Even amidst the chaos and slowdowns of the pandemic, the University of Arizona saw an increase in innovation. Here’s a recent example: engineering researchers at UArizona are creating new tools for optogenetics, which shines light at specific neurons in the brain to excite or suppress activity. Optogenetics experiments help to understand how the brain works, … Read more
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
It didn’t go according to the original plan, but Lucid Motors Inc. began trading as a public company on Monday, after shareholders approved a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) last week. Lucid and Churchill Capital Corp. IV, the SPAC, are officially merged and are now known as Lucid Group Inc. (NYSE: LCID). The … Read more
“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
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
We probably sound like a broken record at this point, but Arizona is doing really well in economic recovery coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here’s another report that proves it. Arizona is number 3 in the country for job recovery, according to a report from the Arizona Commerce Authority. The state’s job recovery rate … Read more
The Arizona State University Smart City Cloud Innovation Lab was named the winner of the Civic Engagement award from the IDC 2021 Smart Cities North America Awards. The awards recognize cities across North America for implementing smart cities projects, in order to share best practices and highlight the advancement of smart city developments. The lab, … Read more
Conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion are happening everywhere — on social media, in our communities and in our businesses. These are important discussions to have, especially in Arizona, where there’s a clear lack of diversity in the tech ecosystem here. Thankfully, companies and people around the Valley are working to prioritize diversity, equity and … Read more
Dovly, a Phoenix-based fintech startup, has announced a $3 million bridge funding to help the company support massive growth plans over the next six to 12 months. To date, Dovly has seen significant momentum, with the company reporting year-over-year growth of 800%. The bridge funds will be used to help Dovly keep up with this … Read more
Everyone knows that two eyes are better than one. Images are more precise with both eyes open. Phoenix-based Yakkertech, which is named for an old term “yakker,” describing a big-breaking curveball, took this idea and applied it to cameras watching baseball and softball. Since its founding in 2014, Yakkertech has created a stereo vision imaging … Read more