by Ann Comer-Woods, USF Research & Innovation
Psilera cofounders Jackie von Salm and Chris Witowski
Four companies and a nonprofit organization led or founded by University of South Florida alumni, two Cyber Florida programs, a former USF CONNECT Student Innovation Incubator company, an AI hub developed at USF, and a Tampa General Hospital partnership will be among the 23 recipients of Tampa Bay Inno Awards at a ceremony hosted by the Tampa Bay Business Journal on November 18.
Tampa-based biotechnology company will be recognized in the Deal of the Year category for its 2025 licensing agreement
that transferred its DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine) patent portfolio to atai Life Scences,
a biopharmaceutical company based in Berlin, Germany. Last year, the USF Research Foundation invested $200,000 in Psilera, which was cofounded in 2019 by USF alumni Chris Witowski
and Jackie von Salm as part of USF CONNECT鈥檚 Tampa Bay Technology Incubator.
The St. Petersburg-based shared service organization and an AI-based partnership between and technology company Palantir will represent two of the three winners in the Partnership
of the Year category. USF Health and Tampa General form one of the nation鈥檚 leading
academic health systems. The Hypathia Collaborative CEO is Linsey Grove, a USF College
of Public Health graduate and instructor.
USF College of Education Professor Zafer Unal received an award for TeacherServer AI at last year's Tampa Bay Inno Awards ceremony.
, an all-in-one digital tool for managing school safety, and , a free AI platform for teachers, will be recognized in the EdTech category. Pikmykid,
cofounded by Chief Operating Officer and USF alumna Chitra Kanagaraj, began as a project
in the USF CONNECT Student Innovation Incubator. TeacherServer AI, which won Tech Project of the Year at least year鈥檚 ceremony, was
created by Zafer Unal, a USF College of Education professor and 2022 USF I-Corps program
participant.
Cyber Florida鈥檚 and will be recognized in the Supporter category. phaseZero assists new entrepreneurs
in building cybersecurity-centered businesses while SOCAP provides paid internships
for students in the cybersecurity field.
and , tech companies led respectively by USF Muma College of Business graduates Peter Bellini and Lars Letonoff, will be recognized for accomplishments in the cybersecurity category.