INNOVATE® Jacksonville

ELEVATOR PITCH “Every woman deserves to feel beautiful; every woman deserves to feel safe; every woman deserves to feel happy.” is the motto at Sparkle & Sabre, a small jewelry company specializing in stylish pieces that boost wearers’ sense of security and well-being. With a majority of available self-defense products...

When shopping for back-to-school supplies, more consumers are turning to online shopping instead of going to the mall. One entrepreneur is looking to encourage young students to become first-generation college graduates with an online shop, BlendedDesigns.com. Encouraging students with backpacks that say, “I can do anything,” founder and CEO Casey...

ELEVATOR PITCH Rethreaded provides a second chance at life through employment for survivors of human trafficking. Women have employment opportunities in different facets of the company, including production, inventory, sales, marketing and finance/admin. Through its own enterprise and its distribution company that partners with like-minded businesses, Rethreaded’s mission is to...

Apple Rose Beauty is a natural skincare company that creates spa-quality organic beauty products with the tangible mission of supporting the fight to end human trafficking. Products are sold on Amazon, at boutiques, and through an e-commerce website with ingredients that are natural, certified organic, and wildcrafted, with a focus...

Video games are anything but child’s play for students at Andrew Jackson High School of Advanced Technology where computer coding, animation and simulation programming are the daily classroom lessons. ELEVATOR PITCH Andrew Jackson High School of Advanced Technology, a top-performing magnet school in Duval County, paves the way for its...

With the entrepreneur, small business owner, and business professional in mind, we provide you an opportunity to grow, to shine, and to succeed. Our fully furnished innovative spaces give you the creative and productive flow you need to achieve your goals and get work done. Founder, Mike Januzzi discovered an...

The Northeast Florida Regional STEM2 Hub was chartered in 2015 by the Jacksonville business community under the leadership of Gary Chartrand. These leaders noticed that there was a disconnect between the skills that students would need to be ready for the careers of the 21st century, and the experiences that...

That Lyfe, LLC was founded around the simple idea that having a great nightout should be easy and transparent. Our focus is on democratizing the nightlife experience through our iOS application, NOCTURNAL ,     This idea originated from an evening in a city none of us are from. The...

Haskell, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida since its inception in 1965, is a leading global architecture, engineering, construction, and consulting firm with $1+ billion in annual revenue, 1,500 employees, and 20+ office locations around the globe. The company was founded by a single visionary named Preston Haskell who saw inefficiencies in...

Music is a Passport, allowing travelers to walk into cultures, time periods, and gaining exposure to new ways of thinking. Avant ensures community members access to these windows of culture through diverse, dynamic and eclectic programming. By giving our community access, it encourages innovation by expanding minds, opening new horizons,...

Each year in November, teams come together to invest their time in themselves to better their companies. Emotional intelligence, public speaking and teamwork are all elements that go into creating a successful leader. When small businesses begin to tackle big issues, PS27 Ventures, a Jacksonville venture capital firm, works with...

Our unique recipes combine tradition and creativity with superior ingredients and finely curated flavorings. We promise true love with every bite. We are a small-batch, handcrafted, artisan toffee maker, creating uniquely flavored, all-natural toffee. Our incredibly indulgent dark chocolate almond toffee is made with ingredients such as orange, key lime,...

Hiring doesn’t have to be messy. Say Sayonara! to the stacks of resumes cluttering up your workspace, and let Breezy help you find your next A-player—sooner. With Breezy, you’ll automate time-consuming hiring tasks like advertising your jobs, emailing and texting candidates, scheduling interviews, and gathering feedback from your team. Breezy...

The Police Athletic League of Jacksonville, Inc. (JaxPAL) enriches the lives of children by creating positive relationships between law enforcement officers and the youth of our community through education, athletic, leadership, and outreach programs.   THE STORY It only takes one moment to change the trajectory of a life. Years...

Jane Shirek stands out in the photography industry not only for her widely praised talent but also for her years of experience working with all types of people and clients in many cities and countries.  As a photographer, she brings out the very best of everyone she photographs. Jane has...

Ours is a story of true innovation, perseverance, and grit, which eventually led the company to be one of the two dominant forces in workforce management. ,     Beeline is a Jacksonville-based company just exiting its teenage years. Beeline isn’t a household name; in fact, most of the Jacksonville...

SORBOTICS is a market leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) software technology startup. They have developed the industry’s 1st AI operating system IIoT software platform that solves industrial enterprises biggest pain points. SORBA is the world’s most Advanced, Enterprise, Industrial IoT platform that enables engineers, data scientists, operators, and maintenance teams to...

ELEVATOR PITCH At Civilized Coffee it is not just about sourcing and roasting great coffee—it is about creating a culture around the brand. Northeast Florida has a very strong environment and support system for Coffee and Tea. Their reason to take this small business global was to bring awareness to...

Craig Mandeville, CEO of Jacksonville, Florida-based healthcare technology provider Forcura founded his company for personal reasons, hoping to lessen the time his wife spent driving back and forth to her employer’s home healthcare agency. In her role at the time, Heather Mandeville helped patients who were leaving a hospital transition...

Kamana brings workflow efficiency and security to an antiquated industry, connecting healthcare employers with qualified professionals to fill contract staffing needs. The contract healthcare staffing industry is fundamentally flawed. Travel healthcare professionals, who change locations (and employers) every three months, consistently complain about the lack of continuity across the industry....

The UNF Step Lab, housed in the UNF College of Education and Human Services, positions UNF to continue to be a major contributor to the STEM Education ecosystem in the Northeast Florida community. It is a place where regional preK-12 students, teachers, university faculty and students, and community/business partners can...

OUR STORY Chef Tom Gray is one of North Florida’s most lauded and respected chefs, with two James Beard Award nominations as well as countless awards and accolades. He began his career in his hometown of Jacksonville at the age of 15 at a local country club, with culinary school...

The backbone of many new ventures is intellectual property – a swirl of ideas that can include inventions, branding, product designs, and a variety of intangibles that make an undertaking worth pursuing. Most ventures begin with curious minds asking questions, identifying a gap in a market, or challenging the status...

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is an independent state agency serving Jacksonville (Duval County), with limited services in Clay, Nassau, and Baker counties. In addition to providing public transportation options in Jacksonville, the JTA designs and constructs bridges, sidewalks, and highways through the JTAMobilityWorks and Safe Routes to School program....