The nonprofit Tampa Bay Wave has brought startups from around the globe for its latest TechDiversity program.
It’s the seventh year of hosting the program in the region, and the program is set to add more startup names to the TechDiversity alumni roster. The Tampa Bay Wave announced the 15 new startups on Monday. They hail from as far as the United Kingdom and Canada, with one Tampa-founded venture.
“The TechDiversity Accelerator continues to be a beacon for change in the tech industry, promoting not just diversity but also innovation,” Linda Olson, the Tampa Bay Wave president, said in a statement.
The TechDiversity program is funded by the New York-based philanthropy group Nielsen Foundation from the data analytics firm Nielsen. TechDiversity cohort members must have majority ownership by minority entrepreneurs, women, veterans, LGBTQ+ community members or people with disabilities.
Since starting, TechDiversity startups have pitched at conferences like Austin’s South by Southwest and Miami’s eMerge Americas. The TechDiversity program also pulled startups to the region and boosted early-stage companies to raise millions in capital, such as Y-Combinator-backed telehealth therapy startup LunaJoy Health.
60 Direct Video
This Orlando-based startup aims to sell a customer service platform that is inclusive for the deaf community. The company’s platform shares sign-language accessibility services for businesses. Founder Craig Redford started the business in 2017 to expand the deaf ecosystem, according to a release.
Abacus Exchange
This Toronto, Canada-based startup is building a Spanish-speaking digital learning platform for educational videos, networking and day trading. Ernesto Yunes has been the CEO of Abacus since 2018, according to his LinkedIn. The startup was also selected as a cohort member of the nonprofit Endeavor Miami’s ScaleUp accelerator program in 2023.
ContextQA
This Austin-based startup has a low-code, no-code automation testing software platform, meaning users can customize automation software without needing computer coding abilities. CEO and founder Deep Barot created ContextQA in 2023, according to his LinkedIn.
Five to Nine
This Chicago-based startup is a Black women-owned event management software company. Founders CEO Jasmine Shells and Denise Umubyeyi founded the company in 2016. It has since raised more than $4 million in seed funding.
Haptic
This New York-based startup is building products and services that “communicate information through touch,” or haptic feedback, according to its website. Haptic’s founder, Kevin Yoo, launched the company in 2015 after working on contract work with Fitbit and at the Pratt Institute. It holds partnerships with Verizon, BMW and Ernst and Young, according to its website.
Healp
This Washington, D.C.-based startup aims to leverage AI and data technology to distribute information to patients with obscure, incurable diseases. Its founder, Elizabeth Tikoyan, started the company in 2022. Tikoyan has attended startup programs from Halycon, Techstars and JPMorgan, according to her LinkedIn.
IndeHealth
This New Haven, Connecticut-based startup seeks to be a student-facing management tool for accessing better health care during college. CEO Dr. Tsikata Apenyo founded the company in 2023 after receiving his master’s in business administration from Yale School of Management and his medical doctorate from Brown University, according to his LinkedIn.
MegaMinds
This New Jersey-based startup was founded in 2022 by Eric Tao. Tao has a more than decade-long career in the advertising industry with firms like Grey, McCann Erikson, Hulu and Google, according to his LinkedIn. MegaMinds is described in promotional material as “Roblox for learning.” The education platform is a 3D video-game-like social platform where students learn through interactive activities, according to promotional materials.
Neuro XR
United Kingdom-based Neuro XR is building an AI and neuroscience-based platform for real-time analytics. The company has raised over $400,000 in pre-seed fundraising from two investors, according to Crunchbase.
Ovum Health
This Indiana-based startup is a digital clinic service platform for pre-pregnancy, prenatal and postnatal health care. Alice Crisci, co-founder and CEO, started Ovum Health as a spinout of the telehealth platform Med Answers. The startup has partnered with IBM to add AI to the platform.
RCM Labs
This venture is in stealth mode, according to LinkedIn. Founder Şahver Kaya clarifies on her LinkedIn profile that the startup is a “stealth venture, backed by [MIT alumni venture fund SBXI} and various private investors.”
Service Near
The only Tampa-based startup in the cohort is Service Near, founded by Lei Cheng in early 2024. The startup is building a platform to connect individuals with nearby service providers, like plumbers or landscaping services.
Spatially Health
This Miami-based startup seeks to sell spatial analytics, location information and artificial intelligence to “map the relationships between social determinants of health and an individual’s environment,” according to its website. Hillit Meidar-Alfi founded the startup in 2019, leveraging her expertise in infrastructural planning, according to LinkedIn.
Wise Cities
Marie Brodsky, a DC Inno 25 under 25 honoree, founded this Virginia-based startup in 2023. Wise Cities seeks to help seniors with obstacles to technology access. The startup is a “social impact startup envisioning a future without social isolation and with an integrated network of support for older adults,” Brodsky told DC Inno.
Yuzi
After five years in a leadership role at an Amazon resource group, Stephanie Foley founded the startup Yuzi in 2023. Seattle-based Yuzi is building a maternal care platform. It’s currently focused on building a postpartum retreat for healing and support.
