U News 2 | Cyber Florida launches the phaseZERO: Innovation Incubator
Applications open next Monday for the annual "Heartland Challenge Start-up Competition."
From the University of South Florida:
Cyber Florida at the University of South Florida (USF) has announced the launch of the phaseZERO: Innovation Incubator, an innovative seed fund initiative designed to support Florida-based researchers and emerging entrepreneurs in transforming cutting-edge cybersecurity ideas into thriving businesses.
With a focus on commercializing cybersecurity innovations, strengthening critical infrastructure, and creating new opportunities, phaseZERO aims to establish Florida as a national leader in cybersecurity entrepreneurship.
Modeled after the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I programs, phaseZERO addresses critical gaps in seed funding and provides expert mentorship, complementing existing statewide efforts like the Florida High-Tech Corridor, I-Corps, and local incubators and accelerators.
“This program is about removing barriers for innovators,” said Dr. Manish Agrawal, Academic Director at Cyber Florida and USF Professor. “By providing funding and mentorship without taking equity, we’re enabling Florida’s entrepreneurs to focus on what matters most: building solutions that strengthen our cybersecurity resilience.”
The Florida Center for Cybersecurity, commonly referred to as Cyber Florida at USF, was established by the Florida Legislature in 2014.
For this round of funding, phaseZERO will award up to $60,000 each to up to four emerging Florida companies (not to exceed $240,000 total) selected through a rigorous, three-stage evaluation process.
Click here to learn more details.
From the University of Arkansas:
Applications open next Monday for the annual “Heartland Challenge Start-up Competition” hosted by the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business. It is an opportunity for top graduate student start-ups to showcase their businesses, receive expert feedback, and unlock new opportunities for growth.
Two days after the applications open, the school will hold an information session at 11 a.m. CST on December 18 to learn more about the program. To register for the event, click here.
Applications will be open until January 17. After a virtual first round, 12 semifinalist teams will be invited to compete from April 3-5, 2025 in Bentonville, AR.
From the University of Utah:
The University of Utah’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute was launched in 2001 through the vision and support of Utah business school alum Pierre Lassonde. Now, more than two decades later, the university’s vast entrepreneur institute is a sprawling campus hub of student collaboration and innovation.
Thousands of students — including business majors along with students from any other college degree program — are taking their first steps here into the often turbulent world of entrepreneurship. “Entrepreneur” is a verb, say institute leaders. So start doing. The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute is also home-sweet-home for hundreds of University of Utah students — literally.
As described in this article from the Desert News, The university has traditionally been a commuter school, although on-campus living has increased in recent years. Some 400 students are now living in the center of campus in the Lassonde Studios’ four floors of residential space.
The cost of living at the Lassonde Studios varies with each bedroom type and housing option, but it’s estimated that a student living in a single room will pay a little more than $11,000 for a nine-month period. Life in Lassonde Studios is designed to foster an open, diverse student community where ideas and innovations first germinate and are then tossed about with fellow student entrepreneurs and mentors.
Much of the institute’s “entrepreneuring” takes place in Lassonde’s Neeleman Hangar, a 20,000-square-foot “innovation space” on the Studio’s main floor. It’s a 24-7, mixed-use activity hive where students of all academic backgrounds can network, attend events, bounce ideas off each other, build prototypes in the wood shops or 3D printing design labs, and then learn, experiment, and learn some more.
From Auburn University:
AL.com reports that Auburn University is expanding its presence in Cummings Research Park with a new building that will house equipment to test and harden military electronics against radiation damage.
City Councilors approved the sale of 13 city-owned acres in the park for $932,360 on before Thanksgiving. The item was a late agenda addition and was due to the university needing approval to close the financial side of the transaction by the end of the month.
From the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
The Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT REAP) has announced the launch of the 11th cohort of its global program, which includes teams of senior leaders from the City of Miami, the State of Michigan, and five other countries.
During the two-year program, MIT REAP participants take a series of action learning mechanisms to translate, convene, and educate teams of regional leaders through a five-stakeholder approach. The five groups are entrepreneurs, universities, governments, corporations, and what is characterized as “risk capital.”
The MIT REAP teams address their existing system by developing a strategy to deploy new interventions to improve it.
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