1313 Innovation’s Lauren Spinelli makes a move to Carvertise

For three years, Lauren Spinelli served as operations director and marketing manager for 1313 Innovation, the startup incubator and coworking space launched by McConnell Johnson Real Estate partner Paul McConnell in 2014. The space, which is located on the first floor of 1313 N. Market St. (also known as The Hercules Building), has settled into a home base for some of Delaware’s most interesting nonprofits, including Social Contract, Summer Collab, Best Buddies Delaware and Dual School.

“1313 is thriving and continuously evolving,” Spinelli told Technical.ly. “It’s currently an epicenter for some incredible social impact startups and nonprofit organizations. It’s been an amazing experience to see how Paul McConnell’s vision for 1313 as a hub of innovation has manifested in its support for founders, entrepreneurial activity and job growth.”

One of 1313 Innovation’s biggest successes as an incubation space is Carvertise, which had an office (and, later, and expanded offices) at 1313 before moving to its current location in Browntown. The company, founded by Mac Nagaswami Macleod and Greg Star, has exploded over the last few years from a small University of Delaware Horn Entrepreneurship startup to a national company.

This month, Spinelli made the transition from 1313 to the new director of marketing for Carvertise.

“Carvertise is in rapid growth mode, and along with a national sales team expansion had a need for an experienced marketing leader,” she said. “I understood the space, as I previously had an event marketing role at an international software company, and one of our perennial strong performers was wrapped cars during large events such as SXSW. I was eager to help put those experiences to work at one of Delaware’s great homegrown startups — and here we are!”

As director of marketing, Spinelli will be refining and implementing new marketing strategies as the company expands, adding both new products and additional markets.

“I’m also overseeing the amplification of our platform and culture at Carvertise via social media, events/trade shows, email marketing, PR and much more,” she said.

Spinelli said she’s been impressed to watch Carvertise evolve over the last few years from 1313 startup to national company.

“Mac and Greg have demonstrated their ability to not only transform their idea into a business that leads their category, but, in the process, build an incredible culture that attracts and retains talent,” she said.

“I, of course, expected nothing less from fellow UD grads.”