St. Petersburg-based Tampa Bay Innovation Center's climate-focused accelerator program is back with freshly picked startups.
Six startups were chosen from across the region for the program and began honing their business acumen. The program will conclude with a showcase of the startups and is sponsored partly by Ark Invest, Duke Energy and Clearwater-based portable storage firm Pods.
“Following the success of the Climate Tech Accelerator TBIC conducted in the spring of 2023, we have recruited startups working on products that mitigate damage to our environment and improve the quality of life in our community," Ken Evans, managing director of the accelerator program, said in a statement.
The Tampa Bay Innovation Center launched the climate-focused program in 2022. The latest cohort will be one of the first programs to run in the newly opened Ark Innovation Center building, which opened in early 2024 and has hosted several events. Ten startups participated in the AI accelerator and graduated from the program with a showcase in February at the Ark Innovation Center. Cathie Wood is CEO of Ark Investment and moved the company to St. Petersburg in 2021.
Tampa Bay Inno compiled the startups gearing up for the program below.
AgWise
This St. Pete-based startup has built an agricultural data analytics platform. Sarah Martello is the founder of Transparency Wise, the company behind the AgWise platform. Martello is a tax and legal expert. She previously was an attorney at Florida Legal Counsel.
Cupper
This Bradenton-based startup wants to sell eco-friendly coffee pods. Rayna Bertash, an entertainer with nonprofit performance group The American Bombshells, and her father, Michael Bertash, a director at Tocqueville Asset Management, are building the startup, according to LinkedIn.
Numa Notes
This St. Pete-based startup was founded by Cole Smith. Smith was inspired by his mother, a therapist, and the countless hours spent notetaking and summarizing the events of the day after seeing clients. He leveraged his machine learning and artificial intelligence background to create this tool for automating clinical note-taking.
Virginica
This Tampa-based startup is leveraging oyster beds and artificial reefs to capture carbon in the environment. Cameron Mullinax, a graduate of the University of Tampa, founded the company in 2023, according to LinkedIn.
ZingIan
This St. Pete-based startup aims to monitor and limit the unlawful use of aerial drones.
Mudder AI
This New Haven, Connecticut-based startup — the only startup outside of Florida in the cohort — uses data technologies to track weather events and emergency response. The Mudder AI team is made up of five academics in various fields: Orlando-based law professor Nadia Ahmad, New Haven-based geosciences expert Tarek Kandakji, air quality manager for the city of Boston Weixi Wu, New Haven-based computer science professor Alex Wong, New Haven-based assistant professor Rex Ying.
