Local Founders Share Entrepreneurial Journeys at Fireside Chat

Two of Georgia Tech’s startup-focused organizations, Startup Exchange and CREATE-X, collaborated to host an evening around entrepreneurship with a panel of experts, networking, and complimentary food and beverages.

Over 100 members and guests showed up at The Clubhouse to hear from other individuals who shared a similar dream of starting their own company and were actually successful!

The panelists, who were all CREATE-X alumni, included Tim Felbinger (Founder of StartProto), Zea Khorramabadi (Co-Founder of StrideLink), and Daniele De Mari (Founder of Neurogram). They took the stage to share their entrepreneurial journey with those in attendance, often citing themes of diversity of thought, demographics, and gender. They focused on encouraging entrepreneurship while simultaneously providing unique insights into the challenges and opportunities of starting your own business.

Concluding the discussion, Daniele spoke with attendees in more detail. She shared she was born and raised in Brazil and moved to the United States to study neuroscience at Georgia Tech. It was there, since her first semester, that she started working in research labs. In 2020, Daniele worked as an EEG Technician in Brazil and unexpectedly saved a patient's life by detecting that he was having a seizure in the middle of his EEG scan. And thus, Neurogram was born. She has since closed a partnership with a neurology company and a medical association with more than 50 hospitals around Brazil, yielding a $4 million valuation.

The biggest takeaway of the event? Hearing from a diverse range of speakers helped inspire audience members from all backgrounds and increased their confidence in pursuing their entrepreneurial aspirations, regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.