The Tampa Bay Innovation Center has invited five startups to join its Accelerator Program this year for training and mentoring in customer discovery, investor-readiness and leadership.
The center, a business incubator, accelerator and coworking entrepreneurial center, had numerous applicants for the program but chose only five for the 90-day program.
“Most startups don’t survive because they built something nobody cares about and that is a really big number,” said Ken Evans, managing director of the program. “We give these companies a heavy dose of reality. I’m teaching people to be first curious and then empathetic. If you can’t develop empathy for why someone has a problem, you are just pushing technology for technology’s sake.”
Evans noted that it is important for startups to “go and find the early adopter,” those individuals willing to try a new product. The accelerator program teaches participants to get out and find those early adopters, Evans said.
The startups for the accelerator cohort are BlockSpaces, a Seminole company with an integration platform to leverage blockchain services; Code1 Medical Devices of St. Petersburg, which produces an emergency airway device; Cope Notes, a Tampa company with a personalized messaging platform for mental and emotional wellbeing; RB Technologies, a Tampa company with a tracking system for building trust in the supply chain for nutritional supplement suppliers; and WeBoro, a Canton, Maine company with services for connecting corporate benefits professionals with virtual childcare and employee tutoring.
The accelerator runs through March 31, after which graduates will participate in a Showcase Event to an audience of investors, community leaders and potential business partners and customers. To learn more about the program, visit https://tbinnovates.com/.
