"Born and raised in the Tampa Bay area, building the local startup community means an opportunity to create impact on a much deeper, more personal level."

—Allie Felix on why she moved back to Florida to build the startup community

Founder: John Sung Kim

Company: Jetbridge

Thoughts: Understanding the different cultures and communication nuances between our engineers in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Belize, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, and San Francisco took quite a bit of time, but well worth it for my global education. The only way for me to solve it was to spend time with each of my teammates visiting the countries, speaking at the local universities, and making techie friends in all our hiring locations.

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Product Discovery Coffee Chat

Session on Product Discovery and Go-to-Market Strategies for B2B Startups

Presented by Tampa Bay Innovation Center

Thursday, May 27 at 2:30PM ET

Introduction to the Space Economy

Perspectives on New Markets and How to Engage With the Space Industry

Presented by USF Connect

Thursday, June 3 at 2PM ET

Florida Bitcoin and Blockchain Summit

Conference for Beginners, Stakeholders, and Advocates of Bitcoin and Blockchain

Presented by Cutting Edge Events (an Embarc Collective member company)

Sunday, June 6 through Tuesday, June 8

Panther Raises $2.5M To Help Businesses Hire and Pay Employees in 160+ Countries

PR Newswire • Embarc Collective member company Panther raised $2.5M from Tribe Capital, Eric Ries, Carta Ventures, among others, to provide hiring and payroll support for businesses looking to work with the best talent internationally.

$20M Seed Fund Launched to Help New Tampa Startups

Bay News 9 • TampaBay.Ventures is a new early-stage fund to support the growth of new technology ventures located in the Tampa Bay region.

Tampa Bay's Biggest Strengths, Weakness and Opportunities, According to Silicon Valley Executives

Tampa Bay Inno • Recent transplants to the Tampa Bay region weigh in on how Tampa Bay can best position itself for startup growth.

Company: Pocket Network

Elevator Pitch: Pocket Network is the leading decentralized blockchain infrastructure protocol. Our mission is to provide permissionless, high-quality infrastructure for blockchains and apps of all sizes.

Position: DevOps & Tooling Engineer

Position Highlights: In this role, you will create monitoring and alerting solutions for critical parts of our highly available infrastructure, work with app developers and node runners to assist in deployments and troubleshoot issues, and also architect, design, and implement end to end solutions for deployment automation, visibility, high availability and security for Pocket Network infrastructure software.

Apply Here

We are pretty bullish on the growth opportunity for tech companies in Florida. This week, we're sharing resources as you make the case for Florida to new founders and prospective startup team members.

📈 Florida Sees Big Migration Gains During Pandemic - Many regions of Florida have seen noticeable gains since the start of the pandemic from major tech metros in the US.

🌴 Welcome to Florida Tech (Tampa Bay Edition) - This is a living resource to share with those considering the move to Florida, particularly Tampa Bay.

🚀 Florida is Poised to Keep Growing Even After the Pandemic - Business Insider outlined how Florida is perfectly positioned for growth.

Startup Ecosystem Collaboration

During this episode of Startup Blink, Embarc Collective's CEO Lakshmi Shenoy shared a perspective on how to grow the startup community in Florida.

Listen Here

Endeavor Pitch Competition

10 Black-led and Black-founded companies will be selected to compete for non-dilutive cash prizes, over $20K worth of Microsoft for Startups services, and a spot in one of Endeavor's Growth Programs once they meet the necessary criteria.

Deadline: June 11

Apply Here

Startup of the Year® Community

Early-stage startups are encouraged to apply to join this free community to gain access to mentors, investors and corporate innovators, and more.

Deadline: August 31

Apply Here

Growing our region's startup community takes all of us. Here are quick ways you can help Embarc Collective member startups:

🌴 Wellness & active travel startup Vacayou has launched a giveaway for a 3-night stay for two at Palmaïa in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Enter here.

📱Cope Notes uses daily text messages to help improve mental and emotional health. Sign up here.