Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

According to a report we first saw in Orlando Inno, the University of Central Florida’s Business Incubation Program has brought on another client for its soft landing program, and that company is based in Oak Ridge. It is IB3 Global Solutions, a veteran-owned small business in the national security sector.

We caught up on Friday afternoon ahead of the long Memorial Day weekend with Sean Gleason, President and Chief Executive Officer of IB3 Global, who told us that it was part of a shift in strategy that occurred during the pandemic.

“IB3 Global Solutions pivoted towards technology-enabled services during COVID, and our expansion into the Orlando market is the latest portion of that evolution,” he said. “The investment in that location places us within one of our nation’s core nexus sites for extended reality and artificial intelligence, two solutions we are focused on delivering to our clients. Additionally, the access to a qualified workforce, in our most competitive development fields, is more easily satisfied thanks to the partnership, and proximity to, University of Central Florida.”

Founded in 2012 by Jake Livesay, who is now the firm’s Chief Technology Officer, the company was spotlighted in this June 2020 teknovation.biz article. The soft landing program specifically was created to attract tech businesses to Central Florida, and it has been up and running for 25 years. So far, 79 out-of-state and international businesses established their Central Florida footprint as clients of the UCF incubator.

Carol Ann Logue, the incubator’s Director of Programs and Operations, told Orlando Inno that she foresees the soft landing client base continuing to grow because of the increasing expansion (and eventual relocation) of companies domestically and internationally to Central Florida.

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