With back to school in full swing, it seemed a large amount of adults were also heading on to new ventures in August. We've got the full roundup of what startups received new C-level executives, who struck out on their own and more below.
• DAS Health Ventures, Inc., a Tampa-based health IT and management company, acquired Technology Seed, LLC, a New Hampshire-based tech company. The company was acquired for an undisclosed amount on August 3. This is the largest in more than a dozen acquisitions the company has made in the last few years.
• Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay amped up its manpower when it comes to innovating schools. The nonprofit, along with 3DE Schools by Junior Achievement, hired seven new officials to help kick off the 3DE program this fall. The program brings a unique learning model to high schools across the country to help increase student success. See the hires here.
• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers teamed up with fantasy sports gaming platform Monkey Knife Fight, with perhaps the biggest piece of the partnership being a title sponsor of an in-app predictive gaming concept. Monkey Knife Fight officials told the Tampa Bay Business Journal it's a move that will hopefully lay the groundwork for more opportunities when sports gambling becomes legalized in Florida.
• Morgan Hill Partners, a boutique investment firm and longtime startup supporter, has rebranded to Orchid Black. The name comes from both their value prop of “grow smart, grow fast,” but also proof orchids thrive when properly cared for.
• HireVergence, a Tampa-based IT and cybersecurity recruiting company, was acquired from Austin-based Jobs.com for an undisclosed amount. This was the first acquisition for Jobs.com, which is a digital recruitment platform. The acquisition is intended to help both entities tap into larger candidate pools and grow as a whole.
• ISC(2), the largest cybersecurity nonprofit that also happens to be located in Clearwater, will soon have a new CEO. Clar Rosso will step up to the top spot on Oct. 1, replacing current CEO David Shearer, who has been in the position since 2015. Get the full details.
• Newgentek, the Tampa-based IT company, hired Andrew Kedjierski as its new director of service operations. Kedjierski is no newbie to the region's tech scene: he previously worked for Vology and Tech Data. Before that, he was a "top secret network manager" for the White House.
• EM Key Solutions, Inc., a St. Petersburg-based IT provider, named Dave Shackleton as its new VP of operations. He previously served as the director of national security at Virginia-based Buchanan & Edwards.
• Earl Crane, a former member of The White House National Security Council and director of cybersecurity strategy for the Department of Homeland Security, was named to Abacode's board of advisors. Abacode is a Tampa-based cybersecurity and compliance firm.
• Mad Mobile Inc., a Tampa-based mobile platform for enterprise restaurants and retailers, acquired a Silicon Valley company. The company announced August 6 it acquired CAKE, a restaurant tech company owned by Sysco Corporation. Mad Mobile will use CAKE’s technology to expand its point-of-sale-system for a variety of restaurants.
• Immertec's founder Erik Maltais hired an absolute powerhouse of leaders for his medtech VR startup. You’ve got Yul Vanek, the company’s new COO that hails from Magic Leap. Qing Mirabella, its new director of supply chain, spent six years at Apple. Doug Bauer, VP of finance, was the CFO at FS Logix Inc., which was then acquired by Microsoft. And familiar face Tyana Daley, the former communications manager for Embarc Collective, is Immertec’s new director of marketing. Learn more about what's next here.
• The month rounded out with an acquisition of St. Petersburg-based Callyo. The cloud-based application provider with a focus on law enforcement was acquired by Chicago-based Motorola for an undisclosed amount on August 31.
