Week 6: Strengths

I have been in the Tampa for a little under two months and, with the assistance of Tampa Bay Wave, have learned more about the Tampa Bay Wave entrepreneurial ecosystem. Some of the strengths I have noticed during my time here is their strong support in the development of their ecosystem by having entrepreneurial support organizations, the diversity among the city’s population, and low living cost.

Of course, the Wave has continued to be a well-known source for startup support. I have also continued to learn about Embarc Collective, WeWork and programs like Hillsborough’s Economic Development Innovation Initiative (ED12). These organizations and programs provide spaces to collaborate, receive mentorship, and more. Of course, this is vital, especially for early startups.

As far as diversity among the community. This is something that Tampa Bay Wave has taken into consideration and have developed an accelerated program that is gear toward early-stage companies operated by a minority; woman; veteran or lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person or combination thereof. This program has received great feedback kick-off events they hosted in May and I personally have enjoyed being in the office to help prepare for their upcoming events in July. The low living cost, tied in along with the support from ESOs, is something that encourages relocate and startups to pursue their business in Tampa Bay.
As an emerging tech hub, Tampa Bay does have a way to go to have an ecosystem like the Silicon Valley for example, but the support from this ecosystem will be one of the things that have kept it expanding.