Deal or No Deal? Evaluating the Pitch

Step into the investor’s seat and put your due diligence skills to the test. In this hands-on session, you’ll learn how to look beyond the pitch and evaluate startup opportunities with a critical eye—covering everything from market potential to red flags. Perfect for aspiring angels and early-stage investors who want to make smarter, more confident decisions.

✨ Spotlight Pitch:

Ellora (Ellie) McTaggart is the Co-Founder and CEO of Carolina Instruments, a UNC Chapel Hill spinout developing a camera-free eye tracking system for smart eyewear and extended reality (XR) headsets. A biomedical engineer, Ellie built early prototypes in the lab with her faculty co-founders to support neuroscience research and later deferred graduate school to lead the company.

The platform captures high-resolution pupil size and gaze data to bring research-grade eye measurements into wearable XR. By reducing battery drain and privacy concerns, the camera-free approach makes eye tracking practical for next-gen XR…