Charlotte, September 19, 2025
News Summary
Linxy, a Charlotte-based location-aware event app, launched this year to help attendees skip small talk by matching people around shared interests using its Social Linx system and micro-experiences. After prototyping in 2022, the company has hosted over 50 events and is available in Charlotte, Nashville, Cincinnati and Miami while pursuing aggressive city expansion. Linxy has 20 employees, has raised crowdfunding via Wefunder, and is closing a $750,000 SAFE note. The report also highlights major Charlotte center-city investments and growing national proptech activity as cities and startups adapt underused spaces and speed construction.
Charlotte startup Linxy, big downtown reinvestment plans, and a national surge in proptech
Linxy, a Charlotte-based app that helps event attendees skip small talk and connect around shared interests, is expanding after a prototype and a recent public launch. At the same time, downtown Charlotte planners are pushing a major push to repurpose aging office space, and a national wave of proptech startups continues to push new tools into real-estate and construction work.
Top lines: what matters now
Linxy invented a social connection system called the Social Linx. The app is designed to give event hosts, community leaders, and business owners better situational awareness about nearby attendees and to drive faster, more useful connections through what Linxy calls micro experiences. Linxy officially launched in March of this year and since then Linxy has hosted over 50 events across music festivals, tech networking events, and tailgates. Linxy is available in Charlotte, Nashville, Cincinnati, and Miami and has an aggressive city growth strategy set for 2025.
Downtown Charlotte is shifting away from a single focus on office towers toward a mixed work-live-play model. Approximately $1.7 billion will be invested into reimagining aging spaces this year, and the center city group reported about $3.7 billion is being invested in new developments that are either under construction or set to break ground in 2026. The move toward renovations and adaptive reuse aims to respond to office vacancy rates that hit a record high of 24.7% in July and ended the year at around 24.6% across the metro.
Nationally, venture interest in real-estate technology remains significant. A recent industry roundup highlighted companies that use robotics, AI, new financing models, automated project controls, and marketplace services to change how properties are built, managed, inspected, bought, and shared.
Linxy: product, people and funding
Linxy is presented as a location-based social connection and experience app. Linxy lets users share information on a dashboard so people at the same event can connect more easily. The Social Linx feature allows users to design interests, passions, hot topics, and professionals they’d like to connect with with precision among fellow event attendees. Linxy facilitates real-time connections through micro experiences and aims to help businesses turn their locations into interaction and connection community hubs.
Founder and CEO Joel Puthoff grew up in Ohio and began his professional life in North Carolina with Young Entrepreneurs Across America. He previously built a consulting business, launched a construction company, and wrote a book on human performance. Linxy put a prototype out in 2022 and then Linxy officially launched in March of this year.
Linxy currently has 20 employees. Half of Linxy’s employees are in Charlotte, and the remainder are spread across Atlanta, Miami, Cincinnati, Nashville, and across the Middle East and South Asia. Linxy has brought on over 40 crowdfunding investors through its Wefunder campaign and is seeking aligned investors to finish raising a $750,000 SAFE note, having secured $150,000 of the $750,000 SAFE note over the last two months. Linxy’s 2025 goals include bringing in 250,000 new users and $1,000,000 in revenue.
Charlotte center city: reuse, better balance, big projects
A nonprofit focused on Charlotte’s downtown districts recommends revitalizing and converting older buildings into offices with amenities or into residential and hospitality uses as a central strategy for uptown, midtown and South End. Office vacancies throughout last year sat between 22% and 24% and in Charlotte alone, the office vacancy rate was 22.4%, according to a report from JLL. The Cushman & Wakefield figure shows the Charlotte metro office vacancy rate ended the year at around 24.6% and includes suburban areas such as Matthews.
Renovation and adaptive reuse are accelerating. Buildings that have spent millions changing their spaces include Wells Fargo’s skyscraper at 550 S. Tryon St., One Independence Center at 101 N. Tryon St., and One South at 101 S. Tryon. Part of the $1.7 billion investment is allocated to upgrading Bank of America Stadium and the Spectrum Center. The 100-year-old Johnston Building on Tryon Street will be converted into the Beckworth Hotel with about 245 rooms and space for retail. Large upcoming projects noted include the Iron District, The Pearl, and the North Tryon Tech Hub. The Iron District will focus on creating a walkable neighborhood and includes plans for residential units, a hotel, retail and Class A office space on the former Charlotte Pipe & Foundry Company site.
Proptech roundup: practical tools for real estate and construction
A national review of buzzy proptech startups shows many firms tackling pandemic-era shifts in real estate. Venture-capital investments in private real-estate-technology companies hit a record $32 billion in 2021, up 28% from the previous year, driven by residential proptech and by tools that respond to remote work, supply-chain issues, and new buyer behavior.
Selected companies from the review that are relevant to construction and project teams include Dusty Robotics, which builds robots that print construction layouts on site; OpenSpace, which uses 360-degree cameras and AI to assemble visual records pinned to floorplans and to track progress across billions of square feet of data; Kojo, which helps commercial contractors order and track materials and automate data entry; Northspyre, which provides AI-driven project-management software that can reduce cost overruns; and Material Bank, which provides next-day shipping of material samples from a central hub and has scaled rapidly since 2019.
Context and what comes next
Expect more adaptive reuses in Charlotte, with slower new construction balancing a focus on renovation. Expect more startup tools aimed at field teams, project managers, and building operators nationwide. Linxy’s immediate path is to scale users and revenue, while downtown Charlotte’s path is to mix uses and add reasons for people to return downtown. The broader proptech push continues to combine funding, automation, robotics, and marketplaces as its main drivers.
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FAQ
What is Linxy’s core product?
Linxy is a location-based social connection and experience app.
What system did Linxy create to help event attendees?
Linxy invented a social connection system called the Social Linx.
When did Linxy officially launch?
Linxy officially launched in March of this year.
How many events has Linxy hosted?
Linxy has hosted over 50 events.
What are Linxy’s 2025 goals?
Linxy’s 2025 goals include bringing in 250,000 new users and $1,000,000 in revenue.
How many employees does Linxy currently have?
Linxy currently has 20 employees.
How much will be invested into reimagining aging spaces this year?
Approximately $1.7 billion will be invested into reimagining aging spaces this year.
What did the center city group report about new developments and 2026?
The center city group reported about $3.7 billion is being invested in new developments that are either under construction or set to break ground in 2026.
What happened to office vacancy rates?
Office vacancies hit a record high of 24.7% in July.
What is the Charlotte metro office vacancy rate at year end per Cushman & Wakefield?
The Charlotte metro office vacancy rate ended the year at around 24.6%, according to a report from Cushman & Wakefield.
What is the office vacancy rate in Charlotte per JLL?
In Charlotte alone, the office vacancy rate was 22.4%, according to a report from JLL.
What does the site instruct about JavaScript and ad blockers?
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© 2025 American City Business Journals. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2025 Hypepotamus, Inc.
Key features at a glance
| Topic | Key features and figures |
|---|---|
| Linxy | Location-based social connection and experience app; Social Linx system; micro experiences; Linxy officially launched in March of this year; Linxy has hosted over 50 events; available in Charlotte, Nashville, Cincinnati, and Miami; Linxy currently has 20 employees; fundraising target: $750,000 SAFE note with $150,000 secured recently; 2025 goals: 250,000 new users and $1,000,000 in revenue. |
| Charlotte center city | Approximately $1.7 billion will be invested into reimagining aging spaces this year; The center city group reported about $3.7 billion is being invested in new developments that are either under construction or set to break ground in 2026; Office vacancies hit a record high of 24.7% in July; Charlotte metro vacancy ended year at around 24.6% per Cushman & Wakefield; Charlotte alone 22.4% per JLL; major projects: Iron District, The Pearl, North Tryon Tech Hub. |
| Notable proptech and construction tech examples | Dusty Robotics: robots that print construction models; OpenSpace: 360-degree cameras and AI for jobsite records; Kojo: materials ordering and tracking for contractors; Northspyre: AI project-management for developers; Material Bank: centralized sample shipping and rapid growth. |
Deeper Dive: News & Info About This Topic
Additional Resources
- Hypepotamus: Linxy eventtech in Charlotte
- Wikipedia: Linxy
- Charlotte Ledger: The Pearl & med innovation district
- Encyclopedia Britannica: medical innovation district
- WSOC-TV: Charlotte drone startup aims to disrupt cleaning
- Google Scholar: drone building cleaning startup
- Charlotte Observer: downtown redevelopment & office market
- Google Search: Charlotte center city redevelopment 2025
- Business Insider: hottest proptech startups
- Google News: proptech startups 2022
Author: Construction NY News
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