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Tampa Bay Chosen for Startup America Partnership’s Florida Initiative Launch

Tampa, Fla. (Nov. 2011) – Tampa Bay has been selected to officially launch Startup America Partnership’s Florida initiative during Tampa Bay WaVE’s Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) Kickoff event on Monday, November 14 at 7 p.m. at the Tampa Museum of Art. Startup America Partnership, announced by President Barack Obama in January 2011, is a coalition of mentors, advisors, funders, major corporations and service providers to strategically help entrepreneurs start successful companies. Following opening remarks from Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, Startup America Partnership will announce the organization’s plans for supporting efforts in the Sunshine State including Tampa Bay WaVE. A record 123 countries will take part in the world’s largest celebration of innovators and job creators during the annual Global Entrepreneurship Week, which runs this year from Nov. 14 – 20. In the U.S. alone, more than 1,400 organizations will host events during the week – including top universities, non-profit organizations, startups, government agencies and corporate sponsors. Tampa Bay is hosting several events itself, and Tampa Bay WaVE’s kickoff event on Monday, November 14 will be a great way to learn about these other events while mingling with the great local entrepreneurial community. Tampa Bay WaVE is a non-profit public charity organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs turn ideas into growing tech businesses in Tampa Bay. With over 60 members Tampa Bay WaVE provides peer-level mentoring and other support for over 80 launched web and mobile tech ventures include CrowdSavings, Enthusem, SiteWit, Vworker, Dropostit, and more. One of Tampa Bay WaVE’s members, Wufoo.com, was acquired earlier in 2011 for $35 million. “Because of a strong collaborative spirit, Tampa Bay WaVE and other like-minded organizations continue to make even more resources available to our local business and technology innovators,” Tampa Bay WaVE Founder and Executive Director Linda Olson said. “It’s a great time to be an entrepreneur in Tampa Bay, and we are excited to be celebrating this with Startup America Partnership.” The free event will be held Monday, November 14 at 7 p.m. at the Tampa Museum of Art located at 120 West Gasparilla Plaza. For more information, email support@tampabaywave.com. Several other GEW week events will hosted by Tampa Bay Technology Forum, Tampa Bay Innovation Center and Gazelle Lab. About Tampa Bay WaVE Founded in 2008, Tampa Bay WaVE is a non-profit public charity dedicated to helping entrepreneurs turn ideas into growing tech businesses in Tampa Bay. With over 60 members Tampa Bay WaVE provides peer-level mentoring and other support for over 80 launched web and mobile tech ventures include CrowdSavings, Enthusem, SiteWit, Vworker, Dropostit, and more. One of Tampa Bay WaVE’s members, Wufoo.com, was acquired earlier in 2011 for $35 million. Tampa Bay WaVE is dedicated to building a bigger, better and stronger tech startup community that will produce Tampa Bay’s high-growth companies of tomorrow. Visit www.tampabaywave.org and follow us at http://twitter.com/tampabaywave and https://www.facebook.com/TampaBayWaVE. About the Startup America Partnership The Startup America Partnership was launched at the White House in response to President Obama’s call to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation. The Partnership is bringing together an alliance of major corporations, funders, service providers, mentors and advisors working to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of high-growth enterprises in the U.S. AOL co-founder Steve Case chairs the Partnership and the Kauffman and Case Foundations are founding partners. American Express OPEN, Dell Inc., Intuit Inc., and Microsoft are sponsors. The Partnership will identify, measure and report on the effectiveness of cross-sector collaboration in support of entrepreneurial ventures and its effect on job creation and growth. For more information on the Partnership and to register as a Startup America Firm today, visit www.startupamericapartnership.org and follow at www.twitter.com/startupamerica and www.facebook.com/startupamerica. About Global Entrepreneurship Week During one week each November, thousands of activities around the world inspire millions to engage in entrepreneurial action while connecting them to potential mentors, collaborators and investors. In three short years, Global Entrepreneurship Week has expanded to more than 120 countries—empowering nearly 20 million people through 95,000 activities. Powered by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the initiative is supported by dozens of world leaders and a growing network of 25,000 partner organizations. For more information on the US campaign, visit www.usa.org and follow @gewusa on Twitter. ###