Events & Meetups

1 Million Cups RTP is a weekly morning event for local entrepreneurs to meet and present their startups to the thriving peer network of founders in the Triangle. The group occasionally hosts panels of experienced entrepreneurs as well. Meetups are scheduled every week on Wednesdays. Videos are posted on YouTube.

In addition to its popular annual conference held every October in Raleigh, All Things Open also hosts a meetup to discuss open source, open tech and open web topics.

The Downtown Techies meetup is a network of technology professionals who live and work in downtown Raleigh and Durham. Networking events are held every month at a local bar or restaurant.

• Join the Raleigh meetup here. There’s also a meetup for folks in Midtown.
• Join the Durham meetup here.

First Flight Venture Center, a life science startup incubator in the heart of Research Triangle Park, regularly hosts lunch and learns, interactive presentations and workshops for life science entrepreneurs and innovators. First Flight’s prototyping lab, Hangar6, also runs a monthly “Talking Shop” series interviewing local entrepreneurs and business leaders about their paths to success.

Stay updated through First Flight’s Eventbrite page.

Launch Bio: Larger Than Life Science is an evening event in Durham that includes panels and speakers, breakout sessions and networking for the local life science community. More coverage here.

Durham-based code school Momentum regularly hosts free meetups covering the basics of software development.

Pull-Up at Provident is a free monthly event that brings together Durham’s bustling community of startup founders and small business owners to connect for networking and support. The program includes workshop sessions covering hot topics such as legal considerations, tax preparation, contracting certifications, budgeting, and tips for raising capital and landing grant funding. The series is held at Provident1898, a Durham-based coworking space home to a diverse and growing community of entrepreneurs and creators. See more details on Eventbrite.

Raleigh Durham Entrepreneurs’ Organization (part of a global network) holds networking socials and other events at venues across the Triangle. The local chapter was founded in 1998 and has 68 members as of April 2022.

This meetup, hosted by local coworking space Raleigh Founded, convenes local creative entrepreneurs and storytellers to share their latest ideas and projects in a fun networking environment. The meetup launched in early-2021.

Stay up-to-date on Raleigh Founded’s Eventbrite page.

RTP offers several events for the local tech community. Many are free.

Local Internet of Things startup network RIoT hosts weekly lunch and learns featuring expert advice and workshops to help entrepreneurs and techies expand their knowledge.

RTP AgBio + AgTech Meetup is a gathering of researchers, entrepreneurs, innovators, students and professionals in life science and agriculture fields. The group meets monthly.

Speakers from Research Triangle Park’s three founding universities, local companies and the community at-large are called upon to speak passionately about topics that matter to them. Themes range from fashion to robotics to digital health to politics. This event recurs monthly.

RTP Virtual Reality brings together individuals from Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill that see the potential of virtual reality technology. The goal is to meet people who see the next wave and would like to be a part of that revolution.

Startup Summit is a local event series designed to educate and connect local entrepreneurs and investors. The program first launched in 2018 and holds regular meetups in addition to its flagship annual conference. Though it started in the Triangle, Startup Summit is quickly expanding to Charlotte and up the east coast to New York.

The Triangle chapter of Tech Talent South hosts regular beginner-oriented code-learning events for the community. Most are free.

Triangle Biotech Tuesday is a monthly meetup that connects scientific professionals across the RTP/greater Triangle area. Participants join for food, drinks and networking with professionals from different industries. The group meets on the second Tuesday of each month.

Triangle Bitcoin Meetup welcomes everyone interested in bitcoin, cryptocurrencies or money in general. Depending on demand, the meetup can include general discussion, trading or presentations. Events are held every Thursday.

Launched in 2013, Triangle Code for America is a popular meetup that focuses on civic tech. The group includes developers, designers, data scientists, leaders and innovators from Cary, Durham, Morrisville, Raleigh and the greater Triangle area. Members meet regularly to network and work on ongoing projects.

A “show and tell” format event where technologists demo their projects and ventures in a wide range of industries, from software to hardware, IT to biotech, robotics to space tech. It doesn’t matter if the technology is from a startup, a large company, a university, a government agency or if it’s just a hobby—TechBreakfast says they want to see you and your ideas.

A free networking event held in Cary that helps local techies connect with one another and potentially find jobs in the process. This meetup meets every two weeks on Fridays.

Triangle Women in STEM hosts regular networking events and programming to engage the local tech community. The group aims to recruit and retain women in STEM fields, and to boost entrepreneurship opportunities, leadership development, education, workforce development and career assistance.

With over 1,300 members, Women in Tech Allies holds regular meetups once or twice per month in the Triangle. The meetup group brings together people of all genders and backgrounds to further diversity and inclusion in tech through knowledge-sharing and networking. Meetups cover a broad range of topics such as AI and machine learning, app development, coding languages, innovation and entrepreneurship, data science, web design, and more.