RIoT Underground
Welcome to RIoT Underground — the podcast that pulls back the curtain on the innovators transforming our world with disruptive technology. We talk with fearless founders, tech leaders, and changemakers about their journeys — the wins, the failures, and everything in between. Discover how they learn from mistakes, build meaningful careers, and lead with purpose.
Produced by RIoT Studios, part of the nonprofit RIoT, which drives innovation through events, conferences, startup accelerators, programs, thought leadership, and more.
Tune in, subscribe, and join the underground at riot.org.
RIoT Underground
II: Breaking Barriers & Building Deep Tech, LIVE with Krista Covey, President & CEO, First Flight Venture Center
In this special LIVE episode of the RIoT Underground, we sit down with Krista Covey, President & CEO of First Flight Venture Center—North Carolina’s oldest business incubator—in front of a live audience to explore what it takes to build world-changing companies in the deep tech and high science space.
Krista shares her personal journey from kid entrepreneur to recovering banker to startup ecosystem champion, and unpacks the critical role of long-term investment and ecosystem support in bringing high-impact innovation to life. We dig into how economic development intersects with startups, what’s trending in AI and life sciences, and why building allergy-free peanuts might just be the next big thing.
If you’re curious about the people and programs helping startups go from idea to impact, this episode is for you.
Learn more about First Flight Venture Center and how to engage: https://www.ffvcnc.org/
Produced by: RIoT
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