by Ann Comer-Woods, USF Research & Innovation

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 Psilera 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's Tampa Bay Technology Incubator.

The St. Petersburg-based shared service organization Hypathia Collaborative and an AI-based partnership between Tampa General Hospital 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's leading academic health systems. The Hypathia Collaborative CEO is Linsey Grove, a USF College of Public Health graduate and instructor.

Pikmykid, an all-in-one digital tool for managing school safety, and TeacherServer, 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's ceremony, was created by Zafer Unal, a USF College of Education professor and 2022 USF I-Corps program participant.

Cyber Florida's phaseZero Innovation Incubator and Security Operations Center Apprenticeship Program 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.

ConnectSecure and Guardare, 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.