Climate Technology is the focus of the Tampa Bay Innovation Center’s (TBIC) upcoming early stage business incubator and accelerator. The theme of climate will include several topics, such as marine sciences, water conservation, and solar energy. Companies interested in attending the incubator can still apply for the program, which begins in January 2023.
The Startup Accelerator Program
This upcoming program will consist of weekly group workshops supplemented by one-on-one mentoring. These sessions with help companies with some of the difficulties they face during the early stages of their venture, including:
- Customer discovery
- Product road mapping
- Pricing
- Go-to-market skills
- Putting systems in place that are essential for startup success.
TBIC’s network of mentors will assist these companies in their journey. There will also be help from participating domain experts in energy, manufacturing, science, and other areas.
The focus will be on innovators and entrepreneurs leading change and discovering solutions that can make a difference in protecting the environment.
“We’ve been talking about doing this for quite some time and have had some companies in previous cohorts related to climate crisis type things,” said Ken Evans, accelerator managing director. “We thought it was worth looking into. We’ve got marine science and various cleanup initiatives and capital going into climate initiatives, sustainability, clean-tech initiatives. The overall fact that we are in Florida. We are the Sunshine State, and we should be leading in solar. Energy utilities are showing a lot of interest in smart grids and smart cities. So we are hoping we get enough local companies that we can point to the fact that there is that type of activity here.”
Areas of focus in climate technology
The main areas of focus in the program will include:
- Energy storage / energy delivery (smart-grid) – Energy storage provides utility companies with the flexibility for modern power generation and distribution. It does so by improving grid stability and security.
- Smart buildings & low impact development – Eco-friendly sustainable building materials are used in the smart building industry as a key part of reducing emissions and achieving green building certification.
- Smart cities and transit–As an example, city traffic management centers (TMCs) have rapid visibility and can send notifications for trouble spots or city-wide issues related to congestion on city streets, emergency response systems and public safety. This allows for quick action and communication.
- Acceleration of digital transformation–This allows businesses to adopt new methods and processes to remain relevant. By making these changes quickly, businesses don’t lose out on the benefits.
- Sustainable sources of power generation–This can include solar energy from the sun, geothermal energy from heat inside the earth, wind energy, biomass from plants and hydropower from flowing water.
- Marine science, monitoring, protection & restoration–Monitoring and evaluating restoration projects helps ensure projects and program resources are being used efficiently and effectively.
- Weather monitoring & impact modeling–Communities and individuals must become more resilient to significantly reduce losses. That can be done by integrating weather and climate information in order to make the best decisions.
- Supply chain / retail waste reduction–There are opportunities to improve sustainability through automation and greater transparency.
- AgTech–Contemporary agricultural operations depend on sophisticated technologies, such as temperature and moisture sensors and aerial images, robots and GPS technology to be more profitable, safer and environmentally friendly.
- Low waste manufacturing–ZWM, or Zero Waste Manufacturing, for example, supports the transition to a circular economy. It does so by developing manufacturing technologies and systems that eliminate waste and add in reuse and recycling.
- Clean water / water conservation–Population growth, drought and climate change all affect the quality of water, something Florida depends on greatly. Increasing temperatures will likely lead to a decrease in rainfall for most of the state and lead to more loss of surface water to evaporation, so innovation is key.
Climate technologies are explicitly focused on reducing Greenhouse Gas, or GHG emissions and pollution. Or those that address the affects of global warming.
“While Climate-Tech solutions are the focus of this program, the underlying tools and, in turn, the talent pool that is needed will draw from all the hottest tech disciplines. Including artificial intelligence, augmented reality, big data, blockchain, robotics, and other evolving technologies,” Evans said. The climate-tech accelerator will include various stages of companies in order to include as many startups as possible.
TBIC and its partners
Besides its corporate partners, TBIC is supported by Pinellas County, Duke Energy and PODS Moving & Storage. All these organizations will make contributions to this program. They will combine mentoring, financial support, expertise and other resources for the startups.
Companies interested in joining the program can apply here. There is no cost for the program.
The accelerator will include invention, innovation, adoption and commercialization.
TBIC supports entrepreneurial success, fosters the creation of high-tech jobs in this area, and develops alternative sources of technology and manufacturing capabilities by nurturing early stage ventures as they grow and launch their products into the marketplace.
Its programs are tailored to provide guidance to innovators and entrepreneurs in business formation, market research, product and technology planning, organizational growth and leadership and commercialization.
TBIC partnered in February with the Federal Economic Development Administration, the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County to construct a 45,000 square foot startup incubator facility, in the St. Pete Innovation District. ARK Invest partnered in October 2021 with the TBIC, becoming the title sponsor of the new facility, which is now called ARK Innovation Center.