Tampa Bay Innovation Center teams up with Duke, PODS to launch climate-focused startup program

The region’s first program focused on climate-centered startups is officially launching.

Tampa Bay Innovation Center announced Monday its sixth cohort program will be centered on sustainability-focused companies, ranging from climate tech to clean tech entities.

“We’ve had a few sustainability companies in past cohorts, but because we’re in St. Pete, we’ve wanted to focus on this,” said Ken Evans, TBIC’s managing director of accelerators. “There are some other programs around the world of people who have been focusing on this, but we seem to be the first one in this part of Florida.”

He added Florida Power and Light has a significant focus on climate tech on the west side of Florida and plans to work with them to further boost the climate tech startup scene as a whole.

TBIC will also be working with Duke Energy and PODS more formally, with each entity’s corporate sponsorship covering mentoring, financial support and expertise.

"We’re very excited to support the Clean Tech Accelerator Program at TBIC; helping an innovation ecosystem specifically focused on developing clean tech companies is one way Duke Energy can contribute to a more sustainable future," John Fremstad, director of innovation at Duke Energy, said in a statement. "And as the program is named, help accelerate the timeline for solutions.”

“This partnership accomplishes three distinct goals for PODS: supporting and celebrating Tampa Bay’s startup ecosystem, driving meaningful impact to global sustainability and prioritizing the adoption of innovations that make the world a better place.” said Opal Perry, PODS' chief strategy and digital transformation officer, said in a statement.

The Tampa Bay Innovation Center has also partnered with St. Pete-based Ark Invest, which will be the namesake for the Innovation Center’s new building. Evans was coy about Ark's potential role in the new cohort, simply stating it will be a part of it in “some way, shape or form.”

The new building, called the Ark Innovation Center, will span 45,000 square feet and has a late summer 2023 opening date. The building, in part, played a role in the cohort’s new launch.

“Things are coming together, and with investments to make our new building a green and sustainable entity in downtown St. Pete, we thought having a resource of climate tech companies was very important,” Evans said.

Applications for the cohort are now open, and the 12-week program will kick off Jan. 9. Evans said while he hopes there will be an influx of Floridian companies to apply for the cohort, they are open to startups outside of the Sunshine State.

Some of the solutions startups could work on include: