Luminar CEO Austin Russell's investment in the Orlando area via a big donation to the Central Florida Foundation was the top Orlando Inno story of 2022.
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Luminar’s Austin Russell caught Orlando Inno readers’ attention in 2022.
The CEO and founder of Orlando-based Luminar Technologies Inc. was the subject of two of Orlando Inno’s most popular stories of the past year, including the most-read story in Orlando Inno’s 18 months of existence.
Of course, Luminar wasn’t the only subject Inno readers were excited about. Investment into a local startup co-founded by Tiger Woods and tech firm competitions also were among the biggest, most-read innovation news of the year.
Here are Orlando Inno’s most-read stories of 2022:
- Nation’s youngest billionaire Austin Russell aims to ‘unleash the potential’ of Orlando with $70M donation: Luminar CEO Austin Russell is investing a chunk of his newfound wealth back into Central Florida with a $70 million contribution to Orlando-based nonprofit Central Florida Foundation, which was announced Dec. 27, 2021. This gift has the potential to be “transformational” for the region, Central Florida Foundation President and CEO Mark Brewer said. “We’re at a point where people who have been successful here are putting money back into the community… There are a lot of Austin Russell's in Silicon Valley, but not a lot here.”
- Former 'Shark Tank' winner and CEO opened a new factory and grew his team last year: Palm Bay-based Nohbo Inc. significantly expanded from 2020-2021 after closing a $3.4 million investment round in March 2020. As a result, Nohbo opened a new factory for the production of its sustainably packaged self-care products, such as shampoo and conditioner. Plus, the company has more growth plans for next year, CEO Benjamin Stern said.
- Central Florida sports tech firm led by Tiger Woods, former NBC exec raises millions: Winter Park-based Nexgen Sports Group Inc., which does business as TMRW Sports, on Oct. 18 filed a form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reporting the company raised $14.7 million in equity. Co-founded by golfers Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, TMRW Sports is creating a tech-focused golf league called TGL. TMRW Sports later revealed its star-studded list of early investors, which include Steph Curry, Serena Williams and Justin Timberlake.
- Orlando Inno Madness: Two Central Florida startups face off in the final: Inno Madness is an annual bracket-style challenge where readers vote to advance companies based on one question: Who would you invest in? Weather data firm WeatherFlow and autonomous shuttle operator Beep advanced to the finals, and WeatherFlow was the eventual winner of the inaugural Orlando Inno Madness.
- Orlando Inno Startups to Watch: 10 Central Florida firms poised to shake up the innovation ecosystem in 2022: For the first time, Orlando Inno recognized 10 early-stage Central Florida companies to keep an eye on in the inaugural Startups to Watch list. These companies were poised in 2022 to launch a satellite, roll out a new type of fitness training and amass 100,000 users
- Luminar CEO shares how his company’s growth sets up Orlando for future tech success: Luminar’s growth since becoming a publicly traded company is having a “snowball effect” in Orlando, setting up the region’s technology sector for more growth, Austin Russell said. Not only does Orlando act as Luminar’s headquarters, but it’s developing the manufacturing process for its Iris sensors at its local facility. The process and institutional knowledge developed from the production line in Central Florida will be replicated by Luminar's manufacturing partners around the world to scale up production of the sensors.
- Former Tesla manager moves to Orlando to launch startup LitPoodle LLC: Nikith Rajendran, who was the head of fleet for Tesla Inc.’s clean energy subsidiary Tesla Energy until 2019, picked Orlando as the home of his startup LitPoodle LLC because of its real estate and tech potential, he said. LitPoodle’s online portal lets users search for investment properties across the country and guides them through the basics of real estate investing.
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