International Startups Join the University of Arizona Center for Innovation
(Tucson, Arizona) The University of Arizona (UA) Center for Innovation was selected to host four international startups through the U. S. Department of State’s Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Initiative. The GIST Initiative empowers young innovators through networking, building skills, mentoring and providing access to financing to develop startup solutions that address economic and development challenges.
The U.S. Department of State reached out to the UA Center for Innovation, Arizona’s longest running incubator, to support these startups. For this pilot program they specifically looked for host sites that are traditional incubators with capacity to support science and/or technology-based startups, are connected to a university, and are part of a strong and vibrant community of entrepreneurs and innovators within the incubator and the overall ecosystem.
The UA Center for Innovation was a perfect fit with the program especially because of its a long-established reputation of supporting startups that make an impact in the world. The UA Center for Innovation was selected because of its tie with the University of Arizona and its established international programs that supports companies, such as Global Advantage, a program that provides soft landings programs for emerging companies entering the U.S. market. The UA Center for Innovation also serves as a strategic location for these companies because Tucson, Arizona is the ideal entry point into the U.S. market with relatively low costs and highly accessible major west and east coast market connections as well as market access into Mexico.
The GIST Business Incubation program selected 28 participants from international emerging economies to participate in a pilot program. This new initiative called GIST Incubation, selects a few of the top startups from various countries, who've gained some traction and are looking to enter the US market, and places them in a US based incubator or accelerator.
Four of the selected international entrepreneurs were placed with the UA Center for Innovation to receive customized business development with a specific focus on cultural integration and US customer discovery and market entry. The four international startups are working with the UA Center for Innovation for four weeks (October 14 – November 8) at the UA Tech Park offices.
Bringing in established international companies and helping them launch into the U.S. market is an important component of UA Center for Innovation’s mission goal to support economic development activities in the region. All four international companies that the UA Center for Innovation is serving have an established track record of success in their home countries. Helping these companies increases the potential for bringing in jobs and capital to the region.
GIST Startup Companies include:
1. Contract One, Anton Vashkevich, Founder, has developed a platform for multi-team contract work that structures contractual communication for more informed decision-making, better document control, and less errors. (Belarus)
2. FindBug, Tanzer Abazi, Founder, has built a platform that provided digital penetration testing that increases security up to 300% for digital infrastructures. (Kosovo).
3. LOOQME, Oksana Kononova, Founder, provides media monitoring and analytics solution for communication agencies, corporate communications, PR and communication managers in SMB research agencies. (Ukraine).
4. StringersHub, Yakau Buta, Founder, launched a marketplace platform through which both professional stringers (video journalists) and eye witnesses of incidents upload content for purchase by top media outlets. (Belarus).
These four international companies join a robust startup network working in the UA Center for Innovation joining fourteen other local startups with roots in both University of Arizona as well as the general Tucson community.
About the UA Center for Innovation
The University of Arizona (UA) Center for Innovation supports both university and community entrepreneurs through customized business development programs with experienced mentors and access to first-class facilities, helping startups advance their ideas, inventions and next evolution of product. The UA Center for Innovation has several regional outposts including the UA Tech Park, Town of Sahuarita, the Greater Vail Area Chamber Connections Office and Oro Valley. 100+ startup companies have directly been supported and 1000+ entrepreneurs have benefited from the business development programs and facilities of the UA Center for Innovation. The UA Center for Innovation is part of Tech Parks Arizona, which brings together university, industry and community, creating “interactive ground” to advance technology commercialization.
About GIST
Since 2011, the U. S. Department of State’s Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) has engaged more than 2.8 million innovators and entrepreneurs worldwide and mentored over 5,500 startups that have generated more than $110 million in revenue. The GIST initiative is led by the Office of Science and Technology Cooperation (STC) within the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES). The GIST program goal is to develop skills, build networks, find mentors and access financing through a combination of in-country training, a global pitch competition, interactive online programming and direct connections to U.S. experts. GIST helps create conditions for successful local entrepreneurship ecosystems and enables global youth to develop local solutions to local problems
