Valley Startup, YotaCast, Hopes To Be The Online Meeting Place for “YouTubers” and Major Brands

Jordan Armstrong, CEO / Founder of YotaCast has left a past in Los Angeles, and has now settled down in Scottsdale for the long term. While in LA, Jordan consulted for a major brand, BeautyChoice.com, and started his own business, Red5. Both initiatives involved YouTube marketing, and they taught Jordan how to fully utilize the … Read more

Conscious Capitalism Startup Academy for AZ high school students

This summer, start changing the world. That is the charge Arizona State  University’s College of Technology & Innovation puts forth to local high school student entrepreneurs. The Conscious Capitalism Startup Academy is an immersive entrepreneurship experience for high school juniors over the course of four-days from June 21-24. Students will propose business ideas, work in teams, and learn … Read more

Rizing Tide announces first group of Crest Scholarship recipients

Rizing Tide, a foundation started by WebPT co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer Heidi Jannenga, has announced its first cohort of scholarship recipients who will be awarded designed to help students from underrepresented communities become physical therapists.  The foundation selected three BIPOC graduate students to receive scholarships of up to $14,000 to help fund their continuing … Read more

ASU joins Sierra Space, Blue Origin, Boeing and others to build commercial space station

Arizona State University is joining the charge to commercialize space. The school is now one of the organizations working toward building a commercial space station.  The private station is called Orbital Reef and will be a “mixed-use business park” for national governments, private industry and space tourists to lease and use. The effort is led … Read more

All public Arizona state universities part of $50 million NSF investment in new STEM alliances

alliances

Arizona State University, University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University, the three public state universities, are each a part of the five new National Science Foundation (NSF) INCLUDES Alliances. INCLUDES, or Inclusion Across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science, is the NSF’s initiative to “enhance preparation, increase participation … Read more

July roundup: Arizona tech stayed hot in the heat of the summer

July

July proved to be another big month for Arizona tech, with local companies raising millions, out-of-towners relocating to the Valley, and plenty of events and cohorts popping up to support startups. This month, we put a spotlight on diversity and talked to leaders from around Phoenix to give founders tips on how to diversify your … Read more

EdTech startup Promineo Tech raises $900,000 in seed funding

Promineo Tech, a startup that partners with community colleges to provide affordable, low-risk coding bootcamps, has raised $900,000 in seed funding. The Peoria-based company will use the money to expand its Education as a Service (EaaS) program offerings and reach more students. Promineo Tech was founded in 2018 by Nick Suwyn as a technology school … Read more

Thinkzilla Founder Velma Trayham is new to Phoenix and wants to help companies diversify workplaces, not portfolios

Thinkzilla

“What the hell am I going to do there?” That’s what Thinkzilla CEO Velma Trayham said to herself when she started thinking about moving to Phoenix. Trayham had heard from a friend that the Phoenix startup ecosystem was really starting to emphasize the importance of diversity in business. And, well, diversity and inclusion is Trayham’s … Read more

Arizona Commerce Authority now accepting applications for Arizona Innovation Challenge

Arizona Innovation Challenge

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) announced today that they are accepting applications for the 10th annual Arizona Innovation Challenge, the largest business plan competition in the country, starting Monday, July 26.  The Arizona Innovation Challenge (AIC) advances innovation and technology commercialization opportunities in the state by helping early-stage ventures to scale. The ACA has picked … Read more

Arizona’s Parchment acquires Ireland-based Digitary as part of a global expansion strategy

Parchment, a Scottsdale-based digital credential service, has announced its acquisition of Digitary, also a digital credential service, which is used in hundreds of higher education institutions around the world.  Parchment and Digitary are both edtech companies designed to allow students, academic institutions and employers to request, verify and share credentials, like academic transcripts, safely and … Read more