Innovate
Israeli-based companies show off their tech for investors in Tampa
Tuesday was demo day for 11 companies in the 2019 cohort of the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator.
Top executives from each of the Israel-based firms made their business cases to a group of investors gathered at Five Labs in Tampa. About 100 investors from Tampa-St. Pete, Orlando and Sarasota attended in person, with a larger audience on a live stream on YouTube, said Rachel Feinman, executive director of FIBA.
It’s the third cohort of companies for FIBA, established by the Tampa Jewish Community Centers & Foundation and based at the Bryan Glazer Family Jewish Community Center in south Tampa.
Two alums have set up permanent offices in the Tampa area. ECONcrete, with environmentally-sensitive concrete solutions, has an office in St. Petersburg. UC-Care, a medical device company with an office and storage facility in Oldsmar, recently got a $1 million investment from a joint venture between FIBA and Florida Funders.
“To see Tampa Bay residents who are FIBA alums here this morning … is just really exciting. That’s a big part of why we’re doing what it is that we’re doing,” Feinman said.
FIBA is a relative newcomer to the area, but quickly becoming a powerful contributor to the innovation economy in Tampa, said Nicholas Outman, a shareholder in the corporate and tax group at Hill Ward Henderson, a law firm that sponsored the demo day.
Click on the gallery to see highlights of the company presentations.
