Lakshmi Shenoy doesn't think the innovation hub she helms will be transformative for the Tampa Bay region.
"Transform means we want to change into something and this is about amplifying," Shenoy said in an interview with Tampa Bay Inno. "We have great people, we have great startups — I would argue we don't have enough. So, I would want to amplify what's here and realize our potential. Our goal is to be a mechanism, an asset, that this community can use to get us where we want to go."
Shenoy hails from Chicago, where she served as the vice president of strategy and business development at similar innovation hub, 1871. She was hand-picked by billionaire Jeff Vinik, the Tampa Bay Lightning owner, to come to the bay area and build Embarc Collective: a nonprofit, education-focused, roughly $10 million innovation hub that pairs startups with coaches to grow in the region, host startup-focused events and, like Shenoy said, amplify the Tampa Bay startup region.
"Yesterday was really magical because every half hour we had companies move in and there was a buzz of energy and I haven't had that since I left Chicago," she said. "Once you have it, you crave it, where you just need to be surrounded by people doing really interesting things and solving really hard problems. Where they can go over to someone else and ask, 'Have you ever experienced this issue before?' and be able to solve it in real time. That's the the power of the physicality."
The 32,000 square foot space is in its soft opening phase, which will come to a head on February 4 with a ribbon cutting and grand opening. A public open house will be held on February 12.
The 100-year-old space has open collaboration tables, conference rooms, a nursing room, prayer room, quiet room, offices for a slew of startups that are Embarc Collective members and an events space that holds 250 people. There's also Endeavr Coffee, the Blind Tiger-run coffee space within Embarc Collective.
The building, while easily linked, is split with a 20,000 square foot space and a 12,000 square foot space that is intended for larger startups.
It's been a long time coming for Shenoy and Embarc Collective as a whole: while the nonprofit began working with startups in 2019, along with teaming up with dozens of partners across the nation, the physical space is the final piece of the puzzle.
"When (startups are) recruiting talent — for the prospective hire to come in and see it's not only the one company they're interviewing with, but they see all these other companies," Shenoy said. "It creates a visual density which is really powerful in amplifying what is happening in Tampa Bay: you can see it in one shot."
Shenoy believes with the space opening, it can not only help the obvious startup partners, but also the community as a whole.
"(For new and prospective customers and investors) this becomes their first impression of what's happening in the Tampa startup environment," she said. "They get to see it and they walk away telling their people, 'There is something happening in Tampa Bay.'"
