Business accelerator welcomes applications for next cohort

ST. PETERSBURG — Tampa Bay Innovation Center is encouraging startups to apply for its spring 2022 accelerator program, which starts March 23.

The St. Petersburg-based tech incubator, accelerator and coworking hub is also preparing to break ground on its new headquarters, dubbed the ARK Innovation Center, at the intersection of Fourth Street South and 11th Avenue South, in the Sunshine City’s fast-growing Innovation District.

The 45,000-square-foot innovation center is partially funded by superstar investor Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management, which recently moved its headquarters from Manhattan to St. Pete. The facility is expected to open in July 2023.

The 12-week accelerator program is open to early-stage companies that have a unique and scalable tech venture in a B2B or B2G (government) market; are self-funded or have raised seed funding; have a minimal viable product of proof of concept; and have a team of two more staff members.

“A startup’s journey to find a sustainable product-market fit is one that is achieved by understanding the user’s job, their ideal outcome and points of friction that impede them from meeting their objectives,” TBIC Managing Director Ken Evans states in a news release. “Startups that focus only on the technology often fail to achieve the traction they need to turn their ideas and efforts into a sustainable flow of paying customers. This program helps founders build the credibility and confidence they need to launch and grow scalable products based on that user insight and real market demand.”

Applications for the spring 2022 accelerator program will be accepted until March 4, the release states.