Issue 88 – August 2020
Florida Venture Forum Announces 2020 Early Stage Capital Conference and Statewide Collegiate Startup Competition
The Venture Forum, Florida’s largest statewide support organization for investors and entrepreneurs, announced plans for an all-virtual 2020 Early Stage Capital Conference on October 14-15, 2020. The 2020 conference, which will be held virtually, marks the 13th year for the event and will feature the 10th Annual Statewide Collegiate Startup Competition.
The conference will feature presentations from 25-30 fast-growth early-stage companies, keynote speakers, breakout educational sessions, and other networking opportunities. Registration and additional information about the Early Stage Capital Conference can be found on the Forum’s website, or by clicking here.
Previous early stage presenting companies have had tremendous success, raising over $181 million in equity capital. Collegiate participants have raised over $20 million.
Dominion Aesthetic Technologies, Inc. Enters New Stage of Growth
One of the Institute’s portfolio companies, Dominion Aesthetic Technologies, Inc. (Dominion), announces a new stage of growth. The company will focus on operational and commercialization excellence for the upcoming launch of EON™, the premier touchless, robotic, laser contouring device. In alignment with this focus, Cooper Collins will lead Dominion as CEO, effective immediately. Collins served as a Board Member at Dominion and has extensive experience leading healthcare ventures to success as CEO.
Last year, Dominion announced that it received FDA clearance of EON™, which is a non-contact medical device that reduces fat in the abdomen.
Dominion’s Executive Chairman of the Board, Janet Campbell, was also featured earlier this year in a series on “Women CEOs in Aesthetics” of the Modern Aesthetics magazine sponsored by Galderma. The magazine is distributed to plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and other aesthetic surgeons with a reach of over 17,000 in print and 15,000 online. The article can be found here.
More Information on Dominion may be viewed here.
Another life-saving approach during COVID-19
One of the Institute’s Portfolio companies, BluAzu, is engaged in helping with a revolutionary new contact tracing solution. At slightly larger than a U.S. quarter, AlertTrace is a low energy Bluetooth device worn by your workforce. AlertTrace captures when it is within a specified range of another AlertTrace device and registers as a contact. If an employee tests positive for a communicable infection, you will be able to quickly identify an employee’s historical anonymized contacts to safeguard your workforce, all while protecting employee confidentiality.
More Info on this great tool and a brief video describing its benefits can be found here.
About Us
Formed by the Florida Legislature in 2007, the Institute for Commercialization of Florida Technology supports and funds innovation companies that create clean jobs in new industries that are driving the global economy. The Institute provides company building services, and seed funding through the Florida Technology Seed Capital Fund, to promising Florida startups that are developing products that improve and save lives and help companies improve their bottom line. The organization’s investment decisions are guided through a strong partnership with its Private Fund Manager, Florida Funders. The Institute’s economic impact between 2011 and 2019 was $1.9 billion, with an annual return on investment of 31 times to the State of Florida.