LaunchBox Digital Brings An Incubator To North Carolina's Research Triangle

LaunchBox Digital a startup incubator similar to Y Combinator that offers founders small amounts of seed funding and a mentorship program in exchange for equity stakes of around 4-8%, is expanding its program to the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina. LaunchBox Digital, which already has a program in Washington D.C., will hold a 12-week incubator in Durham, NC, during the fall of 2010.

John McKinley, co-founder of LaunchBox Digital (FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is another founder) says that an incubator in Research Triangle makes sense, as the area is a hotbed of entrepreneurship and innovation. Research Triangle is home to one of the largest research-focused office parks in the country, with Red Hat, Cisco, IBM, and NetApp, and other technology companies all housing R&D facilities in the area. Additionally, the research and educational facilities of Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University are nearby.

Chris Heivly, the founder of fellow local incubator Triangle StartUpFactory, will be the executive director of the Research Triangle outpost. His incubator will be folded into Launchbox Digital’s program.

LaunchBox Digital is currently accepting applications for its fall 2010 program, which will be held in Durham, NC and will begin on August 31. Applications can be submitted here and will be accepted until June 30, 2010.