The Rise of the Rest Class of 2019
Meet the five winning founders from Rise of the Rest 8.0
Earlier this month, Steve Case and the Revolution team hit the road for the eighth Rise of the Rest Road Trip, bringing the bus to Orlando, Florida’s Space Coast, Tampa Bay, Miami, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. At the end of each tour day, we hosted a pitch competition where a local startup received a $100,000 investment from Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund.
For the pitch competitions in Orlando, Tampa Bay, Miami, and Puerto Rico, innovative startups based within a 100-mile radius of a tour stop were invited to apply. Our pitch competition in the Space Coast featured startups from the Space Coast region and other rising cities from across the country whose core focus relates to space, drone, aviation technologies, or adjacent focus areas.
We asked the winners in each city to tell us about their companies, provide advice to fellow entrepreneurs, and share a little more about themselves.
What does your company do?
AireHealth is revolutionizing care management and drug delivery for respiratory illness via a connected-portable nebulizer.
Why did you launch (or land) your startup in Orlando?
I had the good fortune of providing leadership in an acquired business located in Orlando, FL while being an executive at a MedTech Fortune 500. My family and I relocated several times to various parts of the U.S. and yet I always had the desire in my heart to start my own health technology company that would improve people’s lives. I chose to come back to Orlando because I found it most rewarding in terms of personality fit, diversity, and growth opportunities. It’s such a fertile environment to source talent because of the active university presence. It’s also a fantastic place to raise a family, meaning you have an advantage when recruiting.
What advice would you offer entrepreneurs in Orlando?
My advice would be to pick and develop a focus in which you have competency and passion. Also, utilize our ecosystem and engage support systems available such as our growing network of business accelerators, and the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program, a support system from which AireHealth has benefited. Most importantly, be encouraged that there is a wonderful pool of mentors out there for you. Diversity is welcomed and encouraged here in Orlando. We foster an open and inclusive environment and we want to hear about new business ideas and ways in which we can grow as a community.
What can your city teach Silicon Valley?
When a business concept can thrive in an area that is not capital rich, it’s likely that this is a resilient idea, driven by resilient people.
What’s the most underrated virtue in an employee?
I value people who can express vulnerability in a way that helps everyone grow and evolve professionally. It’s important to approach everything with a degree of empathy and emotional intelligence.
What does your company do?
Atomos is building the railroad of space using high-powered electric propulsion space tugs to move satellites to any orbit beyond low Earth orbit.
Why did you launch your startup in your city?
We launched in Denver as it is an aerospace hub with a lively startup community, which also has the perfect mix of cost-of-living and lifestyle that make it desirable for aerospace talent.
What can your city teach Silicon Valley?
Venture funding and government funding routes for growth are not mutually exclusive. Colorado has a strong commercial space industry with companies having a track record of leveraging US government customers and funding, using these opportunities to increase returns for private investors.
Do you have plans for Atomos’s presence in the Space Coast?
Yes, absolutely. Florida is the gateway to space for us!
Why is the Space Coast a great place to scale a space tech startup?
We fully intend to capitalize on existing infrastructure, and Florida’s Space Coast has unique launch and integration infrastructure. It’s a good place to start and scale — cost of living is low, the talent pool is there, and the state is eager to support new initiatives with everything from training to funding.
Who is a living person you admire?
Gwynne Shotwell — COO of SpaceX.
What’s the most underrated virtue in an employee?
Humility — being able to ask for help and receive feedback with an open mind.
What does your company do?
Immertec’s VR software helps medical companies train physicians faster and easier than ever before.
Why did you launch (or land) your startup in your city?
Florida is a healthcare state and Tampa has a thriving community of startup support organizations. We made the decision to return to Tampa to build our company after debuting our tech at Facebook HQ in Menlo Park in 2017. Although this was not an easy decision, looking back, it was one of our best. We believe in this city and its potential. Our commitment to Tampa has led us to amazing team members, mentors, customers, and investors. We are proud to be part of this inclusive and nurturing community.
What advice would you offer entrepreneurs in your city?
If you want to build your company in Tampa, commit to that decision fully. Integrate yourself in the flourishing startup support community here by joining the Tampa Bay Wave, Embarc Collective, and participating in the Synapse event held each year. These organizations are committed to your success and have compiled incredible resources and mentors that will catapult your efforts when used well. Additionally, be prepared when engaging these amazing mentors. Take the time to research questions before meeting with mentors who are kind enough to share their vast experience. Don’t waste their time with questions you can Google.
What can your city teach Silicon Valley?
Tampa is a city of talented individuals focused on building out this startup ecosystem. This ambitious challenge creates a camaraderie that is not seen in other more mature markets, which leads to a culture of more inclusivity and commitment.
Who is a living person you admire?
Ray Dalio, author of the book “Principles,” is someone I admire greatly. The quality of one’s life, in my opinion, is directly related to their ability to connect with other humans. Effectively communicating in an authentic way creates cultures that perform and thrive. Mr. Dalio’s book teaches how to build organizations with complete transparency and meritocratic cultures. I greatly appreciate this and see him as a visionary in building sustainable and efficient cultures.
What’s the most underrated virtue in an employee?
Curiosity is the most underrated virtue in an employee. A focused and committed team is key to building an amazing product, and when coupled with the curiosity factor, teams push the needle. Exploring new ideas and methodologies to challenge the existing paradigm is exciting to me as a founder.
What does your company do?
Xendoo is a cloud-based, flat-rate, monthly subscription providing bookkeeping and accounting to small and medium-sized businesses with less than 20 employees.
Why did you launch your startup in your city?
Miami is my hometown and with a talent-pipeline of over 250K from local universities and a burgeoning tech community, it was the perfect place in paradise to launch.
What advice would you offer entrepreneurs in Miami?
Have a great vision, prove product-market fit, be resilient, and blocking and tackling gets you to the endzone.
What can Miami teach Silicon Valley?
With Miami being a gateway to LATAM, it is proving that a multi-cultural ecosystem leads to diverse innovation.
Who is a living person you admire?
It’s hard to choose one individual but I’m clear on traits that I admire. These traits include: a strategic mind, humility, and those that use the good fortune of wealth as a vehicle to pay it forward.
What’s the most underrated virtue in an employee?
I believe a hunger for learning is the most valuable virtue in a team member.
What does your company do?
Abartys Health streamlines communication between insurers, doctors, and patients.
Why did you launch your startup in Puerto Rico?
Honestly, it was kismet; I happened to be introduced to my now business partner through a friend (a lot of close networking on an island). However, Puerto Rico is the perfect place for a healthcare startup to plant its roots. We are in very close proximity to multi-national companies and global pharmaceutical companies; we have been able to form local partnerships that have grown into much larger projects. We are also geographically located between the US and Latin America making it much easier to reach both markets.
Puerto Rico also offers unparalleled tax incentives that truly allow young companies to focus on growth and hiring rather than tax burdens.
What advice would you offer entrepreneurs in San Juan?
We always encourage fellow local entrepreneurs to network and attend the local programs available to us. San Juan has quickly developed a structured (and growing) startup ecosystem that is able to aid entrepreneurs at all stages.
What can your city teach Silicon Valley?
San Juan offers a supportive ecosystem through its intrinsic sense of commitment to the island. I always have the feeling that all stakeholders in the community are rooting for each other; a win for one, is a win for the whole island! The Caribbean lifestyle also promotes work-life balance, and for us, has led to healthy inter-company relationships, a happy workplace, and high employee retention.
Who is a living person you admire?
Sara Blakely, Whitney Wolfe Herd, and Jennifer Doudna because of their continued commitment to social causes.
What’s the most underrated virtue in an employee?
Willingness to own up to mistakes. It shows accountability and a true feeling of responsibility to the company.
