Tampa Bay Wave welcomes 10 new startups to inaugural TechDiversity Cohort

TAMPA, FL (May 10, 2018) – Tampa Bay Wave, Inc. (Wave), a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build, launch, and grow breakout tech businesses in Tampa Bay, has selected 10 tech companies to join their TechDiversity accelerator program, a national program designed for early-stage tech companies that are 51% owned, controlled, and operated by a minority; woman; veteran; or lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person or combination thereof.

Among the 10 new cohort members, 7 startups have women CEO’s or co-founders, 7 have minority CEO’s or co-founders, and 4 are out-of-state companies that are based in thriving tech cities such as New York City and Austin. The selected cohort also features some of the most promising startups in the Health Tech, Ed Tech, and HR Tech verticals.

TechDiversity companies will work alongside each other in a collaborative, non-competitive environment and will be provided invaluable resources, such as a dedicated TechDiversity Cohort Director, one-on-one mentoring with notable tech founders, sales procurement training,  pitch coaching, and investor introductions. TechDiversity Accelerator companies will also participate in Wave’s Demo Day at the conclusion of the program, a unique opportunity for founders to present their companies to a room full of hand-selected investors, leaders, and press.

The TechDiversity cohort was the largest candidate pool in Tampa Bay Wave history with over 100 applicants. The 10 companies hand-picked by the Selection Committee include:

Articulate Labs

Dallas, TX

Articulate Labs develops wearable medical devices that help turn everyday activity into convenient, on-the-go rehabilitation assistance by integrating neuromuscular electrical stimulation, motion-tracking hardware, and machine learning.  

Item of Note:  One of the Co-Founders has over 50 patents issued worldwide with 12 pending and the company already owns 4 patents.

www.articulatelabs.com

CEO: Josh Rabinowitz

eTeki

Tampa, FL

eTeki, a technical interviews-as-a-service platform, validates the skills & competency of candidates for clients without the time, expertise or headcount. Recruiters submit candidates with confidence; hiring managers’ invest only in vetted talent. IT candidates get & deserve high touch screening.

Item of Note:  eTeki is one of only 20 Companies in Florida (out of 150 applicants) to be selected as a presenting company at the 2018 Florida Venture Forum Early Stage Capital Conference.

www.eTeki.com

CEO: Bala Nemani

GuestBox

Austin, TX

GuestBox is a subscription box service for hotels, Airbnbs, and vacation rentals to welcome and delight their guests.  

Item of Note:  GuestBox features female and minority-run brands in their boxes and was selected to join MassChallenge Accelerator’s first ever Austin Cohort.

www.guestbox.co

CEO: Shuchi Vyas

Immersed Games

Gainesville, FL

Immersed Games has built a game-based learning platform that facilitates STEM learning for middle school students with the ability for teachers to assign standards-aligned content. In the future, Immersed plans to open content tools and expand into all areas of learning with user/partner content.

Item of Note: Immersed Games’ CEO gave opening Keynote at the North American Simulation and Gaming Association Conference in 2017 and was a part of Intel Education Accelerator program.

www.immersedgames.com

CEO: Lindsey Tropf

Little Global Citizens

Bradenton, FL

Nurturing open-mindedness and compassion in children by introducing them to cultures of the world. Little Global Citizens is a children’s subscription box that brings a new country to life each month, delivered right to your child’s doorstep.  

Item of Note:  Little Global Citizens’ CEO was VP Sales at BuzzFeed during the media company’s early and most formative years, as the company grew from 23MM to 125MM monthly unique visitors.

www.little-global-citizens.com

CEO: Akeelah Kuraishi

OpticSurg

New York City, NY

OpticSurg is creating an Augmented Reality software platform that surgeons can use in real time to do their jobs better, minimize complications, and save lives.  

Item of Note:  OpticSurg was accepted into the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Lab out of New York.

www.opticsurg.net

CEO: Dr. Tran Tu Huynh

ProjectMQ

Tampa, FL

ProjectMQ is a discovery platform for the world’s BEST indie games. Gamers use ProjectMQ to find video games they’ll love!  

Item of Note: Co-founders Marcus and Malcolm Howard are identical twins, and ProjectMQ has amazing indie games from 24 countries.

www.projectmq.com

CEO: Marcus Howard

Resility Health

Jacksonville, FL

Resility’s personalized stress management platform improves health and well-being by helping people recognize and manage their body’s response to stress.

Item of Note:  Resility Health is a graduate of Jacksonville’s PS27 Ventures accelerator program.

www.resilityhealth.com

CEO: Sarah Davidson

Super Auth

Tampa, FL

SuperAuth is a password-less login system that helps websites, mobile apps, and kiosks securely login users with no username and no password.

Item of Note: Prior to founding Super Auth Inc., Rish spent 16 years at Corporate Law and Retail industries where he built online SEC filing tool, which is used by Fortune 500 companies, and shipping cost calculator to provide accurate shipping cost forecasts.

www.superauth.com

CEO: Rish Ram

SynsorMed

Atlanta, GA

For healthcare systems who want to reduce the cost of COPD, SynsorMed is an AI-powered monitoring platform that automates patient care at home.

Item of Note:  SynsorMed won Medtrade’s 2017 New Product Award Winner and TAG Health’s 2017 Upstarter Award.

www.synsormed.com

CEO: Theo Harvey

“Tampa Bay Wave is delighted to welcome our inaugural TechDiversity Accelerator cohort to the Tampa tech ecosystem. The TechDiversity Accelerator program provides a unique opportunity to support underrepresented startups while strengthening our community with the experience and knowledge that comes from diversity.” said Linda Olson, President and founder of Tampa Bay Wave. “Wave is committed to startup inclusion and ensuring that our entrepreneurial community continues to evolve.”

Tampa Bay Wave’s nationally recognized accelerator program is renowned for helping entrepreneurs transform their ventures into sustainable businesses that have a strong advantage in the tech industry. These selected companies are part of Wave’s Build-Launch-Grow business strategy that is designed to help accelerator companies advance their startup to the next phase within 6 to 12 months of starting the program. The program will start on May 15, 2018.

“The Nielsen Foundation is energized by the innovative, exciting, and important work underway by the first TechDiversity Accelerator cohort,” said Crystal Barnes, Executive Director of the Nielsen Foundation. “The resources of Tampa Bay Wave, coupled with the infrastructure of the TechDiversity Accelerator program, will help support this group of companies to grow their impact and reach, as well as help to advance the diversity of voices and ideas in the startup community.”

The Nielsen Foundation is a private foundation funded by Nielsen, a global measurement and data analytics company. The Nielsen Foundation seeks to enhance use of data by the social sector to reduce discrimination, ease global hunger, promote effective education, and build strong leadership.

To learn more about Tampa Bay Wave’s TechDiversity accelerator program powered by the Nielsen Foundation, visit www.tampabaywave.org/accelerator/tech-diversity

ABOUT TAMPA BAY WAVE:

Tampa Bay Wave, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing local entrepreneurs with facilitated access to the resources, expertise, and capital they need to grow vibrant technology-based companies in Tampa Bay and create high wage tech jobs, thus fostering an innovation-based economy for the region. Since March 2013, Tampa Bay Wave has supported more than 200 tech startups in Tampa Bay thanks to grant funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), plus support from its economic development partners Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa. Tampa Bay Wave also receives support from corporate partners such as Bank of America, Florida Blue, Foley & Lardner, Sourcetoad, Sykes Enterprises, Tampa Bay Rays, TECO, Trenam Law, Valley National Bank (previously USAmeriBank), Florida Business Development Corporation and The Nielsen Foundation. For more information, visit www.tampabaywave.org. Tampa Bay Wave is also a member of the GAN network of accelerators.

Please note: Tampa Bay Wave is no longer referred to as “WaVE”. Please use “Wave” in all future reporting.