Coworks Blog

Coworks CEO DeShawn Brown selected to present at Venture Connect

Written by L Walker | Mar 14, 2023

DeShawn Brown, Founder and CEO of Coworks, was selected by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) to present at Venture Connect 2023, to be held March 29-30, in Research Triangle Park – North Carolina.

Brown is a serial entrepreneur, having founded Raleigh-based mobile app development company Lithios Apps prior to Coworks. A Greensboro native and graduate of NC State University, Brown is an active member of the entrepreneurial community in the Triangle and a frequent speaker.

Coworks is the ‘operating system of the future work,’ offering an intuitive, mobile-friendly automation and engagement platform for flex and coworking spaces to serve their members, automate billing, room booking, and integrate with access control systems. The platform is in use in hundreds of spaces around the world, including local operations such as Raleigh Founded and NC BioLabs.

180 presenting companies were chosen by a selection committee made up of community members, including active angel investors, local and regional venture capital firms, community and corporate partners. CED anticipates a record number of attendees, companies, and sponsors. This two-day event will be the biggest innovation showcase in the Southeast. 

“CED has long been a critical pillar of the NC entrepreneurial ecosystem.” Brown said. “Their marquee event, Venture Connect, is a great way to connect startups of all sizes with influential investors, partners, connections etc. Both the organization and event have helped my businesses personally and I look forward to making what I'm sure will be invaluable connections at the conference. For Coworks, it's a great opportunity for us to continue to share our vision and mission to power the flexible workplace of the future during these rapidly changing times.”

“Thanks to tremendous support from our partners throughout the innovation ecosystem, we had more applications to present at Venture Connect than ever before,” says Hunter Young, CED’s Head of Capital. “Our goal is to always give a platform to share their story and vision to as many innovative companies as possible, and we are confident we will execute on that mission at the end of March.”

About CED’s Venture Connect

Venture Connect is a summit that gathers together innovative companies from the Life Science and Technology communities, as well as top investors from across the U.S. — This powerhouse event is clear evidence of how strong our tech and life science ecosystems really are. CED hopes you will join in supporting entrepreneurs and seasoned experts as they come alongside investors and stakeholders for two days of unrivaled content and connections at Venture Connect 2023.

About CED (Council for Entrepreneurial Development)

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development was formed in 1984 by a group of business leaders wanting to empower the successful creation and growth of entrepreneurial companies in the North Carolina region. CED acts as the connective center for all of this to happen. Through high-touch support, education, access to capital, and crucial connections, CED brings entrepreneurs together with the optimal resources needed to turn a new company into a success story. For more information go to www.cednc.org.