After its soft opening in January, innovation hub Embarc Collective is officially open and has unveiled a new addition: its Founders Circle.
The "Founders Circle" is an expansion upon its Board of Directors and is comprised of six members. They will join Jeff Vinik, the backer and board chairman behind Embarc Collective and Tampa Bay Lightning owner. In the next quarter, the Founders Circle is expected to grow to eight members.
The current Founders Circle members include:
● Steve Jenkins, executive chairman of Beach Pharmaceuticals and former CEO of Pharmaceutical Associates
• Carole Jenkins, president of Jenkins Charitable Foundation
● Jason Kuhn, owner and president of Kuhn Automotive Group
• Courtney Kuhn, a managing partner for Kuhn Capital and founder of Chicago-based Citi Girl
● Steve MacDonald, partner at Florida Funders
● Brian Murphy, founder and CEO of Reliaquest
“I am honored to be a part of the Embarc Collective Founders Circle and am excited to continue to work to support the growth of high performing technology companies in the Tampa Bay Area,” Murphy said in a statement. “Understanding the resilience and drive needed to build a business, I look forward to supporting this community of entrepreneurs as they build impactful companies.”
The group will specifically focus on attracting, retaining and developing entrepreneurial talent in the Tampa Bay region. They will join the board of directors including Rebecca White, director of the University of Tampa Lowth Entrepreneurship Center, Dave Felman, a shareholder at Hill Ward & Henderson and Lakshmi Shenoy, CEO of Embarc Collective.
"I am grateful to have the experience and guidance from this braintrust to ensure this organization and the startups we support can achieve ambitious growth goals,“ Shenoy said. "With their help, we can achieve the mission of Embarc Collective to help Tampa Bay's startup talent build bold, scalable, thriving companies."
