Promoting, supporting & connecting Charleston's entrepreneurial community
August 18, 2025
➤Community Headlines (aka, Did You Know?)
- Did you know that Charleston is the home of a cutting edge, ELECTRIC boat company? Check out Volare Boats at their website and on YouTube.
- Did you know that Charleston is the home of Sèchey, a carefully curated space where people can explore and celebrate new ways of drinking, without sacrificing quality or experience? Give your taste buds a treat by visiting their 540 King Street location in downtown Charleston.
➤Making Connections
- Making connections is at the heart of our community, and it’s especially rewarding when those connections lead to real, mutual impact. A great example is the introduction of Mabel Mendez, founder of D Inflatable Events, to Lindsay Spurgeon, founder of the NeoHero Foundation.
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Mabel was searching for the right community partner to debut her new inflatables business, and the NeoHero Foundation Launch Party turned out to be the perfect match. The event takes place Saturday, August 23 at 5 PM at the Hanahan Amphitheatre —and you can already see the collaboration in action in this promo.
➤Community KPIs
➤New Community Members
➤Member Profile Spotlight
Juiced Fuel, founded by Korey McDavid
Juiced Fuel is a veteran-owned, on-demand and subscription-based fuel delivery service that brings gas directly to your parked vehicle. Whether it’s in your driveway, your business fleet, or your boat on a dock, we got you. Founded in the Lowcountry and expanding rapidly, we’re on a mission to offer a safer and convenient alternative to the gas station. Franchises available.
➤Fundraising News: Nonnanest, Inc.
We’re the first to offer real-time, contact-free skin temperature tracking—without wearables or reliance on Wi-Fi. Parents don’t just want to see their baby; they want to know their baby is okay. Nonnanest provides that peace of mind by turning passive monitoring into proactive wellness insights.
The idea was born at 3 a.m., when my son woke up crying. The monitor showed me nothing useful—but when I picked him up, he had a 103° fever. That moment revealed a massive gap in today’s products. We’re solving it.
We’ve completed our functional prototypes, resolved key design challenges, and are preparing for a limited production run. A strategic PR and influencer campaign is underway to drive early awareness.
We believe temperature is just the beginning. With a proprietary sensing approach and an IP strategy in motion, Nonnanest is building a category-defining platform in a $20B+ digital health and infant wellness market.
We’re raising capital now to bring our first units to market—and we’re inviting aligned investors to join us on the ground floor of a brand built for scale.
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Ask: Seed funding of $650,000 via SAFE with a $5MM post-funding valuation cap.
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Close date: September 30, 2025
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Contact: Nathan Overbey, Founder
➤Members in the News
➤Five Founder Questions Feature
Lesesne Phillips, Founder of Opsana HR
1. What is your startup's elevator pitch?
Opsana HR is a fractional CHRO firm based in Charleston, SC that provides strategic HR services for growing companies.
We partner with funded startups, remote organizations, and small to mid-size businesses to build strong teams, ensure compliance, and maximize workforce potential—without the overhead of a full-time HR department. Our experience spans a range of industries, including technology, government contracting, professional services, hospitality, logistics, and manufacturing.
We believe HR is more than policies, it is about people and performance.
2. What is your ideal customer profile and plan to reach them?
We love working with companies that are in growth mode—businesses looking to build strong, loyal teams, keep great people around, and make sure their HR supports their bigger goals. Our ideal clients want to simplify their HR, stay compliant, and create an environment where employees are engaged, and leaders can really thrive. Whether you need a big-picture HR strategy, help with a specific project, or just someone to call when HR issues pop up, we’re here to help you grow in a healthy, sustainable way.
To connect with these companies, I spend a lot of time at client industry events, meeting decision-makers, and building relationships. I also partner with other service providers, get involved in community events, and make sure to maximize our marketing efforts through the company’s website and LinkedIn page. Ultimately, it’s about being present where our clients are, understanding their needs, and delivering services that create real value and measurable results.
3. What is the next key milestone in your startup's journey?
Our next key milestones are expanding our “HR on Demand” client base and introducing The Opsana HR Report.
With HR on Demand, companies will have a full range of HR services on retainer and tailored to their needs for a flat monthly rate.
The Opsana HR Report in unique in that it offers a straightforward, strategic review for founders, operations leaders, and HR teams, assessing how well their people operations align with business goals. It highlights gaps and risks, identifies strengths and opportunities, and provides a clear roadmap with actionable recommendations to help them move forward with confidence.
4. How can Chucktown Startups and the local startup community best support your startup?
It would be amazing to have a centralized hub where founders can easily find and access resources—everything from funding opportunities like government grants, small business loans, angel investors, and VCs, to professional services such as marketing, finance, legal, IT, and other outsourced support like we offer in HR.
I’d also appreciate knowing which members, both current and new, might be interested in HR so we can connect and collaborate.
Finally, with all the groups and networking events happening in Charleston, I’d love to see a quarterly or semi-annual Chucktown Startups BBQ or social event. It would be a great way to build relationships, share ideas, and celebrate the local startup community together.
5. Wildcard- What else would you like the community to know about you and your startup?
At the end of the day, we’re all about people. We believe real partnerships and honest conversations lead to the best results. Your team is your biggest advantage, and we want to help you build a great one while keeping your business secure every step of the way
