Tampa Bay's tech scene has continued its meteoric rise since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite economic uncertainty brewing at the end of 2022 and bleeding into 2023, the region has continued to rack up wins.
We've rounded up the biggest deals, fundings and moves you may have missed over the last three months below.
Biggest fundings
- Mad Mobile, a Tampa-based fintech company, closed a $20 million funding round. It was led by Massachusetts-based Eastward Capital Partners. The funding came six months after the company announced it would take over more than 50,000 square feet of space previously used by PwC. See what the company's got planned next.
Mad Mobile's crew at the National Retail Federation's BIG Show in New York in January
- Tampa-based Deepwatch, a technology firm focused on cybersecurity, raised $180 million in equity and strategic financing. The company announced the Series C was led by Springcoast Capital Partners. Splunk Ventures and Vista Credit Partners, a subsidiary of Vista Equity Partners, also participated in the round. Get the full story.
Charlie Thomas, CEO of Deepwatch
Deepwatch
- St. Petersburg-based Viirtue closed a $10.8 million Series A round entirely from Tampa-based Ballast Point Ventures. This is the first funding for the company, which offers communication technology tools. Get the story.
- Equitus Corp., a Clearwater technology company that launched from stealth mode this year, closed a $10 million Series A. New York-based Mendon Venture Partners led the funding for Equitus Corp. and brought the company's total funding to roughly $20 million. Get the story.
Robert (Rob) E. Guidry is founder and co-CEO of SC2 Corp.
- Tampa-based AccelEQ went through quite the overhaul, closing a $545,000 pre-seed round and adding former Tampa General Hospital veteran Steve Ponce to its lineup as co-founder. Get the story.
The AccelEQ co-founders, Steve Ponce (left) and Omar Fuentes (right).
AccelEQ
- SKUx, a St. Petersburg-based startup focused on the financial technology sector, raised $11 million in its Series A funding round. The round was led by an undisclosed family office investor “focused on fintech and payments,” with participation from New York-based Advection Growth Capital and other undisclosed investors. Get the story.
Part of the SKUx team.
SKUx
Moves/launches
- John Vo, formerly Tesla's Head of global manufacturing, launched his electric boat company Blue Innovations Group in January. He plans to have three iterations of his electric boat, ranging from the first model intended for short trips up to its third model, which he hopes people will use to live, work and play. Get the story.
An electric boat from the Blue Innovations Group
- Czech Republic-based Sense Arena, which began an exclusive relationship with the University of South Florida tennis team at the start of the year, tapped the city for a U.S. office. It will be based in innovation hub Embarc Collective, where it expects to grow its team to up to 10 people. Get the story.
A USF tennis player demonstrating the Sense Arena virtual reality tennis technology.
Sense Arena
- Visionet, a New Jersey-based technology solutions provider, expanded to Tampa. The company opened an office in the Temple Terrace area, its 15th office.
- Relic Tickets, a Lakeland-based Web3 company with a focus on disrupting the ticket industry, announced it is moving to St. Pete. The company will work out of the Thrive DTSP office while searching for a permanent space. Get the story.
Hunter Abramson, CEO at Relic Tickets.
Relic Tickets
- Virginia-based Ridgeline International is expanding to the Westshore district in Tampa. The company specializes in digital signature management and plans to add 30 jobs over the next few years. The Business Journal's got the story.
Ridgeline opening
Ridgeline
- Strive Sales, a U.K.- based staffing agency focused on the software industry, is expanding to Tampa. The company's first international office will be in the Ybor City Industrious and serve as its North American headquarters. It expects to hire 11 employees in the next two years.
Industrious has opened a 45,000-square-foot coworking facility in part of Centro Ybor's former movie theater.
NOLA LALEYE
- Rapid7, a publicly traded Boston cybersecurity company, opened a new space in Tampa. The 43,000-square-foot office is in the Industrious building near Sparkman Wharf and will house its 70 local employees. See the space.
Part of the roughly 70 local employees Rapid7 has in Tampa.
Carrie Wildes
- Tampa Bay Wave opened its new Tampa headquarters in February, which spans roughly 8,000 square feet in the same building as WeWork. Get the story and see the space. It also opened a St. Pete office in March, partnering with the Thrive Downtown St. Petersburg coworking space. The Wave will have two private offices. Get the story.
The Thrive DTSP coworking space.
© 2021 Mike Ossola Photography
Local companies acquired
- Bradenton-based Eruptr LLC, a marketing tech company with a focus on the health care industry, was acquired by Connecticut-based private equity firm Amulet Capital Partners. New York-based Athyrium Capital Management also invested.
- Tampa-based TSOLife acquired Tampa-based Fit Minds for an undisclosed amount. TSOLife uses data collection and AI to give senior living facilities better insight into its residents, while Fit Minds is a provider of brain fitness and cognitive training programs.
TSOLife LLC's David Sayer.
Alexis Muellner
- Tampa-based Faulkner Engineering Services was acquired by Orlando-based UES for an undisclosed amount on Tuesday. UES was previously known as Universal Engineering Services and rebranded to the acronym in February. The acquisition was intended to bolster UES' Florida presence and Faulkner's leadership team will largely continue the day-to-day operations of its company.
Other wins
- The Tampa Bay Wave received federal funding to launch the region’s first program focused on Latinx entrepreneurs. The nonprofit announced it received $500,000, largely championed by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor. The funding will create the “LatinTech Accelerator” that's poised to kick off at the end of the year. Get the full story.
A Tampa Bay Wave pitch night with CEO Linda Olson.
Tampa Bay Wave
- Tampa-based Trenam Law launched TrenamTech, a tech- and startup-focused vertical for entrepreneurs and investors. The vertical is led by Sheryl Hunter, who merged her Hunter Business Law practice with Trenam in May. Hunter believes the latest iteration will allow companies to have access to a wide amount of services — which she said may be more important than ever, given the downturn occurring across the tech space. The Business Journal's got the story.
Sheryl Hunter
Courtesy of Hunter Business Law
