Tweener Madness: The Fabulous 4 Begins with Utilyst VS HAM. Two Different Paths to Scale

Selection Committee: Zakiya Alta Lee-Hill (Principal, IDEA Fund partners), Greg Boone (CEO of Walk West), Carly Connell (Principal at BCVP)

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Fabulous Four Bracket

We’re down to the Fabulous 4. Four startups. Two matchups. One step closer to the $25K investment from the NC Tweener Fund.

This is where things shift. The ideas are sharper. The stakes are higher. And every decision starts to look a lot more like a real investment call.

Utilyst is building deep infrastructure software for utilities. HAM is building lightweight AI tooling for developers.

One is grounded in physical systems and regulation. The other is riding the fastest-moving wave in tech.

Two B2B plays. Two completely different paths to scale.

Utilyst (Raleigh) – Infrastructure / AI

AI-powered cognitive digital twins for utility systems

• Captures institutional knowledge from retiring operators

• On-prem AI designed for security-constrained environments

• Combines predictive maintenance + training + system modeling

• Early traction with paid pilots (DC Water + others)

• ~$500K pipeline across utilities

• Expanding from water → energy, oil & gas

Core wedge:
👉 Preserve and operationalize critical infrastructure knowledge before it disappears

HAM (Charlotte) – Developer / AI Infrastructure

Middleware that reduces AI coding costs

• Cuts token usage for AI coding agents by ~50%

• Sits between developer prompts and LLMs

• Pulls only relevant context instead of scanning entire codebases

• Bottom-up adoption via developers (PLG motion)

• Early usage via GitHub + organic traction

• Targeting teams already spending heavily on AI tools

Core wedge:
👉 Reduce the hidden cost of AI without changing developer workflow

Fabulous 4 Selection Committee

This round featured a powerhouse group of investors and ecosystem leaders evaluating each pitch:

• Zakiya Alta Lee-Hill (Principal, IDEA Fund partners)

• Greg Boone (CEO of Walk West)

• Carly Connell (Principal at BCVP)

These are investors who see dozens of pitches a month, and they’re not easy to impress.

How to Watch/Listen?

To watch the epic startup battle, you can watch here:

Check out the audio here for all your favorite podcast links, or listen right from substack:

https://tweenertalks.com/episodes/tweener-madness-the-fabulous-4-begins-with-utilyst-vs-ham-two-different-paths-to-scale

🔍 Key Takeaways (No Spoilers)

This round surfaced a different tension: certainty vs. scale.

• Big markets win attention: Even early products can advance if the upside is large enough

• Traction matters, but speed matters too: Proven demand vs. potential acceleration

• AI cost is becoming a real problem: Not just capability, efficiency is emerging as a wedge

• Regulated industries are valuable but slow: Strong need doesn’t always equal fast growth

• Founder presence still matters: Clarity, energy, and storytelling all influence outcomes

• Market size ≠ guaranteed success: But it heavily influences early-stage bets

What’s Next

That’s the first matchup of the Fabulous 4.

📅 Next episode drops TUESDAY

👉 Tune in as the bracket unfolds, find more info, and read about the companies at: www.tweenermadness.com AND follow our calendar to never miss an episode!