On Monday, February 26th nine of the startup founders in Soaring City’s second Business Accelerator cohort delivered their three-minute pitches at Demo Day culminating their 10 weeks in accelerator and launching the next stage of their growth as entrepreneurs. This cohort, made possible by financial support from the Florida Business Development Corporation (FBDC) and Truist, followed a venture studio model providing the companies with enhanced support for business model ideation, branding, and other key factors for future success.
The three-minute pitches outlined the reasons each founder established their companies and how their businesses provide solutions to needs that customers have. This cohort’s Demo Day companies are:
- Bazaar Horizons: a marketplace for buying and selling upcycled, reused, and repurposed items
- Vertical: Marketplace, SaaS
- Founder: Lorena Carbonell
- Eczema Sample Store: an e-commerce platform that offers cost-effective skincare sample subscriptions
- Vertical: D2C, B2C, E-Commerce, CPG
- Founder: Stephanie Philpot
- Fractio: a SaaS platform that offers a monthly subscription for startups to pay-per-skill for professional services on a fractional basis
- Vertical: B2B, SaaS
- Founder: Fatin Kwasny
- Game Drive: a platform aggregating gaming data for player competition, networking, and talent recruitment
- Vertical: Gaming, AI
- Founder: Chris Green
- medAction.ai: a technology solution focused on improving patient compliance, targeting dementia, Alzheimer’s, and seniors, with benefits for caregivers and healthcare providers
- Vertical: MedTech
- Founder: Heather Patel
- Multicultural Classroom: A tech-enabled education company that offers anti-bias and anti-racist training through workshops, digital content, and public speaking
- Vertical: EdTech, SaaS, B2G
- Founder: Roberto German
- SPARC: a tech-enabled lending platform that helps renters move into rental homes
- Vertical: Fintech, SaaS, B2B, B2C
- Founder: Maxsolvickson Lorissaint
- Thryve Wallet: a fintech platform offering a 360-degree view of finances, real-time insights, and AI-driven personalized advice for improved financial literacy and decision-making
- Vertical: Fintech, AI, Personal Finance
- Founder: Barrington Williamson
- U Do You: a software solution for streamlined and effective workplace performance feedback
- Vertical: HR Tech, SaaS, B2B, B2C
- Founder: Christina Norton
Integral to the success of this cohort was Managing Director Chris Morancie and the Idea & Innovation Factory, and Soaring City’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Martika Brianne Jones, who graduated from Soaring City’s 1st accelerator cohort with her company BŪP. The business accelerator program is one initiative supporting Soaring City’s mission to build an innovation ecosystem that seeds prosperity throughout its community, starting in Uptown Tampa. Alumni of the first cohort’s Demo Day from June of 2023 have been thriving. Companies from that cohort have hired a combined 7 employees. FayVen CEO, April Caldwell won the Warrior Rising pitch competition with a $20,000 grant; Bulkitrade, Inc. CEO, Mauro Costa brought home 2nd place in the 2023 Crossover Innovation Summit gaining a $25,000 investment; Erudyte and founder, Murewa Olubela reached the final stage of the VITAL Prize Challenge; and Martika Jones’s BUP was the Networking Solution for the Synapse Summit valued at $25,000.
Soaring City and its partners are in the planning phase for the next business accelerator venture studio cohort and continued efforts to support innovative approaches to business growth and job creation.