FIBA Announces the first four companies of its 2018 program…
SUCCESSES OF ITS INAUGURAL 2017 COHORT GUIDE THE WAY TO A PROMISING SECOND YEAR (Tampa, FL, February 8, 2018) Following a successful inaugural year, the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator (FIBA) is excited to announce the four companies that were selected for the first round of the 2018 program. With companies in the digital health, ecologically conscious construction, cyber security, and medical device industries, FIBA is becoming a leader of ushering innovative Israeli companies into the U.S. market.
BetterCare develops a real-time communication and care management platform for caregivers, nurses & professional staff in order to improve care at skilled nursing facilities. The platform is simple, user-friendly, customizable, and comprehensive and enables standardized reporting and a continuum of care. “We are excited to bring BetterCare to Tampa and expose them to the Florida market, where skilled nursing facilities are abundant and the BetterCare product can significantly improve patient care. We were introduced to BetterCare through our partnership with,CDI Negev, an established Israeli accelerator program in partnership with Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheva with a focus on digital health, healthy aging, smart cities and education technology and we look forward to working together to make BetterCare successful.” said Rachel Marks Feinman, Executive Director of FIBA.
ECOncrete provides science-based construction solutions that are designed to decrease the ecological footprint of concrete structures like ports, breakwaters, and piers, while improving their structural performance. They have developed a revolutionary approach to eco-engineering of coastal and marine infrastructure, providing robust, cost-effective concrete solutions for the ever-growing global climate change threats such as sea-level rise and superstorms.. Shirmrit Perkol-Finkel, the CEO of ECOncrete says “ECOncrete is excited to work with FIBA on business development, networking, and market penetration in Florida.” Nucleon is the next generation of identifying and analyzing cyber threats. With cyber threats growing every day and cyber attacks becoming more common and more powerful, Nucleon hopes their innovative technology, with tools built to work autonomously on the Internet, 24×7, will be the solution to Internet security. “With so much activity in the cyber security space these days, we continue to pursue companies that bring unique solutions to the cyber threat that applies to all industries. We selected Nucleon because they have shown some early traction and are exploring Florida as their base for their US operation,” notes Rachel Marks Feinman, Executive Director of FIBA.
UC-Care develops, manufactures, and sells two products aimed to improve detection and treatment of prostate cancer. UC-Care created the Navigo System, a fusion MRI navigation system for prostate biopsies, and the SmartBx System, a prostate biopsy preserving download device. With prostate cancer being the most common cancer in men in the US after skin cancer, the unique, patented and FDA-approved systems by UC-Care improve visibility and accuracy and reduce risk. Shaike Schatzberger, the CEO of UC-Care commented ““We hope for close cooperation with the FIBA team and the Tampa community and we are very happy to start the program.”
All four of these Israeli companies are innovators in their industries. With goals of improving patient care, protecting coastlines while preserving marine life, and securing companies systems and data, FIBA believes these companies will lead the way with their groundbreaking technologies. Each of the companies will have key management representatives in Tampa for four weeks starting on February 12, 2018. The entrepreneurs will study the US market, identify business opportunities, receive coaching on sales and marketing, and immerse themselves in the Tampa community and business environment. They will return in June for two weeks to prepare for and present at FIBA’s second annual Innovation Fusion event held at the Bryan Glazer Family JCC on June 13, 2018. Additionally, FIBA will select four more Israeli companies by the end of March to participate in the second round of the 2018 program.
FIBA celebrated the recent success of two of the eight companies that participated in last year’s program. In December, StemRad, an Israeli company that makes a personal radiation shield to protect troops, first responders, and nuclear power plant workers from deadly high-energy gamma radiation landed a $6 million investment led by Tampa’s investor Jeff Vinik. In January, WeissBeerger, a beverage consumption analytics company, was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, the world’s largest beer brewer, for a reported $80 million. WeissBeerger developed a unique mixture of hardware, software, and data analysis for the beverage industry. With the acquisition from Anheuser-Busch, WeissBeerger is set to become AB InBev’s research and development center in Israel. Other companies from FIBA’s 2017 cohort continue to gain traction in the Tampa Bay market, and FIBA anticipates additional successes for these companies.