Tampa Bay Wave ranked No. 3 startup accelerator in U.S. by Time

TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Wave, a nonprofit that helps technology startups grow and scale, has been ranked No. 3 in the country and No. 1 in Florida by Time magazine.

The recognition highlights the Tampa Bay-based accelerator’s work with entrepreneurs and young companies since 2008. According to Time magazine, factors considered for the list included alumni recommendations, track record and expert recognition.

“A ranking like this is nice validation that what we are doing actually does work,” said Linda Olson, CEO of Tampa Bay Wave.

Olson said she started Tampa Bay Wave with a goal of bringing resources often associated with major tech hubs to the Tampa Bay area.

“Honestly, what I want is for kids growing up here to see that kind of success in their backyard so that they know they have that option when they're growing up, too,” Olson said.

Tampa Bay Wave works with founders through accelerator programs and other support. The organization says it has helped more than 670 companies and 45 founder cohorts with support from local and national partners.

The organization says those companies have raised $1.8 billion in revenue.

“While those numbers are impressive, it really speaks to the high-caliber companies that we work with,” Olson said.

One of those founders is Ed Buckley, founder of Scholar Education. The company is developing an AI teaching tool with two assistants: Baxter Bot for students and Professor Bruce for teachers.

“You can see our two awesome animal AI assistants. We've got Baxter Bot, which is the kid's assistant. Think of it like a real-time tutor to help the students during class, and then Professor Bruce is the assistant for teachers both before, during and after class,” Buckley said.

Buckley said the tool is currently being used by 20,000 students in the Tampa Bay area.

Scholar Education is not Buckley’s first startup. Before that, he founded Peerfit, a health and fitness company that he said turned to Tampa Bay Wave for help when it was still in its early stages.

“It was a young startup. It was just me and the co-founders and really hadn't figured much out. I think maybe we did $1,000 in revenue when we started,” Buckley said.

By 2020, Buckley sold Peerfit to Peloton. He credited Tampa Bay Wave with helping the company survive and grow.

“If we hadn't gone in there, the company would have been dead, no questions asked,” Buckley said. “Like, we had already tried everything that we could do on our own. So having the support system and the guidance was the game changer.”

Olson said the No. 3 national ranking is a reason to celebrate, but Tampa Bay Wave’s work with local tech founders will continue.