Arizona is going through a major economic metamorphosis led by a growing cadre of entrepreneurs. What's remarkable is that many of them are in their teens and early 20s.
A 23-year-old Tucson woman is operating a pharmaceutical startup working to develop an antibody treatment that will address the root cause of Alzheimer’s disease. A 24-year-old Grand Canyon University grad is making waves with his business that makes electric wheeled longboards. And a new Phoenix-area medical tech startup that builds training equipment for people studying to become surgeons is thriving under the leadership of a 24-year-old woman who hatched the idea with her co-founder while they attended Tulane University.
These are just some of the fledgling, but promising, startups that will be the focus of AZ Inno, the new online media platform being launched Tuesday by the Phoenix Business Journal. It's part of the American Inno national network in more than 40 cities nationwide through the Business Journals' parent company, Charlotte, North Carolina-based American City Business Journals.
"It's amazing to see how quickly the innovation economy is taking hold in Arizona," said Ray Schey, market president and publisher of the Phoenix Business Journal. "The new AZ Inno platform will focus on the different tech-driven ecosystems that are disrupting so many traditional industries all over the state."
AZ Inno will be a comprehensive gateway for readers to engage with the Arizona startup community, as well as the angel investors or venture capitalists who are backing these fledging businesses, and the university accelerators that are helping bring students' business plans to life.
Leading the way in providing content and coordinating coverage for AZ Inno will be reporter Andy Blye and digital editor Jeff Gifford.
And speaking of young entrepreneurs, we are kicking off AZ Inno this week with what will be an annual feature on the site — Inno Under 25. You'll get to meet 11 aspiring business leaders, including the ones guiding the startups mentioned at the top of this column, in a feature story written by Andy Blye, with photo portraits by Jim Poulin. This online feature will be used to introduce Phoenix Business Journal readers to the AZ Inno brand as the cover story in the Sept. 17 weekly print and digital edition.
Business Journal subscribers will have access to all AZ Inno content included with their subscription. At first, though, all AZ Inno content will be available to any reader free of charge during an introductory period, when readers will be able to sign up for Inno+ a $5-a-month subscription that will give readers access to all American Inno content nationwide.
One of our longtime Business Journal sponsorship partner, the Arizona Commerce Authority, is on board with a digital sponsorship to help launch AZ Inno. Click here to go to the AZ Inno site.
Most of all, we are looking forward to hearing from startup founders — and just as important, from readers — about the type of coverage you might like to see AZ Inno tackle. We like to think that we are all in this together.
