- PETERSBURG, Fla.– (July 12, 2018)- The St. Petersburg Area Economic Development Corporation (EDC) partnered with Tampa Bay Wave to host high-growth startups and community leaders for Pitch Night at Station House in downtown St. Petersburg. The event, powered by Nielsen, attracted more than 150 community members and provided a forum for graduating companies of Tampa Bay Wave’s TechDiversity Accelerator to present their business models and connect with potential investors, mentors, and other local entrepreneurs.
The Tampa Bay Wave-St. Petersburg EDC collaboration highlights a larger effort to retain and attract high-tech companies to the Tampa-St. Petersburg region, Florida’s largest and growing tech hub.
“Events like this are a great opportunity to not only showcase the unique character and culture of our City, but to highlight that St. Pete and Tampa are complementary in nature and that both cities are necessary to make this region the best place to grow a business,” said J.P. DuBuque, President of the St. Petersburg EDC.
Prior to the event that drew more than 150 community members, DuBuque led a start-up tour of downtown St. Petersburg that included a meeting with Mayor Rick Kriseman and stops at several prominent tech firms including Intrinio, Presence, and Rising Tide Innovation Center.
Tour participants took note of the creative energy, as well.
“St. Pete reminds me of Austin when I first moved there," said Josh Rabinowitz, CEO of Dallas-based Articulate Labs. "Now Austin has changed a lot and lost the vibe that St. Pete has right now.”
The tour concluded at Station House for the standing room only Pitch Night event. Duke Energy and TECO Peoples Gas were among local companies and entrepreneurs represented at the event.
Akeelah Kuraishi, Little Global Citizens
Presenting companies included:
- Articulate Labs, Dallas, TX: Medical Devices
- eTeki, Tampa, FL: Technical interview Service Platform
- GuestBox, Austin, TX: Subscription Box for Hospitality Industry
- Immersed Games, Gainesville, FL: Game-based Learning Platform
- Little Global Citizens, Bradenton, FL: Children’s Subscription Box
- OpticSurg, New York City, NY: Augmented Reality
- ProjectMQ, Tampa, FL: Gaming Discovery Platform
- Resility Health, Jacksonville, FL: Technical Health Platform
- Super Auth, Tampa, FL: Security Platform
- SynsorMed, Atlanta, GA: Patient Care AI Platform
After hearing company pitches, attendees enjoyed a networking reception at Ichicoro Ane.
To continue the momentum around the influx of technology companies considering the Tampa-St. Petersburg region, the St. Petersburg EDC is organizing similar follow up events and looks forward to partnering with Tampa Bay Wave in the future.