The Soaring City Business Accelerator, based in Uptown Tampa, has accepted 12 startups to its fall cohort.
The accelerator program launched in May with a mission to boost underrepresented founders. It seeks to help these founders build institutional wealth while also stimulating the area’s tech talent. The companies are helped with improving their businesses and receive a $3,500 grant without having to exchange equity.
The accelerator is a partnership between local insurance company Florida Blue, LT3 Labs workspaces and Tampa-based innovation hub Embarc Collective. It also receives financial support from the Florida Business Development Corp. and Truist, according to a release.
Martika Jones is a graduate of the business accelerator’s first cohort and founder of software networking startup BŪP. She now directs the program.
“As I reflect on my journey with BŪP and look at the incredible talent coming through our doors, I am filled with immense hope and excitement for what these founders will achieve,” Jones said in a prepared statement.
The new cohort of startups is set to embark on a 10-week program. Here are all the companies that will be participating:
Bazaar Horizons
Bazaar Horizons, founded by Lorena Carbonell, wants to establish a marketplace for buying and selling upcycled, reused and repurposed items. A percentage of profits will be donated to organizations of the company’s choice.
Bury Good
Founded by Richard Woodbury, the startup wants to be an e-commerce platform that distributes alkaline juice.
Daka International
Sergio Velazquez founded this startup to create software for resource aggregation and referral for social services.
Divvy Up
Maxsolvickson Lorissaint has a background in cybersecurity and sales. He moved to Tampa and decided to pursue DivvyUp, a rotating credit and savings entity. It’s in the early stages, but it’s seeking to function as a way to group money together to get large payouts.
Eczema Sample Story
Stephanie Philpot founded the Eczema Sample Store in 2020 as a way for people to order cost-effective boxes of skin care products. It’s a way for companies to build their customer base while users can explore the sensitive skin market.
Fractio
Fatin Kwasny is a longtime Tampa resident and member of the tech industry. She founded Fractio to organize fractional support, which are positions like a corporate executive being paid for a period of time or in a part-time fashion. Fractio is building its user base and has fractional employees ready to be booked on its subscription platform.
Game Drive
This startup has been in the works since 2016 and is seeking to be a platform that compiles gaming data for video game competitions, networking and recruiting. It was founded by Chris Green, a system engineer in Tampa and a graduate of Eckerd College.
Healhum
Heather Patel founded this medtech startup to use technology to improve patient compliance, targeting dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Hilton Holistic Health and Wellness
De’Nicea Hilton Harper, a Clearwater entrepreneur and support coach, wants to build a caregiver support network to help the health and wellness of seniors in underserved areas. She founded the platform eight years ago, according to her LinkedIn.
Multicultural Classroom
Tampa-based founders Roberto and Loreana German wanted to find a way to help children beyond the classroom, so they founded Multicultural Classroom. The company uses digital programming and interaction to offer anti-bias and anti-racist training.
Thrive Wallet
Barrington Williamson is building a financial technology platform that can offer insights into finances and uses AI to give customers personalized advice.
U Do You
Christine Norton is on the University of Tampa faculty and is a graduate of the University of South Florida Muma School of Business. Norton is building U Do You to create a software tool for efficiently sharing workplace performance feedback.
