Supporting Florida’s Innovation Economy
Issue 102 – February 2023
Join us at Synapse Summit 2023
Tampa, FL – The Institute is proud to support this year’s Synapse Summit on February 14th, 2023. Every year, this event celebrates, discovers, & engages in everything the Florida innovation community has to offer. Innovators all around Florida will make their way to the Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL.
Are you interested in participating in the event? Email us at
More on the event and registration information can be found here.
Zach Brodsky and Florida Funders Participated in Gainesville Tech Week
Gainesville, FL – The Florida Venture Landscape panel was part of the Gainesville Tech Week presented by OneSixOne Ventures. Zach Brodsky, Manager of Institute Investments at Florida Funders, spoke about our current investment thesis and discussed current trends in Florida’s venture and startup landscape. Founders attending the event also had the opportunity to ask questions and seek advice. The 3-day event hosted founders & investors from around the country at the University of Florida. Dan Rua, founder and CEO of our portfolio company Admiral also participated in a panel discussion called Gainesville’s Tech Ecosystem: Then & Now.
More on the Event can be found here.
Josh Wilson, Andreas Calabrese, Vlad Cazacu, Zach Brodsky
FBIA Winter 2023 Conference in Ft. Lauderdale
Ft. Lauderdale, FL - The Institute actively supported the FBIA Winter 2023 Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, where Rafael Lohner (left) participated in a Mock Investor Interview: How to prepare your clients for success together with Noel Heiks, Managing Partner at Kirenaga. This enabled participating entrepreneurs to learn more about the questions investors typically ask prospective companies and unpack the answers from an investor’s perspective. The Institute and Kirenaga also provided a sample pitch deck for all participants as a reference. If you are interested in the sample pitch deck that was provided at the event, please respond to this email. The conference took place at the Alan B. Levan | NSU Broward Center of Innovation on February 2nd and February 3rd.
More on the FBIA can be found here.
More on the Institute’s resources can be found here.
Join Us at the 2023 Florida Venture Capital Conference
February 8-9 in Miami – 3 Institute Companies Presenting
Miami, FL – The Florida Venture Forum will hold its annual Florida Venture Capital Conference this week, on February 8-9, at the JW Marriott-Brickell in Miami. Over 600 attendees, including over 200 active venture investors worldwide, will join and connect at the conference. This is an excellent opportunity for Florida tech entrepreneurs to connect with active venture investors and other industry leaders to get the latest insights on developments in venture capital. The event will feature pitches by pre-screened startups, thought-leading panels, keynote speakers, and curated networking events. Three Institute portfolio companies, CAST.AI, Harness, and HealthSnap will also present at the event:
CAST AI, (www.cast.ai), Miami, the company shows how much you spend on the cloud, and then we reduce it. Automatically. In Minutes. For any cloud-native application. One any cloud provider: AWS, Google, and Azure. With instant ROI.
Harness, (www.goharness.com), Tampa, the company is building the world's first "App Store" for 8B+ credit & debit cards, a digital distribution platform enabling cardholders to activate card-based programs & "applications" from their favorite brands onto any credit or debit card in their wallet. Harness is uniquely positioned to power this new marketplace through proprietary, real-time data agreements with both Visa & Mastercard, which allow Harness (and its partners) to build value propositions into every transaction a cardholder makes. In short, the Harness Platform enables customers to create applications that drive the benefits of a new card program, without the hassle of actually issuing a new card.
HealthSnap, Inc., (www.HealthSnap.io), Miami, the company is an integrated Virtual Care Platform that helps healthcare organizations improve patient outcomes, reduce utilization, and diversify revenue streams. From chronic disease-agnostic Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) to AIguided care coordination, Chronic Condition Management (CCM), patented billing reports, population analytics - and so much more - HealthSnap is the simplest way to manage chronic conditions remotely.
For registration and more information, please visit the Florida Venture Forum 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 on Florida’s economy is $4.1 billion, with fiscal revenue impacts of nearly $453 million to federal, state, and local governments.