‘A lot of blood, sweat, and tears’: Wilmington tech start-up celebrates move downtown

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - Spring is the season for graduations, and one tech company in Wilmington celebrated a major milestone on Friday.

Connected Investors, a social platform that connects investors in real estate, is moving from its home in tekMountain, a tech incubator and innovation center, to a larger office in downtown Wilmington.

“A lot of planning, a lot of hours, a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are, but when you have the right team, you’re in the right market, you’re surrounded by positive people, it’s a great environment to make that all become a reality,” said Ross Hamilton, Founder and CEO of Connected Investors.

The “LinkedIn for real estate investors” first started at tekMountain four years ago. Connected Investors has grown enough to require its own 7,000-square-foot office space on historic downtown Wilmington’s North Front Street.

“When we moved into tekMountain, we had about three people working with us, now we have 21,” said Hamilton. “Prior to tekMountain being here, Wilmington, North Carolina didn’t really have the infrastructure for someone running a technology company.”

The relaxed party on Friday included short speeches from Hamilton and the president of tekMountain.

"I've always envisioned getting to where we are and way beyond, but to actually be standing there is something else, rather than just talking about it," said Hamilton.

Hamilton said his company will bring more jobs and innovation to Wilmington.

“They say if you love your city, invest in start-ups. That’s because start-ups provide so many exciting career opportunities for people of all ages,” said Hamilton. “We’re providing a lot of jobs downtown. I love downtown, being a real estate investor.”

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