Tampa Bay companies made plenty of moves as Q3 came to an end — from promotions to big-name partnerships.
Pixabey
Tampa Bay companies made plenty of moves as Q3 came to an end — from promotions and big-name partnerships to those continuing to get in on the action by moving to the region, we've got your roundup of what you may have missed last month.
The hires
- Clearwater-based cybersecurity company KnowBe4 has bulked up its research arm with the hire of a new chief research officer. The company promoted Kai Roer, its former managing director of KnowBe4 Research, to the top chief research officer spot on Thursday. Roer was the founder of Norwegian-based CLTRe, which was acquired by KnowBe4 in 2019. The Business Journal has the full story.
The moves
- TheIncLab, which we wrote about back in 2020 when it made the move from D.C., has found such success in Tampa Bay it's massively expanding both its HQ and staff. The AI lab is based in Ybor City's The Undercroft, located in the El Pasaje building. It will be upgrading from 400 to 8K sq. ft and also creating 40 new jobs next year, with an average annual wage of $85K. We've got the full details.
- A Chicago banking exec has moved to Tampa and opened crypto fund RSK Trading Group LLC. It's presently a traditional hedge fund in asymmetric trading, with plans to launch a yield strategy and ventures strategy in 2022. The Business Journal has the full story.
The partnerships
- A four-month-long conversation has come to fruition for the Tampa Bay Innovation Center, bringing with it one of the most prominent investors in the emerging tech scene. New York-based Ark Investment will be moving its headquarters to St. Petersburg and later stated it will collaborate on the long-awaited Tampa Bay Innovation Center in St. Pete, which will now be named the ARK Innovation Center. Get all the details.
- Tampa-based cybersecurity company ReliaQuest has brought its cybersecurity expertise to elementary and middle schools, and now is landing a trifecta with its expansion to high school students. ReliaQuest employees will be "coaches" for the students, with the programming slated to be in four Tampa Bay schools. Students will use real-world examples as part of their case studies, such as recruiting security analysts and software engineers. Learn more here.
- Tom Brady is doing more than breaking football records. He's been tapped by Florida-based Hertz as its new spokesperson touting their electric vehicle rentals. Hertz, the car rental company we wrote about going public last week, has now said it will order 100K Teslas by the end of 2022 and install electric vehicle charging stations throughout the globe. Tesla's market value is now up to $1 trillion. The campaign is dubbed "Let's Go" after Brady's iconic game day rallying cry, naturally.
- Clearwater-based TeamViewer and Google have long had a "great collaboration," and are most recently working on augmented reality capabilities. TeamViewer is working with Google Cloud to co-develop and market augmented reality solutions for the enterprise sector, including using Google Glass for a hands-free order picking application, or helping workers fulfill mobile shopping pickup orders. Get the full story.
- Amalie Arena has become the first arena in the world to partner with financial technology startup Fast in a continued push to make purchasing easier for fans. You might remember reading about Fast in August when the Silicon Valley fintech firm moved its HQ to Tampa. The new partnership will allow fans to purchase merch, and eventually concessions and tickets, with Fast's tech. Learn more here.
- Florida Funders, Embarc Collective, Strategic Property Partners and two newly relocated entrepreneurs from Drift and AI.io have formed a recruitment supergroup to help spread the word on innovation in the region. Their initiative, called #HiTampaBay, will have them do everything from taking potential transplants out to dinner, to helping them with schools and connecting them with funders. Get the full story.
