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May 08, 2024
First Off Announcements and the like Lauren: Happy Thursday, all! I'm coming atcha today with my new coworker, Angel, a little seven-year-old pup I'm fostering for the next week from this agency.
Between the furry friend and some fun funding news (say that five times fast), let's keep up the energy and drop a Beat. The Big One A breakdown of the day's biggest Inno story Good 4 u Qure4u, a Bradenton virtual health care company, has received a $25M Series B investment after seeing its growth more than double in the last year.
"Our company is really hot; we've been chased down by investors," founder Dr. Monica Bolbjerg said. "We were not in a super hurry. We wanted to find the right investor at the right time. It's much more than capital. It's also the right board to help us because we’re growing very rapidly."
Boston growth equity firm Volition Capital was the sole investor in the round. Qure4u previously raised a $2.5M Series A in 2018.
If the company sounds familiar, it's because two weeks ago it made headlines when Boca Raton-based New World Angels announced its $445K investment gave them a $3.4M return when it sold its stock and warrant.
Qure4u will use the latest funding to hire roughly 30 to 40 employees in the next six months, adding to the already-existing 50 employees it has spread across Bradenton and Atlanta.
"We hope to build it out of this area," Bolbjerg said. "We feel a lot of people are moving here and willing to relocate. A lot of investors have realized there's a lot of hot tech markets in Florida, so they're much more open to it."
See how the company has doubled its business in the last year because of Covid-19. Making Moves Inside the people, companies and organizations making moves in Tampa Bay Full of funding Anzu Partners, an investment firm with its largest presence in Tampa, has launched its third fund focusing on industrial and life science tech startups.
The fund has raised $130M in commitments with a focus on a $300M close and typically cuts checks between $3M to $15M. The firm has 28 active investments since its first fund's launch, but despite the Tampa focus, no investments are based in the Tampa Bay region yet. The Business Journal's got the full story.
Pad those wallets WalletHub has deemed Florida the fourth best state to start a company in, thanks to our business environment, access to resources and business costs.
The state's top category was business environment, which landed at No. 5 in the country, according to the report. Florida ranked No. 15 in access to resources and No. 22 in business costs. We lagged behind Texas, California and Georgia, with Idaho(?) closing out the top 5. More here.
Grab a partner St. Petersburg-based Tampa Bay Innovation Center has partnered with TampaBay.Ventures, the newly-launched $20M fund. The two entities did not disclose if there will be any monetary involvement between them, but the strategic partnership will be a boost regardless — TBIC's startups now have an in with TampaBay.Ventures, and on the flipside, the fund now has a direct pipeline of talent to peruse. Featured Jobs Below are featured jobs from our Careers Directory. To feature a job in this newsletter, read more. In the Know The local startup and innovation stories you need to read today
Elsewhere in Inno Stories from around the Inno network we think you'll dig The Quad A look at innovation on campus Not so micro backing University of South Florida has gotten the attention of Microsoft with its latest project.
The university is now backed by Microsoft in its quest to help scientists identify and respond to emerging diseases using a system of simulation models. Microsoft gave Edwin Michael, the lead on the project, $165K worth of cloud credits which he can use on software for the project. Learn all about the tech here. In the Community The events and happenings to know in the ecosystem
For more upcoming events, be sure to check out this month's Inno-approved events calendar or browse the Inno events directory. Inside the people, companies and organizations making moves in Tampa Bay AUGUST Opportunities Do you know when to open the door? • LAST DAY: The mHUB MedTech Startup Pitch Competition is seeking women and founders of color in the medtech space. Five finalists will pitch for more than $8K in cash. Deadline is July 22. Apply here.
• The Tampa Bay Wave's 2021 TechWomen Rising Accelerator program is accepting applications until July 31. Apply here.
• Tampa Bay Inno's 25 Under 25 nominations are open until August 15. Apply here.
• Rolling application: Venture Atlanta is taking applications until August 6. Apply here.
• The Tampa Bay Chamber's Minority Business Accelerator is seeking Black and Hispanic owned businesses for its fall cohort. The deadline is Sept. 15. Learn more and apply here. Coffey Break Get it? Lauren: Longtime readers know I've been looking forward to the return of the Olympics for months, and now it's Olympics' Eve! The opening ceremony kicks off at 7 a.m. tomorrow our time, but it'll also air tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. for those who want to watch with some snacks. Make sure to cheer on all the Floridians who will be competing!
I'll be hosting a bit of a watch party and make these pretzels in the shape of the Olympic rings, this red, white and blue drink and, if I'm feeling ambitious, these Olympic torch cake pops. Inno Info In-no-fo? Inn-fo? Interested in sponsoring this email? Please contact sales@americaninno.com for more information and sponsorship opportunities.
Have a tip or scoop? Feel free to submit it anonymously. Contact the Author: Thanks to our Founding Partners 
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