GAINESVILLE, Fla. and BOCA RATON, Fla., Jan. 4, 2017 - The Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research (the Florida Institute) announced today that it has finalized a funding agreement with Omninox, a Gainesville-based company with technology developed at the University of Florida. The Florida Institute supports new company creation based on publicly-funded research, and bridges early funding gaps for companies spinning out of Florida-based universities and research institutions.
Omninox is developing a productive assessment platform using a question recommendation engine that increases educator productivity and uses research-driven methods to improve student educational outcomes.
"Teachers spend tens of hours outside of class each week planning and grading. With our solution, teachers can reduce this time from hours to minutes, while increasing student success in the classroom" said Yatit Thakker, Omninox, Chief Executive Officer. "Our software reduces the time that teachers spend on creating assignments by up to three hours per assignment. On top of that, it provides specific homework and quiz data to the teachers down to the topic and standards level that their students struggle on."
"With the tools that Omninox is creating, teachers can spend more time with their students and less time on paperwork," said Jackson Streeter, MD, Florida Institute Chief Executive Officer. "The Institute looks forward to supporting Omninox as they leverage advanced technologies to improve the learning experience.
About the Florida Institute
Formed by the Florida Legislature in 2007, the Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research is a non-profit organization that works collaboratively with the technology licensing and commercialization offices of Florida's state universities and private research institutions to leverage a $2B+ research base and form investable companies that create clean jobs in new industries that are driving the global economy. With funding from the State of Florida through the Department of Economic Opportunity, and through the generosity of mentors, advisors and donors, the Institute provides company building services, and seed funding through the Florida Technology Seed Capital Fund, to promising Florida startups. Sixty-two companies have been funded to date, and the Institute's economic impact through June 30, 2016 in the State of Florida was $630 million.
About Omninox
Omninox reduces the time teachers spend on creating and grading assignments from hours into minutes. With originally developed and licensed content from Kaplan, Omninox already serves 70% of the AP® market, the initial focus. Starting with AP®, Omninox is building the right strategic partnerships with schools, publishers and teachers to become the search engine for teacher questions that are automatically graded. These questions also include free-response and essay questions, for which Omninox is the only automatic grading software in all K-12 and higher education.