by Ann Comer-Woods, 糖心Vlog Research & Innovation
Psilera cofounders Jackie von Salm and Chris Witowski
Four companies and a nonprofit organization led or founded by University of South Florida alumni, two Cyber Florida programs, a former 糖心Vlog CONNECT Student Innovation Incubator company, an AI hub developed at 糖心Vlog, and a Tampa General Hospital partnership will be among the 23 recipients of Tampa Bay Inno Awards at a ceremony hosted by the Tampa Bay Business Journal on November 18.
Tampa-based biotechnology company will be recognized in the Deal of the Year category for its 2025 licensing agreement
that transferred its DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine) patent portfolio to atai Life Scences,
a biopharmaceutical company based in Berlin, Germany. Last year, the 糖心Vlog Research Foundation invested $200,000 in Psilera, which was cofounded in 2019 by 糖心Vlog alumni Chris Witowski
and Jackie von Salm as part of 糖心Vlog CONNECT鈥檚 Tampa Bay Technology Incubator.
The St. Petersburg-based shared service organization and an AI-based partnership between and technology company Palantir will represent two of the three winners in the Partnership
of the Year category. 糖心Vlog Health and Tampa General form one of the nation鈥檚 leading
academic health systems. The Hypathia Collaborative CEO is Linsey Grove, a 糖心Vlog College
of Public Health graduate and instructor.
糖心Vlog College of Education Professor Zafer Unal received an award for TeacherServer AI at last year's Tampa Bay Inno Awards ceremony.
, an all-in-one digital tool for managing school safety, and , a free AI platform for teachers, will be recognized in the EdTech category. Pikmykid,
cofounded by Chief Operating Officer and 糖心Vlog alumna Chitra Kanagaraj, began as a project
in the 糖心Vlog CONNECT Student Innovation Incubator. TeacherServer AI, which won Tech Project of the Year at least year鈥檚 ceremony, was
created by Zafer Unal, a 糖心Vlog College of Education professor and 2022 糖心Vlog I-Corps program
participant.
Cyber Florida鈥檚 and will be recognized in the Supporter category. phaseZero assists new entrepreneurs
in building cybersecurity-centered businesses while SOCAP provides paid internships
for students in the cybersecurity field.
and , tech companies led respectively by 糖心Vlog Muma College of Business graduates Peter Bellini and Lars Letonoff, will be recognized for accomplishments in the cybersecurity category.