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May 08, 2024
First Off Announcements and the like Lauren: Hello, hello and happy August. I would say I'm shocked it's already here, but as I walked around St. Augustine this weekend, the heat gave nothing but August vibes. (Also, go to The Floridian if you're there!)
August also means we're in the final countdown for our 25 Under 25 nominations! Know a local innovator 25 years old or younger? Nominate them here. The Big One A breakdown of the day's biggest Inno story Yoo-hoo, Videloo Lauren: We've all been there. You're making plans for a Friday night and don't know where to go — or even worse, you get there and the place is a ghost town. We've got Grace Mamon with a local company looking to help.
Grace: Polk County-based Videloo will soon let venues livestream through its app. Business owners can put up an iPhone, iPad or Apple computer and livestream the venue through the app, which launches this fall.
“You get on the app and say, I want to listen to some jazz," CEO Jerry Dimanche explains. "You put in Tampa, and you’ll be able to see in real time livestream every venue that’s playing jazz at that time.”
The company goes beyond entertainment venues; restaurants, resorts and even churches can also stand to benefit, along with real estate businesses that can livestream property to potential clients who are out of state or don’t feel comfortable traveling.
The app will launch for Apple devices on Sept. 10. Videloo will likely be primarily used by Gen Z at first, Dimanche said, but expects other generations will follow. And the company will focus on the U.S. initially, but plans to have a presence in South America and Central America eventually. Making Moves Inside the people, companies and organizations making moves in Tampa Bay Lucky 7 The Tampa Bay Innovation Center has unveiled its newest fall cohort, with seven early-stage startups that will spend the next 90 days learning about customer discovery, investor readiness and leadership. We've got some newbies, some more well-known companies like iSocrates, and even one from California. See them all here.
IPO activity After the uncertainty of 2020, it seems there's an onslaught of companies taking the leap and going public this year. And our very own Sunshine State is on track to outpace its previous IPOs, according to Crunchbase data.
Florida has had 11 companies go public in the first seven months of the year, compared to nine that happened all of 2020. Some of the standouts: Clearwater's own KnowBe4, which went public in April, along with Miami's U.S. Century Bank.
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
New Money A look at the day's biggest deals Getting all grown up The Natural Nipple, a Tampa-based startup focused on creating baby bottles to mimic a woman’s breast for better and safer feeding, has closed a $500K seed round.
According to CEO Lauren Wright, more than half of that funding comes from the National Science Foundation. Jumpstart Foundry, an angel investor group led by John Park of the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels Association, also participated. The funding will go toward its official launch in Q4, and the company is eyeing a $2M seed round in Q2 of 2022. The Quad A look at innovation on campus Living it up in Lakeland Florida Polytechnic University is carving a name out for itself in Lakeland. The STEM-focused university was named among the top 10 "Most Prominent Analytics Institutes" by Analytics Insight Magazine.
And it hit headlines again when it received a $25K grant from the Duke Energy Foundation. The money will go toward the school's new cybersecurity engineering program, to fund a portion of a new cyber-physical systems lab. 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? • Rolling application: Venture Atlanta is taking applications until Aug. 6. Apply here.
• The Jim Moran Global Institute's Small Business Executive Program: Tampa Bay & St. Petersburg is looking to fill its next class of founders. Deadline is Aug. 6 and is free for participants. Learn more here.
• Tampa Bay Inno's 25 Under 25 nominations are open until Aug. 15. Apply here.
• 35Mules, an innovation hub powered by Florida Power & Light Company, is seeking entrepreneurs for its 12-18 month accelerator program. Companies chosen will receive access to financial and marketing mentors, Fortune 200 executive coaching and more. Deadline is Aug. 23. Learn more and 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: A few of you told me to keep you updated on my dog fostering journey, and do I have a cute (p)update for you. You might remember a few weeks back I was a temporary foster for Angel, who truly lived up to her name. She's still up for adoption if you're interested!
Now, I've got little Charlie, whose story you can read here. And yes, I made the executive decision to nickname him Charles Barkely, so clearly doing great at not getting attached. 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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