated over three years, and to receive the money, Spruill said founders will have to complete a series of “business-building activities,” including education, fundraising, and business plan preparation.
“Understanding how to actually align your equity at the very beginning of your business, can make the difference between whether your business is a success or failure, frankly,” he said.
Spruill, who lives in Raleigh, believes North Carolina’s largest university is the most likely area school to produce the next big-time technology businesses.
“When I looked at where might the next SAS, where might the next Cree (now Wolfspeed), where might the next Quintiles (now IQVIA) come from, I think focusing on N.C. State technology is a no-brainer,” he said. “N.C. State is the place where we generate the most promising technology in the state. That university has strong competencies in textiles, chip technology, battery technology, and other areas.”
Keeping his focus (and dollars) on Triangle startups
In September, Spruill was named board chair of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, an economic development nonprofit in Research Triangle Park. He also serves on the board of nCino, a financial technology company in Wilmington.
Spruill grew up in Goldsboro, about an hour southeast of Raleigh. He cofounded Global Data Consortium in 2010 and has been an active investor in the area for more than a decade.
“The Triangle is my home region,” he said. “It is the home for a lot of innovation, management and tech talent. There’s so much in the way of great resources here.”
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published May 29, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
