Southeast Shoutouts | New Southeast regional pitch competition announced for Birmingham
Applications for the Tampa Bay Wave's 2025 HealthTech|X program are open.
From Birmingham, AL:
Sloss Tech is launching its first-ever Southeast regional pitch competition in tandem with this year’s expanded lineup.
The Birmingham tech and innovation conference is growing to three days this year, June 25-27. The event’s planners are aiming for more than 1,000 attendees, with early bird tickets available in a few weeks and general admission tickets going on sale in early April.
The competition, Sloss.Tech/Ideas, is made possible through financial support from the Regions Foundation. Start-ups from across the Southeast will have the chance to compete for a grand prize of $50,000 in funding.
Sixteen start-ups from the region will compete in four tech sectors: Ag and Food Tech, Health and Bio Tech, Mobility and Transportation Tech, and Emerging Tech. Prizes will also include a $10,000 People’s Choice Award, and three $5,000 prizes for category winners.
From Tampa, FL:
Applications for the Tampa Bay Wave‘s 2025 HealthTech|X program are open.
The HealthTech Accelerator is a business accelerator exclusively for pre-Series A healthtech start-ups focused on Digital Health, Healthcare Services, Health Sustainability and Wellness, Medical Devices and Equipment, Software, Femtech, Augumented Reality, Virtual Reality, PharmacyTech, and Wearables and Quantified Self.
Applications close on April 25, and the program begins on June 2. It concludes on July 10.
Considerations for applicants include:
- Start-up companies built with proprietary technology to create the next generation of health technology solutions and products;
- Management team of at least two full-time positions;
- Capability to travel to Tampa for at least two visits throughout the program;
- Demonstration of market validation;
- Investable, scalable business model;
- Viable business plan; and
- Financial runway of at least six to 12 months.
Another from Tampa, FL:
Moffitt Cancer Center, a leading National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, and its wholly owned subsidiary SPEROS FL, a 775-acre global innovation campus in Pasco County, have announced the appointment of Josh Carpenter as the President of Speros and Moffitt’s Chief Integration Officer.
Carpenter, an accomplished leader with a proven track record in economic development and research commercialization, will lead Speros as it evolves into a premier destination for life sciences and biotechnology.
As President of Speros, Carpenter will unite Speros and Moffitt’s clinical and research expertise with commercial partners to accelerate breakthroughs in cancer prevention and treatment. He will also serve as the Chief Integration Officer and Vice President for Moffitt, overseeing strategic alignment between the cancer center and Speros. Carpenter’s leadership will be instrumental in transforming the campus into the premier Southeast location for breakthroughs and treatments requiring a creative blend of space, specialized equipment, talent and expertise — all bolstered by Moffitt’s legacy of innovation.
Carpenter brings a strong background in translational research, biotech commercialization, and economic development to his role. Most recently, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Southern Research, a nonprofit research institute dedicated to drug discovery, genomic data science, and biotechnology. Under his leadership, the institute secured more than $100 million in capital to modernize lab space and advance biotech initiatives, including the creation of a clinical-genomic database to expand clinical trial access for underserved communities. During his tenure, Carpenter also spearheaded efforts that awarded $44 million in federal funding to establish Birmingham as a designated Regional Tech Hub.
Prior to Southern Research, Carpenter was a senior executive in the city of Birmingham, where he led economic and real estate development initiatives. His work included launching the Birmingham Promise, which raised $24 million to fund apprenticeships and scholarships for public school students. He has also held leadership and faculty roles at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and was a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Recognized as one of Birmingham’s most influential executives, Carpenter has published research on economic development, workforce policy and public health.
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