The nonprofit accelerator program Tampa Bay Wave received $250,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce this week.
Tampa Bay Wave was one of 16 awardees nationwide to receive the funding as part of the Climate Resilience Accelerator program, which serves to develop climate resilience business accelerators and advance climate technologies. Tampa Bay Wave will use the funding to host — in partnership with the University of South Florida and the St. Petersburg Innovation District — a new seventh program called the BlueTech|X Accelerator.
"As we work to tackle climate change, public-private partnerships like the Ocean-based Climate Resilience Accelerator program will help to catalyze innovation and empower entrepreneurs to develop new climate resilience technologies,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement.
The Climate Resilience Accelerator program furthers the federal government's goal to develop resources to address the climate crisis, according to a release.
Tampa Bay Wave CEO Linda Olson told Tampa Bay Inno that it heard about the program last summer. The program was a way to take what Tampa Bay Wave built and marry it with the region's marine ecosystem and expertise, Olson said.
Applications to the phase one award program opened in 2023, and the program awarded the funding in two phases. The second phase of the application is planned to open in March and is only available to phase one awardees.
That means for Tampa Bay Wave, the new funding helps "put meat on the bones" of the developing program. But it also opens the possibility for "transformative" millions in funding that could come from applying and winning phase two.
The funding comes as part of the Biden Administration's Investing in America agenda and is pulled from the Inflation Reduction Act, a federal governmentwide investment that provided $3.3 billion to NOAA to support resiliency. Tampa Bay Wave's award was part of a total of $3.9 million given to accelerators across 11 states. The Upwell Collaborative Accelerator in Miami also received funds through the program.
Tampa Bay Wave's climate-tech accelerator will cater to maritime businesses "pioneering" data technologies, products and services for climate resiliency.
“Tampa Bay has one of the Southeast U.S. largest concentrations of blue economy professionals with a long history of working together to solve critical issues,” Alison Barlow, executive director of the St. Petersburg Innovation District, said in a statement.
Barlow told Tampa Bay Inno that the expertise offered through the partnerships, alongside the marine access and environment, will provide a program that will be distinct for the country.
The funding also continues Tampa Bay Wave's longtime partnership with USF. Alongside USF's College of Marine Science, professor Steve Murawski will work with the program and provide educational resources, according to a release. Most recently, the Tampa Bay Wave partnered with USF for its HealthTech|X Accelerator.
"The BlueTech|X Accelerator is not just a step toward safeguarding our natural resources, but also a move to bolster Tampa Bay's innovation ecosystem, creating high-value tech jobs in the process," Olson said in a statement.
