Florida Venture Forum Selects 20 Presenting Companies for the 2019 Florida Early Stage Capital Conference May 9-10 in Orlando

Orlando, Tampa, and Miami, FL (April 30, 2019) – The Florida Venture Forum has selected 20 companies to present at its 12th annual Florida Early Stage Capital Conference, being held at Omni ChampionsGate in Orlando on May 9^th-May 10^th.  The conference also will feature the 9^th annual 2019 Statewide Collegiate Startup Competition, attracting the “best of the best” competitors, representing Florida’s major colleges and universities

.“We had a record number of applications this year and our selection committee did an outstanding job of choosing 20 of Florida’s most promising early and seed stage companies,” said Tim Cartwright, partner & co-founder, Fifth Avenue Family Office, chair of the conference selection committee and a board member of the Florida Venture Forum.  “For those investors that are looking for the next Chewy or Magic Leap, this conference is a must attend event.”

In addition to company presentations and other programming, the conference will feature a total of $100,000 in cash awards distributed between early stage and seed stage companies, provided by Space Florida. To date, past early stage presenters have attracted more than $100 million in funding.

Pre-registration rates for the Early Stage Capital Conference is available through May 1, 2019. Conference attendees have the opportunity to listen to pitches from leading Florida companies and network with over 300 attendees including every major seed and angel fund in Florida, as well as venture investors from throughout the state and beyond.  On May 9, 2019, conference attendees are also invited to pre-register for the Financing High-Growth Ventures Workshop, taught by lead instructor, Troy Knauss, of the Angel Resource Institute.

Presenters were selected from a pool of over 150 applicants by a committee of active Florida venture capital investors. The 20 selected presenting companies are listed below, by region:

Central/East Central Florida

BLUEWAVE Technologies, Inc., Orange City (www.bluewave.tech) is a healthtech startup and the creator of the BLUEWAVE, a connected healthtech device that can sanitize and deodorize items in as little as 5 minutes, without using any water, detergents, or added chemicals. It has achieved full 6-log kills (99.9999%) against MRSA, Salmonella enteritis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the three bacterial genera required by the EPA to be a broad-spectrum sanitization device in healthcare settings – not only on hard surfaces, but also through porous materials.

‍Capacitech, Orlando (www.capacitechenergy.com) is commercializing patent protected, advanced energy storage technology from University of Central Florida. Capacitech sells 100ft spools of series-connected and customizable Cable-Based Capacitors (CBCs) to distributors selling to OEMs and end users. The CBC will be used to complement batteries in the solar & IT markets to reduce their cost of ownership. It can also help miniaturize electronics by replacing large, traditional capacitors on circuits.

‍eCare21, Inc., Orlando (www.ecare21.com) offers a secure, patient-centered mobile Health IT platform that enables virtual healthcare delivery in every setting across the continuum of care. The eCare21 platform features secure, networked technologies; a refined, flexible user experience, integrated advanced analytics, technical & workow interoperability with legacy HIM systems, and the ability to adapt to a rapidly-evolving policy environment. The eCare21 mobile App enables proactive patient engagement & self-management and has been formally recognized as a leading Caregiving App in 2017 & 2018.

‍Evren Technologies, Inc., Gainesville (www.evrenvns.com) is a neuromodulation medical device start-up developing wearable therapies to treat PTSD. Their flagship device, the Phoenix™, provides therapy in a discreet earbud design, delivering transcutaneous neurostimulation, specifically to the auricular branch of the vagus nerve. The Phoenix also adjusts therapy in a closed-loop by reading a user’s bio-signals and adjusting stimulation when receiving signals showing elevated stress.

‍Maku Inc., Gainesville is a health and wellness company that specializes in selling low THC cannabis oil (“CBD Oil”) directly to consumers online (B2C) and to businesses looking to sell to CBD Oil (B2B/Wholesale).

‍SegAna LLC, Orlando is a medical device company that has developed a cloud-based software platform utilizing artificial Intelligence and a proprietary algorithm that measures changes in patient specific tissue elasticity for enhancing radiation treatment of cancer. The company’s patent pending state of the art technology enhances the treatment of cancer by providing the Radiation Oncologist, in any setting or location, with the ability to accurately dene the margin of the tumor on the day of treatment and predict an abnormal treatment up to 3 days in the future. The Radiation Oncologist utilizes this information to develop a new patient treatment plan which will ultimately reduce radiation damage to the tissue surrounding the tumor and improve a patient’s outcome.

‍SmartSteward, Gainesville is an intelligent digital platform which combines real-time communication with big data and machine learning to streamline antibiotic stewardship and infection control. The product was developed using nurse input in 2018 in 3 different pilot facilities. The commercial version was launched in January 2019 and the team is in negotiations with clients and distributors. The team includes Infectious disease doctors, pharmacists, and nurses; technologists, and sales people with decades of experience in their respective fields.

Southeast Florida

DermaSensor Inc., Miami (www.dermasensor.com) is a  connected device company working to improve access to effective skin cancer checks by commercializing cutting-edge technologies. DermaSensor is developing a time and cost efficient handheld device with high clinical performance that utilizes patented spectroscopy and machine learning technology to evaluate skin lesions in seconds. The device includes an integrated smartphone application that features a user-friendly interface. By enabling healthcare professionals and patients to quickly and effectively check for skin cancer, DermaSensor hopes to ultimately improve patient outcomes.

‍HealthSnap, Inc., Miami (www.healthsnap.io ) provides the tools that help providers and corporations translate patient-generated lifestyledata from wearables, connected health devices and questionnaires into a standardized LifestyleProle™, so that organizations can make the shift from reactive to proactive care.

‍Intelligent Observation, Miami (https://intelobserve.com/ ) the company provides an automated hand hygiene tracking system that improves compliance and reduces the risk of infection.

‍PQSecure Technologies, Boca Raton (www.pqsecurity.com ) develops cryptographic solutions to make widely used embedded devices such as connected Internet of Things (IoT) secure against the attack of quantum computers. Founded in 2017, PQSecure™ has won an NSF SBIR Phase I grant which has led to two patents and a successful prototype. They are currently awaiting results of their Phase II application as well as a DoE SBIR Phase I application. Their core technology has advanced to the second round of NIST post-quantum standardization and they are currently working on expanding their product line as well as talking with potential customers and partners for more prototypes as they await their 2021 product launch.

‍Privsee, Ft. Lauderdale (www.privsee.com ) is like CreditKarma for privacy. The company makes it super-simple to request your personal information and privacy data from every company you’ve ever done business with in less than 10 minutes, for free! The GDPR (EU's privacy law) and the California Privacy Act, give consumers the right to request, edit and delete their data from companies that have their data. It also gives the consumer the right to "be forgotten" ie: stop collecting my data and selling it. The problem is that it's not easy for a consumer to exercise this right. First, a consumer would have to go to each website for each company they do business with. Second, the typical consumer has no idea the names of all the data and media companies that likely have their data. Privsee solves this by providing the consumer one location that takes care of all of this.

‍SaferWatch, LLC (SaferWatch App), Boca Raton (www.saferwatchapp.com) is revolutionizing the way people report crime, suspicious activity, threats and other non-emergencies incidents in real-time. The SaferWatch app provides the ability for citizens to send in photos, videos, audio files and text messages directly to local law enforcement and public safety organizations. SaferWatch also provides its users with real-time safety notifications that are relevant to their area. SaferWatch Alerts are sent from official sources such as local law enforcement, cities or emergency management organizations.

‍STAT3 Therapeutics, Coral Springs (www.stat3therapeutics.com ) is preclinical, biopharmaceutical company developing drugs that target the STAT3 pathway. STAT3, a signal transducer and activator of transcription protein, is found hyperactivated in 70% of all cancers, associated with immune suppression, and poor prognosis/outcomes.

West Central Florida

Alpha UMi, Inc., Tarpon Springs (www.alphaumiinc.com ) is a dynamic, innovative and agile from that has grown from a recognition that there is a significant need to enhance interpersonal and leadership skills in the workplace. Through research, development and validation, Alpha UMi offers products and services that have proven benefits resulting in commercial acceptance and traction.

‍Phonism, Tampa (https://phonism.com ) is a software company that provides a SaaS solution to Telecom & IT organizations to initially provision and manage their VoIP devices simply and securely through a central online portal. When a phone company deploys 100 new phones to a customer, those phones have to be set up and programmed with settings that pertain to each user. Phonism, automates this process for telephone companies saving them both time and money.

‍RxLive, St. Petersburg (www.rxlive.com) is a nationwide telehealth platform of clinical pharmacists delivering concierge medication counseling to provider’s patients, employer groups, and consumers. They work with progressive healthcare organizations, employers and payers to integrate pharmacists into the collaborative care team process resulting in improved outcomes and reduced costs. Their service requires no up-front capital expenditures and delivers a value-added program at a zero net cost. A hallmark of their process is a focus on motivational interviewing, relationship building and solving the social determinants of non-compliance.

North Florida

Polar Controller, Inc., Jacksonville (www.polarcontroller.com ) it offers the first predictive analytics product line positioned to revolutionize the multibillion dollar cooling industry. The products put traditional reactive and repair processes in the past and bring 21st century proactive and predictive diagnostics to businesses and residences across the nation and around the world.

‍Reviticell, Jacksonville (www.reviticell.com) has developed and patented a versatile system that will solve a fundamental problem in the regenerative medicine industry. The highly-scalable Reviticell System will put the capability of a laboratory into the hands of physicians and make it possible to efficiently prepare regenerative treatments with consistent and effective outcomes.

‍SUPERFI, Jacksonville (https://getsuperfi.com/ ) is a SaaS business model that takes their products and services for restaurants, bars, and coffee and provides the service(s) as a monthly subscription.

Statewide Collegiate Startup Competition:

In addition to the above listed selected presenting companies, attendees will hear from major universities throughout the state of Florida as they bring their selected competitors to participate in the seed stage component of this Conference.

‍About the Florida Venture Forum: The Florida Venture Forum is Florida’s largest statewide support organization for investors and entrepreneurs, helping emerging Florida companies connect with sources of capital from across the country. The organization provides numerous programs statewide throughout the year including the Florida Venture Capital Conference, the Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition and the Early Stage Capital Conference. Please visit http://www.flventure.org  for more information.

‍About Space Florida: Space Florida was created to strengthen Florida’s position as the global leader in aerospace research, investment, exploration and commerce. As Florida’s aerospace and spaceport development authority, we are committed to attracting and expanding the next generation of space industry businesses. With its highly trained workforce, proven infrastructure and unparalleled record of achievement, Florida is the ideal location for aerospace businesses to thrive – and Space Florida is the perfect partner to help them succeed. www.spaceflorida.gov.

‍Media Contact:

‍Kevin Burgoyne, President Florida Venture Forum
‍kevin@flventure.org

‍Pat Schneider, Vice President
‍pat@flventure.org
‍813-335-8116

Sara Shell, Public Relations Manager
‍Space Florida
‍sshell@spaceflorida.gov