Entrepreneurs and established businesses struggle to understand the Tampa Bay innovation ecosystem. Whether they are relocating or already here, the diversity of support resources spread across multiple cities and counties is daunting. A simple question of “What is available to help me grow my business?” can become a convoluted journey of misdirection and confusion. The resources (e.g., funding, coaching, partnerships) available can depend on the company’s stage of growth, industry focus, target customers, or founder background. It is frustrating for a business to spend time with a resource provider explaining their needs only to find out they do not match the provider’s focus. Even worse is when this mismatch is not well explained. The business leaves the interaction feeling disheartened that no one is willing to help them. This lack of clear communication does not boost our economy – it creates fractures.
A group of support organizations, led by the Innovation District and fueled by a grant from the Duke Energy Foundation, is working to help solve this issue. We are in the midst of mapping the innovation ecosystem. So far we have identified over 100 support organizations. Most have completed a survey to help us understand who they support and the types of services they provide. We expect to publish our findings by the end of the year.
(This article was first featured in our September newsletter - to subscribe to our monthly newsletter click here)
References: (1) Tampa Bay Partnership's 2023 Regional Competitiveness Report (2) Tampa Bay Economic Development Council
Our summer youth tours are in full swing, and the learning hasn’t stopped. So far, we’ve hosted students ranging from elementary school to college age, with over 60 individuals touring the Innovation District. They’ve explored the world of phytoplankton with scientists from FWC and learned the basics of flight from the team at St. Pete Air.
Two helpful opportunities are available for small businesses focused on growth and innovation: FL FAST Webinars: The next session is on August 5 and will cover Communicating with the DoD — a key step for companies interested in Department of Defense SBIR/STTR funding. Learn more.
Our neighbors at the ARK Innovation Center, MADTECH.AI, are doing some seriously impressive work. As a Marketing Decision Intelligence platform, they’ve built a system that takes the headache out of data wrangling and lets teams focus on strategy. Their tools unify, transform, and visualize data in one AI-powered hub—saving time and uncovering insights faster.