It seems to be the year of companies making the leap to Tampa, and not just because we've got 80 degree weather in December.
The latest? UC-Care, an Israeli company that was in the Florida-Israeli Business Accelerator 2018 cohort.
The company uses technology to minimize the number of biopsies needed in diagnosing prostate cancer, where it can identify the issue and treat the cancer more effectively.
While UC-Care's founder Tomer Schatzberger was looking at popular startup cities like Chicago, Boston and Silicon Valley, Tampa ultimately won out due to the business opportunities and investor connections he saw in the region.
"Usually companies go to New York — there was a lot of investment there, an easy flight flight from Israel," Schatzberger said. "But for me, (Tampa) was a good opportunity and a natural choice. Through FIBA and FIBA friends (their investment network), they were able to gather a lot of people around in their environment, be supportive and open doors. So it was natural pick for us."
While he has been able to raise a $1 million convertible loan agreement through FIBA friends, he does hope the region's funding will become larger in the coming years.
"I do think there's still investment capabilities that Tampa needs to grow," he said. "New York, Silicon Valley and Chicago — there are a lot of funds. In Tampa, it's not as available. It's a great place but there needs to be some more build-up for investment and making funds available for companies. Tampa has a way to grow, but I definitely recommend people to look into it because I think its a great place."
Oren Milstein, the co-founder of Stemrad agrees — he's also relocating to Tampa. Stemrad opened its North American headquarters in the region in 2017 after being involved in FIBA's inaugural class. Stemrad received a $6M investment from Tampa Bay Lightning owner and startup supporter Jeff Vinik.
The company is currently also using the FIBA building in the Bryan Glazer Family JCC and will be moving to Embarc Collective in 2020.
FIBA has currently had five companies recruited from Israeli that open in Tampa, with tentative plans to expand to the entire state in the coming year.
"First of all, we're the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator so that's always been our focus, is to create as much opportunity throughout the state," Feinman said. "I think the easy answer is we helped to create some jobs (by having five companies relocate), but more importantly we've helped to add to the depth and character to the startup ecosystem. We’re kind of unique in that we’re bringing international companies on a fairly regular basis and that creates even more opportunity and helps elevate the reputation for our region."
