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3/31-4/8: Exceptional Eight competitions resulting in the Fabulous Four4/9-4/14: Fabulous Four competitions resulting in our Finalists4/16: Tweener Madness Championship and winner announced!
Companies must apply and meet specific criteria to enter the contest.A selection committee will pick the top 8 companies based on their selection. This creates the first round of competition - the Exceptional Eight.A selection committee will then vote to ‘seed’ the Exceptional Eight.Note: The selection committee votes on seeding only the Exceptional Eight. The community does not seed or vote on advancing rounds. After seeding, a traditional bracket-style competition will place the companies against each other with a panel of three local startup investors acting as a selection committee.In the first of three rounds, the selection committee’s votes will narrow the field to our Fearless Four.In the second round, the selection committee will narrow the field to the Tweener Madness Two.The final championship round will select a winner who will be the 2026 Tweener Madness Champion and receive the $25,000 investment
Headquartered in NCBe a Tweener: 10 people or $1m/yr ($83k/m) revenueOR be a Pre-Tweener: less than $1m/yr in revenue ($83k/m)Have some intellectual property (Companies must own or develop proprietary technology or processes; be a technology company)No Life Sciences/Biotech companies - specifically, nothing that requires FDA approvalNo consulting or service businesses, uunless the venture is a new technology company.
Participate in a pitch competition and answer selection committee questions, no NDAs will be signedBe available for virtual recordings 3/13 and 3/17, and in an in-person recording in Raleigh, NC 4/1.
3/13: 9am - 12pm VIRTUAL3/17: 9am - 11am VIRTUAL4/1: 2pm - 4pm IN PERSON | Raleigh, NCIf there is an existing open round or SAFE/convertible note, NC Tweener Fund will invest, but reserves the right to evaluate terms.If there is not a round, NC Tweener Fund will invest via a SAFE with a 20% discount, MFN, and CAP in the $4-6m range depending on revenue range ($4m pre-revenue, $6m, close to or north of $50k).
Tournament
8 startups. 3 rounds. $25k investment prize.
Tweener Madness shines a spotlight on the amazing NC startup ecosystem. The contest involves who will compete for the $25k investment prize and a group of selection members that are local institutional or angel investors.
Each competition in the bracket will feature two companies and their founders facing off with a selection committee of three judges.
Tournament Updates
High-level Timeline
Tweener Madness will work as follows:
Company Criteria
At NC Tweener Fund, our priority are Tweeners (10 people or $1m/yr revenue). However, both Pre-Tweeners and Tweeners across the state of NC are welcome to apply.
Note: existing portfolio companies are exempt from applying
Companies applying must fit this criteria:
Additionally, by applying you agree:
Companies applying must be available on specific dates:
The Tweener Madness filming will be on the following dates, all applicants must verify they are available for 90 min on each day:
For the investment, there are two scenarios:
FAQs
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How are the 8 companies selected?
The Tweener Fund team is making the selection of the top 8 teams based on a variety of factors including company stage, amount raised, revenue, product progress, founder configuration, space/category and how the company compares to the rest of the candidates.
If selected, we will pitch three local investors? How does that work?
Based on the seeding, you will be competing with another startup to move forward, starting in the Exceptional Eight. Your submission video will be used as your pitch. The committee will watch your video and then invite you to ask questions. After hearing the competing company's pitch, the three selection committee members will vote independently.
Is this recorded live?
This will all be recorded (audio/video) in a virtual or in-person studio with our production staff and no live audience.
The audio/video podcast will be put together in post-production and released.
If we win the first round, what happens next?
You proceed for a maximum of three rounds: 1. Exceptional Eight, 2. Fabulous Four and 3. Championship. You will find out if you have advanced within 72 hours, and must keep your status private in the spirit of the competition!
What will happen in the 90m recording sessions?
We're hoping 90m is the max time we'll need. Because we shoot audio and video, there is a lot of equipment and considerations that we need to take into account. Our loose plan is:
Format:
Host introduction
Judge introduction
Pre-recorded video plays
Company joins live immediately after for Q&A
Timing per company:
5–7 min video
5–7 min live discussion
Companies join only for their assigned slot (no waiting through entire session)
Same 3 judges view all 8 companies in one day (should take 15-20 min per round, 4 rounds, 1.5 hour “recording”)
This plan is repeated for each round.
How firm is the NC based criteria?
In 2026, in partnership with NC IDEA, we expanded statewide and became NC Tweener Fund, Powered by NC IDEA, bringing our capital, content, and community model to founders across all of North Carolina.
Our preference is headquarters and whole team is here in NC. However if one of your co-founders is here and your plan is to continue to have a base here, we will consider it.
Do consulting/professional services qualify for the competition?
No. We're looking to highlight companies that are looking for 'venture scale'. The one exception is if you have a product with repeatable revenue you plan to spin out, we'll consider that.
Do you have to have employees or can solopreneurs apply?
Solopreneurs are fine, go apply!
How are the 8 companies selected?
The Tweener Fund team is making the selection of the top 8 teams based on a variety of factors including company stage, amount raised, revenue, product progress, founder configuration, space/category and how the company compares to the rest of the candidates.
Statement of intent
We celebrate all forms of entrepreneurship and welcome all founders. The selection committee will be given clear criteria to examine companies on. The nature of a contest like this means there will be one winner. This does not mean that other participants are any less accomplished or impactful. It means that the winner was a bit better at pitching, maybe they are further along, maybe their idea sparks the imagination of the selection committee, maybe their TAM is larger, so-on.
If companies aren’t the ultimate winner of the contest, we want the experience to still be positive and help move your company forward. You will have a ton of unpaid media, exposure to a wide mix of local entrepreneurs and investors, and more. Our goal is even if you aren’t the finalist, this event will be a great experience for you as a founder to receive positive feedback, but also a great PR event for your company.
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