Tampa Bay Wave Announces Latest Cohort of Women-led Tech Startups for the 2021 TechWomen Rising Accelerator

TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Tampa Bay Wave, Inc. a nonprofit dedicated to driving opportunity and prosperity in Tampa Bay by supporting the growth of high-scale technology companies, is proud to announce 15 new women-led startups have been accepted into its TechWomen Rising Accelerator, a 90-day program exclusively for women-led startups in Florida, powered by JPMorgan Chase.

The TechWomen Rising Accelerator is one part of a broader initiative announced in February 2020 called the "Growing the Impact of Entrepreneurship Through Inclusion" led in partnership by two of Florida's top entrepreneurial support organizations, Tampa Bay Wave and Embarc Collective. This initiative is being supported by a two-year $500,000 philanthropic commitment by JPMorgan Chase as part of the firm's global initiative to encourage small business development, generate jobs and nurture diverse communities.

"As this new cohort of women-led businesses shows, there is no shortage of female entrepreneurs in the Tampa Bay area with fantastic and viable business ideas. They just need the access to resources and capital to succeed" said Nikky Flores, Commercial Banking Market Director for West Florida at Chase. "JPMorgan Chase is thrilled to work with the Tampa Bay Wave and the Embarc Collective to help make that happen for these first 15 businesses and look forward to seeing them succeed and transform their industries."

Companies in the TechWomen Rising accelerator program will receive a dedicated experienced mentor, one-on-one feedback with notable tech founders, pitch coaching, investment readiness programs and strategic introductions to investors and prospective customers. TechWomen Rising companies will also participate in Wave's Pitch Night, a public event to be held at Embarc Collective, as well as an investor-focused Demo Day at the conclusion of the program.

"Tampa Bay Wave's strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, including gender diversity, is one of the cornerstones of our strategy for fostering a larger, stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem in Tampa Bay and throughout Florida." said Linda Olson, CEO, Tampa Bay Wave. "Thanks to the support from JPMorgan Chase and our partners at Embarc Collective, programs like TechWomen Rising Accelerator allow us to make a lasting impact by breaking down barriers and creating a more level playing field for women and all entrepreneurs."

Programs such as the TechWomen Rising Accelerator are critical for maximizing both economic and social progress. There is clear evidence that greater gender equality leads to significantly increased business performance and better innovations. Yet at the same time, according to Crunchbase and the Harvard Business Review, just 2.3% of venture capital funding in the U.S. went to women-led startups in 2020, representing a decline from 2.9% of venture capital funding in the U.S. went to women-led startups in 2019.

Beyond the 90-day program, these women-led companies will benefit from ongoing support through Wave's mentor-driven CORE membership as well as from Embarc Collective. In addition, Embarc Collective will develop informational reports and programming leading up to a national summit for developing solutions for supporting women in entrepreneurship, called the Glaring Gap summit. Both the TechWomen Rising Demo Day and the Glaring Gap summit will be held in the fall during Global Entrepreneurship Week.

The 2021 JP Morgan Chase TechWomen Rising Cohort is filled with strong female founders solving real problems. From teachers, physicians, attorneys, and PhDs to military veterans and students, the executives of the companies bring a wide variety of experiences and skill sets to the second TechWomen Rising Cohort. Alumni from University of Texas, Georgia Tech, University of Florida, Harvard, Embry-Riddle, multiple alumni from Yale, as well as former IBM, Barclays, and UCLA leaders and more all round out a diverse group of founders, all women and all from the state of Florida.

The fifteen companies participating in the 2021 TechWomen Rising Accelerator cohort include:

Advasys Inc.
The Advasys Health & Safety System was developed to revolutionize the failed, unsafe system of care for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities that currently allows for unparalleled healthcare disparities and unchecked sexual abuse despite huge public expenditures. The goal of this technology is to empower these vulnerable individuals with a voice in their health and safety- to increase reporting, assist investigations, prevent further abuse, and vastly improve their ability to receive timely and effective care.
CEO: Heidi Katz
Location: Sarasota, FL

Archslate
A two-sided jobs marketplace for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry, Archslate connects a talent pool of 40 million people to work on the right projects for them through a one-click apply process using its cloud and AI based hybrid system.
CEO: Vaishnavi More
Location: Hillsborough, FL

BarnWiz LLC
Full service web platform connecting horse owners with horse service & product suppliers, uniting the horse industry nationwide.
CEO: Tori Sullivan
Location: Hillsborough, FL

C-Watch Corporation
C-Watch is the first platform offered to consumers to comprehensively vet contractors, service providers and associates before hiring with access to 24/7 real-time data to continuously monitor license, insurance and other pertinent information.
CEO: Abbey Slaven
Location: Marion, FL

Champion Lender Inc.
Champion Lender is a FinTech/PropTech company focused on creating more homeowners in overlooked communities by reducing the rate of denial in underwriting for potential borrowers. We do this by the HOME program/app, a customized plan aimed at removing barriers to home ownership.
CEO: Viola Carmona
Location: Orlando, FL

fayVen
fayVen is a dual-sided marketplace designed to maximize unused space at venues by booking mobile vendors and artisans, collaboratively growing their customer base and tapping into additional revenue streams. And at fayVen we believe that all small business owners, no matter what stage of growth they're in, should have access to quality retail space.
CEO: April Caldwell
Location: Hillsborough, FL

Gamerabble
Gamerabble connects gamers of all ages and skill levels with highly skilled coaches and personalized, 1:1 training and enables coaches to offer their services to a broad audience, making coaching more accessible for all. Gamerabble uses a two sided platform for the consumers as well as for freelancers to buy and sell esports and video game coaching services worldwide.
CEO: Cecile Matthews
Location: Pasco, FL

Improving Aviation LLC
Improving Aviation develops solutions to enable the next generation of air transportation systems for government agencies and private organizations needing safe, efficient, and scalable solutions in air traffic management, transportation systems, and integration of emerging technologies in the aviation industry.
CEO: Rocio Frej Vitalle
Location: Hillsborough, FL

LexDock
LexDock offers business clients an innovative solution to the seemingly impossible task of managing internal legal affairs. Our legal concierge platform features a cloud-based subscription software solution where businesses and organizations can conduct all of their legal affairs in one secure location, freeing up business leaders to get back to what they do best - run their business.
CEO: Abeer Abu Judeh
Location: Hillsborough, FL

RareGuru, LLC
RareGuru is a mobile app that connects patients, caregivers, parents and teens living with a rare disease to foster support, hope, and healing together. RareGuru uses a database that encompasses real time data on more than 7,000 diseases from the leading rare disease informational and governmental websites in the United States and Europe. Users match based on diagnosis, location, symptoms and age.
CEO: Claire Barrow
Location: Hillsborough, FL

ReifyResilience, Inc.
ReifyReseilience addresses the painful and expensive problem of burnout in the helping professions with our CBT based digital health intervention specific to both the profession and the problem. Our model reduces turnover, increases company revenue, and helps organizations attract the right next hire at the right time for growth.
CEO: Andrena McGroarty
Location: Pinellas, FL

SEED Classroom
SEED automates the attendance taking and hall pass request processes in schools, increasing efficiency and providing schools with actionable data to make impactful decisions in real time. Schools are able to operate with increased efficiency, allowing teachers to focus more on teaching, and administrators to be proactive with student safety and behavioral trends.
CEO: Emilia Herman
Location: Hillsborough, FL

Shamrck
Shamrck is an AI-powered career exploration platform to help schools create better career and technical education programs.
CEO: Sheffie Robinson
Location: Pinellas, FL

Shufflrr
Every file is a slide, ready to present. Shufflrr makes presentations easier for everyone in your company. Shufflrr is a presentation management solution that keeps your messaging, branding, images, data, and more synchronized throughout your business's presentation library.
CEO: AlexAnndra Ontra
Location: Hillsborough, FL

Trendful
One platform with all the recommerce features your resale business needs to start, run and scale. Trendful's software and API power the customer-to-business resale transaction by providing offer, customer, inventory, shipping, and payout management tools.
CEO: Jackie de la Parte
Location: Hillsborough, FL

More information about the TechWomen Rising Accelerator can be found by visiting: https://tampabaywave.org/techwomen-rising/

About JPMorgan Chase: JPMorgan Chase is one Tampa Bay's largest private employers with more than 5,500 employees working in the area, including 1,700 technologists at its Tampa Technology Center. The firm is one of the first companies to become a corporate member of the Embarc Collective. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $3.1 trillion and operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. Information about JPMorgan Chase is available at http://www.jpmorganchase.com.

About Tampa Bay Wave:
Tampa Bay Wave, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing entrepreneurs with facilitated access to the resources, expertise, and capital they need to grow vibrant technology-based companies in Tampa Bay and create high wage tech jobs, thus fostering an innovation-based economy for the region. Since March 2013, Tampa Bay Wave has supported nearly 400 tech startups in Tampa Bay thanks to grant funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), plus support from its economic development partners Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa. Tampa Bay Wave also receives support from corporate partners and foundations such as A-lign, Bellini Better World, Bank of America, Cherry Bekaert, EY, Florida Blue, Florida Funders, Frontier Communications, Hancock Whitney Bank, KnowBe4, MacDonald Ventures, Sykes Enterprises, Tampa Electric, Tampa Bay Rays/Rowdies Foundation, The Nielsen Foundation, Truist Foundation, and Valley Bank. For more information, visit http://www.tampabaywave.org.

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