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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American Underground
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryCommercial real estate
FoundedOctober 31, 2010; 15 years ago (October 31, 2010)
Durham, North Carolina
FounderMichael Goodmon
HeadquartersAmerican Tobacco Campus,
Durham, North Carolina
,
United States
Area served
North Carolina
Key people
  • Adam Klein
  • Chris Heivly
  • Glen Caplan
Services
ParentCapitol Broadcasting Company
Websitewww.americanunderground.com

American Underground (AU) is a startup hub and coworking provider based in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 2010 as a subsidiary of Capitol Broadcasting Company, it operates several shared workspaces and programs for early-stage companies as part of CBC Real Estate, Capitol Broadcasting Company's real estate division.​[1] The American Underground has been described by UNC Chapel Hill's Center for Entrepreneurial Studies as a "major linchpin" of Durham's startup community and by The Atlantic as a driver of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Triangle.[2]​[3]

Since the mid‑2010s, American Underground has been noted for its efforts to support women and founders of color, launching initiatives including Black Founders Exchange, SOAR, and the Durham chapter of Black Girls Code. It has hosted programs with partners including Google for Startups, Fidelity Investments, the U.S. Department of Defense, and Steve Case's Rise of the Rest tour.[4][5] As of 2026, it operates three locations in downtown Durham, including a new 40,000-square-foot flagship location at the American Tobacco Campus.

History

[edit]

Founding and Early Years (2009-2012)

[edit]

In 2009, Chris Heivly and Glen Caplan, members of the Triangle startup community, were advocating for the creation of dedicated startup space to local business leaders.[6] In fall 2009, Capitol Broadcasting Company's Jim Goodmon and Michael Goodmon invited Heivly and Caplan to the unrestored basements of the Strickland and Crowe buildings at American Tobacco Campus.[6] Heivly and Caplan found that the space would work for their needs and agreed to share the space and anchor the startup hub, later named American Underground.[6][7]

On October 31, 2010, Capitol Broadcasting officially opened American Underground in the renovated and restored basement of the Strickland and Crowe buildings at the American Tobacco Campus.[6][8][9] The name 'American Underground' was created by architect Eddie Belk as a placeholder name in his plan sets but the name stuck.[6] The new space was anchored by three founding tenants[6][10]:

  • Joystick Labs, a seed-stage startup accelerator for digitally-distributed video game companies
  • LaunchBox Digital, a business accelerator for entrepreneurs from across the southeast and mid-Atlantic
  • CED (Council for Entrepreneurial Development), a non-profit organization that provided entrepreneurial support organizations since 1984

Between Fall 2010 and Spring 2011, the AU rapidly filled up with only 1,100 square feet of the original 26,000-square-foot space available in April 2011.[8][9][6][11] In August 2012, Adam Klein was hired as chief strategist for the American Underground, becoming its first full-time employee.[6]

Growth and Expansion (2013-2019)

[edit]

Physical expansion in Durham, Raleigh

[edit]

Due to the rapid occupancy of the AU's original location, parent company CBC began looking for additional locations for the AU in 2011.[9] From 2013 to 2017, American Underground expanded to multiple locations in Durham and Raleigh.

Front Entrance, AU@Main

On July 18, 2013, the AU expanded to a second location, AU@Main, a 22,000-square-foot space on W. Main Street in downtown Durham.[12] Originally announced in November 2012, AU@Main had space for 100 startups and included coworking, private office suites, and event space.[6][13]

In August 2013, the AU announced plans for a new 5,500-square-foot facility at 213 Fayetteville St. in downtown Raleigh, dubbed AU@Raleigh.[6][14] Opened in February 2014, the AU@Raleigh space included space for up to 25 companies as well as Bandwidth Labs, the incubator arm of Republic Wireless parent Bandwidth Inc.[14][15] The AU@Raleigh location was closed in 2015 and transformed into an Iron Yard Academy coding bootcamp location.

In Summer 2014, the AU announced plans to expand the flagship AU@Main facility, adding another 30,000 square feet of space including a rooftop patio.[6][16] The expansion opened on February 2, 2015.[17] With the expansion, American Underground occupied 52,000 square feet on four of the five floors at 201 W Main Street, a Self Help Credit Union-owned building.[16] Between December 2014 and the opening of the new expansion, AU saw the number of member companies increase from 180 to 205 and the number of members reach 850 individuals.[17] Across its three locations, including American Tobacco Campus and downtown Raleigh, American Underground operated 95,000 square feet of coworking space in 2015.[17]

In February 2016, CBC's American Underground opened its fourth coworking location, AU@Market, located across the street from its main location on W. Main Street in downtown Durham, NC.[18]

S. H. Kress Building in Downtown Durham, built in the 1930s in an Art Deco style
Kress Building in Durham, NC, Home of AU's Gridpoint Durham

In April 2017, American Underground opened Gridworks Durham in the S. H. Kress & Co. building on downtown Durham's W Main Street.[19] The 7,000 square-foot space included three conference rooms, 12 private offices, 75 working spots, a kitchen/bar area, a copier area and individual mailboxes.[19] Gridworks Durham was designed for freelancers and small businesses where as AU's other locations focused on startups and entrepreneurs.[19]

Programs, partnerships, and acquisitions

[edit]

On September 25, 2013, American Underground was named a Google for Entrepreneurs Tech Hub, one of seven in the United States.[6][20] The designation included an undisclosed cash infusion from Google, as well as Google technology products for startups.[20] Google also committed to provide American Underground startups with mentorship and networking with Google engineers.[20] The following month, the AU hosted the first public event for Google Glass, a wearable technology, on October 5, 2013.[21]

In October 2013, American Underground participated in a $150,000 seed funding round for Groundfloor, a real estate investing crowdfunding platform.[22] American Underground later increased its investment in Groundfloor by participating in Groundfloor's $5 million equity funding round in December 2015.[23]

In February 2014, American Underground acquired entrepreneurship-focused blog ExitEvent.[24] Financial terms were not disclosed. In addition to its media content, ExitEvent hosted events for the Triangle startup community.[24]

In April 2014, then-AU tenant Smashing Boxes and The Iron Yard announced plans to create the Iron Yard Academy, the first coding academy in Durham and located at the American Underground.[25] The academy occupied 3,500 sf and offered classes on various programming languages to help meet the workforce needs of the Triangle's technology industry.[25] In fall 2015, it expanded to 6,000 square feet.[26]

In April 2014, AU member/tenant Windsor Circle won the first Google for Entrepreneur's Demo Day pitch event.[6][27] A year later, AU member/tenant MATI Energy won the second Google Demo Day event.[28]

In 2014, following Google's Trailblazers Summit, at which Google announced plans to accept applications for an “exchange” program to bring founders from across the Google for Startups Tech Hub network together for specialized training, Adam Klein and newly hired director of partnerships Jes Averhart developed a proposal for Black Founders Exchange.[6] Google accepted the proposal and funded it in full in the first year, launching in 2015.[6]

In February 2015, AU leadership announced a goal of becoming the most diverse startup hub in the world by the end of 2016.[29] That same month, American Underground was selected as one of three hubs for Google's CODE2040 executive-in-residence program, which focused on supporting Black and Latino entrepreneurs.[29] The competitive fellowship provided a founder of an early stage company with $40,000 in seed capital, workspace at American Underground, a trip to the Googleplex for training and networking, and mentoring.[29] In March 2015, the AU launched SOAR, an initiative led by startup consultant Laura Whitehurst to support female entrepreneurs through mentorship and introductions to funding sources.[30] In April 2015, the AU partnered with Code the Dream, a free tech education program aimed at minority and immigrant youth.[31] In May 2015, the American Underground launched the Durham, North Carolina chapter of Black Girls Code, a non-profit focused on providing African-American girls and other youth of color with computer programming education and mentorship.[32]

On May 5, 2015, Steve Case's "Rise of the Rest" tour visited the American Underground to hear eight startups pitch for a potential $100,000 investment.[33] Over 100 startups applied to be one of the eight selected to pitch.[33] Durham-based Archive Social, a social media monitoring and archiving application for governments, won the pitch contest and the $100,000 investment.[33]

In June 2015, Fidelity Investments announced that Fidelity Labs, the company's research and development unit, had moved into a private office at the American Underground.[34]

In September 2015, AU announced that Iron Yard Academy would take over the entire AU@Raleigh location.[26] The 5,500 square foot location doubled Iron Yard's Triangle presence to approximately 11,000 square feet.[26] Prior to the announcement, 25 teams were based at AU@Raleigh.[26] Impacted teams were offered discounted rent at AU's Durham locations and support to relocate to other coworking locations in Raleigh.[26]

On May 30, 2017, American Underground announced it had acquired Big Top, a career management and networking platform.[35] Post-acquisition, Big Top's portfolio was managed by American Underground's ExitEvent.

In July 2017, the Iron Yard Academy shut down, and closed all of their locations including operations at AU facilities in Durham and Raleigh.[36]

In October 2017, AU's ExitEvent ceased its media operations and its content was integrated into AU parent company Capitol Broadcasting Co.'s WRAL TechWire.[37]

In March 2018, Momentum Learning, a Durham-based startup coding bootcamp, commenced operations at CBC's American Underground; Capitol Broadcasting was also the lead investor in the company's $400,000 seed round.[38][39] It was led by former Iron Yards Academy leaders and operated in the same space as Iron Yard, headquartered in downtown Durham with a satellite location in Raleigh.[39]

In June 2018, American Underground launched a veterans-in-residence program to encourage and support individuals transitioning out of military service to move into tech roles and entrepreneurship.[40] At the time of launch, American Underground had six veteran-led companies that employed 18 veterans; the program had a goal to double that number within two years.[40]

In August 2018, the U.S. Department of Defense announced it had selected the American Underground to house its MD5 Southeast Region hub.[41] The MD5 hub at the AU was led by Tommy Sowers and focused on connecting entrepreneurs with the Department of Defense and driving innovations with the U.S. military.[42]

On October 22, 2018, Google rebranded its entrepreneurship program "Google for Startups"; in its announcement, the company highlighted the American Underground for its work to increase veteran involvement in startups and entrepreneurship.[43]

In February 2019, the American Underground announced that Big Top and all remaining ExitEvent program had been fully integrated into American Underground's workspace offerings.[44][45]

Maturation as a Regional Hub (2020-2024)

[edit]

In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, American Underground suspended its in-person events indefinitely and shifted its programming to enhanced online programs and channels.[46] The AU remained open to members but added additional sanitizing equipment and disposable products.[46]

In April 2021, American Underground and Raleigh Founded, a coworking provider in Raleigh, North Carolina, announced a reciprocity agreement that allowed each organization's members access to the other's locations one day per week, and four times per month.[47] The AU and Raleigh Forward partnered again in April 2024 on a joint initiative to provide discounted membership plans and specialized resources for job seekers interested in technology jobs.[48]

In July 2021, Kinston, North Carolina-based FlyExclusive, a luxury charter jet company, announced that it had selected the American Underground in Durham to house its new technology team.[49] Tommy Sowers, who previously led the National Security Innovation Network hub at the AU, was hired to lead the team to develop applications to improve flight booking as well as fleet and crew operations.[49]

In March 2024, AU-backed Momentum Learning ceased operations, citing disruptions to entry-level hiring with the rise of AI-based coding.[50][51]

In August 2024, American Underground and Fidelity Investments' Center for Applied Technology (FCAT) announced the launch of the FCAT Fellowship, a ten-week program that includes in-person and virtual workshops, mentorship sessions, industry networking and a pitch event with investors.[52] Participants selected for the inaugural cohort also receive a 12-month residency at the American Underground.

Return to American Tobacco Campus (2025-Present)

[edit]

In June 2025, American Underground announced that it would close the AU@Main location in 2026 and relocate the flagship location back to the American Tobacco Campus (ATC).[1][53] The new space in ATC's Washington Building was designed by Little Diversified Architectural Consulting with the reported intention of creating "collaborative collisions" among AU members and becoming a place of connection between AU members and ATC's tenants and visitors.[53] In April 2026, the new AU@ATC location served as a host location for the annual Raleigh-Durham Startup Week held April 20-24, 2026.[53][54] On June 3, 2026, AU held a formal grand opening event for the new 40,000 square-foot flagship location at the American Tobacco Campus.[55]

Locations and Programs

[edit]

As of June 2026, American Underground had three operating locations, all in downtown Durham, North Carolina. Historically, the AU has had a focus on startups and entrepreneurs, but after the COVID‑19 pandemic it broadened membership to include freelancers and remote corporate workers.[56][57] By 2023, at least 16 percent of occupants were remote workers, and American Underground reported that its membership was roughly evenly split among tech startups, small businesses, and remote workers.[58][59] In July 2025, it supported over 275 startups and small businesses across its three locations and was 97 percent occupied.[5][60]

Current locations

[edit]
  • AU@ATC (Washington Building): The flagship AU location opened in 2026 in Bays 9 and 10 of the Washington Building at the American Tobacco Campus.[1] The 40,000-square-foot space includes two coworking areas, an indoor garden, podcast studio, private offices, and meeting rooms.[1]
    Durham's Trust Building, home of AU@Market
  • AU@Market: Located at 212 W. Main Street in the Trust Building, AU@Market occupies the third floor and includes dedicated private offices for startups and small businesses. The building is owned by Washington, D.C.-based Akridge.[61]
  • AU@Kress: Originally known as Gridworks Durham and located at 103 W. Main St in downtown Durham, AU@Kress is a 7,000-square-foot AU-managed office space in the S. H. Kress & Co. building.[19] Opened in April 2017, the space includes three conference rooms, 12 private offices, 75 working spots, a kitchen/bar area, a copier area and individual mailboxes.[62]

Former locations

[edit]
  • AU@ATC (Strickland & Crowe Buildings): The original location of the AU occupied 26,000 square feet of the basement of the Strickland and Crowe Buildings at the American Tobacco Campus.
  • AU@Main: Located at 201 W. Main Street in Durham, AU@Main was the flagship location from 2013 until 2026. This location occupied four floors and included 52,000 SF of coworking and private offices.
  • AU@Raleigh: A 5,500 SF location on the second floor of 213 Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh which operated as an AU outpost from 2014 to 2015. In 2015, coding school Iron Yard Academy took over the space.

Programs

[edit]

American Underground operates a range of programs that support early‑stage companies and underrepresented founders through accelerators, mentorship, training, and partnerships with corporate and community organizations.

Google for Startups Tech Hub: In 2013, American Underground was selected as one of seven U.S. “Google for Entrepreneurs” (now Google for Startups) Tech Hubs, a designation that included an undisclosed cash investment and access to Google products and technical support for its member companies.[6][20] Through the partnership, Google provided mentorship, training, and networking opportunities with its engineers and broader startup network, and highlighted American Underground’s work in areas such as veteran and underrepresented founders.[20][63]

Black Founders Exchange: Launched in 2016 by American Underground and Google, Black Founders Exchange is a selective week-long conference and workshop for Black startup founders that includes training, mentorship and networking opportunities with investors like Bull City Venture Partners, IDEA Fund Partners, Sand Hill Angels, Pendulum Holdings, and Revolution.[64][65] The program seeks to close the funding gap that persists for Black founders; alumni of the program have raised over $25 million in funding.[64] The program tends to select 8-10 startups each year to participate in the program.[65] The Black Founders Exchange has been held annually since 2016.[66][67][68][69][70][71][72].[note 1]

FCAT Fellowship: The FCAT Fellowship, a partnership between the American Underground and Fidelity Investments' Center for Applied Technology (FCAT), is a 10-week startup accelerator program that provides workshops, mentorship sessions and industry networking to an annual cohort of 10-15 startups.[52] Program participants also receive a 12-month residency at the American Underground. The FCAT Fellowship culminates with a Demo Day pitch event with industry investors. In 2024, the Demo Day grand prize was won by Scale Social AI.[73] In 2025, the grand prize was won by Kahmino.[74]

Idea to Entrepreneur: Idea to Entrepreneur is an annual startup bootcamp for individuals who are interested in starting a company.[75] Participants begin with a kickoff workshop to develop skills to ideate and develop their startup concept.[75] Participants then proceed through several months of workshops, mentorship events, and networking before pitching their ideas in a founders showcase. Winning ideas receive 3 months of residency at the AU and legal support from sponsor Hutchinson PLLC.[75]

Landing Spot: Launched in 2014, Landing Spot provides free co-working space, mentoring and coaching to select laid-off tech staff with the goal of creating entrepreneurs from laid-off employees.[76] The program provided 10 seats for three-month periods to future entrepreneurs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Landing Spot shifted to a virtual program for 5 individuals for three-month periods.[77]

Impact and recognition

[edit]

Impact on Durham's startup ecosystem

[edit]

In 2015, CNBC dubbed Durham, North Carolina the "Startup Capital of the South"[78] and the work of the American Underground startup hub has been attributed to that recognition.[79] In his research on the entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) in Durham, NC, Professor Emil Malizia of UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School found the American Underground to be "the major linchpin in Durham's EE."[2] Across 2015 and 2016, companies based at the AU raised over $50 million in funding, created over 1,100 jobs, and spent $1.4 million in the downtown Durham community.[80] Since 2014, the AU reports that companies based at their locations have cumulatively raised over $500 million in funding and created over 3,750 jobs.[81]

Diversity initiatives

[edit]

Beginning in 2015, American Underground set a goal of becoming “the most diverse startup hub in the world,” in response to research showing that funded startup founders in the United States are overwhelmingly white and male.[82][83] A 2016 report by CB Insights found that only 1 percent of funded startup founders were Black and 8 percent were women, compared to their shares of the overall U.S. population.[84] By contrast, American Underground’s 2016–2017 annual report stated that about 48 percent of companies headquartered in its facilities were led by women and/or people of color, a figure that remained close to 50 percent in subsequent annual reports.[85][86][87][88][89][90] Scholars and planners have cited the hub as a “pioneer” in treating diversity as a measurable performance goal, though some critics have questioned whether the focus risks being perceived as “diversity for diversity’s sake”. [91][4]

Notable member companies

[edit]

Over time, a number of startups and technology firms based at American Underground have attracted national attention through acquisitions, funding rounds, accelerator selection, and industry recognition, and have been cited in reliable sources as examples of Durham’s innovation economy.[92][93]

  • Archive Social – Social‑media archiving platform for governments that was headquartered at American Underground, where it secured a US$100,000 investment during Steve Case’s “Rise of the Rest” tour; Archive Social later merged with Monsido and NextRequest in 2022 to form Optimere, which was acquired by CivicPlus.[16]
  • Bright Wolf – Enterprise Internet‑of‑Things software and services firm that was based at the American Underground while helping industrial and Fortune 1000 clients connect and manage equipment data, before being acquired by Cognizant in 2020.[94]
  • CloudFactory – Workforce‑as‑a‑service and data‑labeling firm that serves Fortune 500 clients and expanded its artificial‑intelligence capabilities through the acquisition of an AI platform, while growing its Durham team from one employee to about 60 at American Underground.[95][96]
  • LoanWell – Financial‑technology startup that provided an automated platform for lending and grantmaking and was selected for a Google accelerator program for Black‑led businesses while headquartered at American Underground.[97]
  • MATI Energy – Organic energy‑drink company that grew at American Underground and later won the second Google for Entrepreneurs Demo Day pitch competition.[98]
  • ProcessMaker – Workflow and process‑automation software company that maintained offices at American Underground while scaling its low‑code platform and receiving a US$45 million growth investment from Aldrich Capital Partners in 2021.[99]
  • Plum CoOwnership – Real‑estate startup offering fractional vacation‑home ownership that operated from American Underground while raising venture funding and reporting increasing demand for its co‑ownership model.[100][101]
  • Wild Earth – Plant‑based pet‑food company and Shark Tank alum that moved its headquarters from California to the American Underground in Durham and later secured a national retail deal with Petco that was projected to significantly increase revenue.[102][103]
  • Windsor Circle – Marketing‑automation startup that was a tenant at American Underground and won the inaugural Google for Entrepreneurs Demo Day pitch competition in 2014.[16]

Awards

[edit]

In April 2012, the American Underground won Best Development Project at the annual Triangle Commercial Real Estate Women (TCREW) Champions Awards.[104] In January 2015, the American Underground won one of the annual Triangle Business Journal Real Estate Awards in the Economic Development for Existing Industry category.[105]

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ Black Founders Exchange was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of June 2026, no editions of the Exchange have been reported since 2022.

References

[edit]
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