The Tampa Bay Wave closed Q3 by featuring 15 must-know companies from its latest TechDiversity cohort.
The TechDiversity cohort features companies that are 51% owned, controlled and operated by a woman, minority, veteran, disabled or LGBTQ person.
The Wave has TechWomen Rising and CyberTech|X accelerators, the latter of which proved to be so successful the Wave is launching new financial technology-focused programming in the coming months.
"We found when we do industry-focused programming, it acts as a powerful magnet," Linda Olson, executive director of the Tampa Bay Wave, said during the pitch night on Aug. 31. "The Tampa Bay market itself is one of the top areas of the country for finance-related jobs, so why not fintech? Don't you think fintech belongs in Tampa Bay?"
Olson did not reveal a timeline of when the program will officially launch but did say sponsors include Encore Bank, MacDonald Ventures and Fiserv. The University of South Florida St. Petersburg's Kate Tiedemann College of Business and Finance will serve as a partner of the program.
The launch comes after the exits of two of its cybertech companies, and at least three additional companies that closed their funding rounds. It bodes well for the TechDiversity cohort, which presented to a packed room of community members and investors at Tropicana Field on Tuesday.
We've rounded up the companies and what they are seeking below. You can see the original announcement when we broke the news of the cohort here.
SPONTIVLY
Headquartered: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
What it is: "Hootsuite for community managers." A community management system that states its users save 15 to 20 hours a week by automating manual tasks. It has 15 paying customers and allegedly 385 customer leads.
Total addressable market: $5.3 billion
What they're focused on: Targeting community-led tech companies
DeLorean Artificial Intelligence LLC
Headquartered: Wellington
What it is: Artificial intelligence technology predicting events in the future to let users choose the next best action, with products that are prebuilt, trusted and proven.
Other news to know: The company filed a patent in May 2020.
What they're seeking: The company has two lead investors but looking for follow on investors.
Rehametrics
Headquartered: Valencia, Spain
What it is: The company aims to fix the high cost of rehabilitation and low motivation in patients with a virtual rehab platform that uses existing devices to lower the implementation of cost
Other news to know: They work with 100 health care organizations and 12,000 patients in 15 countries.
Revenue: $1.17M revenue since its founding
What they're seeking: Health care organizations in Tampa Bay "invested in learning more about our solution and using it with their patients."
SageSurfer
Headquartered: Sunnyvale, California
What it is: "The innovation platform for care providers" which allows members to engage regularly. It provides a tool for proactive intervention, can increase revenue streams and deliver remote patient monitoring, according to its founder.
Revenue: More than $1 million in revenue
Other news to know: It's a B2B subscription service that's gotten support from the National Science Foundation.
Digital Leader Academy
Headquartered: South Bend, Indiana
What it is: The organization works with universities and community colleges to integrate into the classrooms, which then allows them access to high school classrooms as well.
Revenue: $65,000 in annual recurring revenue
What they're seeking: Connections to universities, community colleges or high schools in the region
Otter Waiver
Headquartered: Boulder, Colorado
What it is: Otter Waiver is a digital waiver and participant management software designed specifically for the outdoor industry. They help companies better use customer data with SMS marketing to help retention and send out the waiver links to the customers before coming on site or offer a QR code.
Total addressable market: $5.2 billion
What they're seeking: Introductions to activity providers or rental equipment places
DUKE.ai
Headquartered: Dallas
What they do: Uses an AI solution to manage all the documents for owner-operators in the trucking industry through an app. Those documents are automatically processed, then the information is sent to the financial institutions. Those financial institutions then use Duke.ai's solution to process the documents automatically and pay the truckers in 24 hours.
Revenue: Generated a million in revenue since its founding
Other news to know: They make their funding through both a subscription app and licensing fees.
AI Technology & Systems Inc.
Headquartered: Milpitas, California
What they do: Their software products train sensors through the use of AI, agnostic software and agnostic hardware.
Total addressable market: $25 billion
Other news to know: It is founded by a two-time entrepreneur and was a NASA iTech pitch competition finalist.
What they're seeking: Guidance and connections to deliver their technology
the*gameHERs
Headquartered: New York
What they do: A media platform, social network and lifestyle network for women who game. They are set to launch an app to connect women gamers.
Revenue: Will be from in-app purchases and a subscription model, as well as ads, sponsorships, merchandise and licensing agreements
Other news to know: It is led by a group of serial entrepreneurs who work with people that have had a previous exit.
What they're seeking: Connections with esports or the gaming curious, particularly with women
GoManda
Headquartered: Austin, Texas
What they do: The “Netflix for vocabulary,” particularly to help autistic children
Revenue: Will come with its fully released app in the App store for iPhones and have both home and school editions
Other news to know: It is founded by a physician with a specialty in autism, who was inspired by her autistic sister. The platform is used in more than 1,200 school districts in Texas, with 29 districts in Austin alone.
What they're seeking: Connections with the autistic community or a local school district
Safepush
Headquartered: Virginia Beach, Virginia
What they do: A medical device company that develops products to make patient care safer and avoid practitioners giving injections too quickly
Total addressable market: $4.8 billion in U.S. hospitals
Other news to know: It will be focusing on FDA and 510(k) submissions in 2021
What they're seeking: To connect with nurses and doctors in Florida and talk to them about pilot studies in the facilities. Interested investors can also contact the company.
Canopie
Headquartered: Washington, D.C.
What they do: Make maternal mental health part of pre- and post-natal care through an app that creates customized, cognitive therapy-based automated programming for 10 minutes a day for 10 days.
Total addressable market: $1.2 billion in the U.S.
Other news to know: It has 650 users for its beta test and 15 practices referring mothers to the app.
What they're seeking: To partner with clinics, hospitals, health systems and insurance companies
FanSaves Inc.
Headquarters: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
What they do: "Instagram meets Groupon for sports teams." It is a digital platform that offers fans discounts and deals from the sponsors of their favorite teams. Fans can download the app or sign up for an account online, follow their favorite teams, then look at discounts from the teams' sponsors. Every time a deal is received, the gender, age and location of the user are tracked.
Total addressable market: $6.3 billion
Other news to know: The platform is licensed directly to the sports team, who then sell it as part of their sponsorship deal. The company's focused on professional teams and is working with 40 organizations across North America with 550 brand offering deals.
What they're seeking: Someone who has connections to the sports teams in Tampa Bay
Sensfix Inc.
Headquartered: Santa Clara, California
What they do: Offers an IoT, AI-driven service lifecycle management platform that helps operation and maintenance managers in industries and enterprises digitize their workflows, making devices self-schedule, self-dispatch and self-ticket repair and maintenance needs automatically.
Revenue: $1.5M in annual recurring revenue by 2022
Other news to know: It is based in Silicon Valley and Europe
UzeLink
Headquartered: New York
What they do: UzeLink is a mobile application that allows users and others to receive notifications when there is a change in health and activity patterns.
