A PLACE FOR NEW BEGINNINGS
Samyr Qureshi is a proud Gator (University of Florida) graduate and the Co-Founder & CEO at Knack, an education technology startup that helps institutions power and scale peer-to-peer tutoring programs.
I moved to the United States when I was six years old, and Tampa was the first place I landed. Tampa is the first place I called “home” on this continent.
To me, Tampa was always more than just a city on a map. It was a place for new beginnings, new chapters, new opportunities –– a place to dream and do. So, when it came time for Knack to graduate from the University of Florida, just as our team had, it was only natural that we would come home. The Tampa Bay area had a profound impact on my life, and it was my turn to return the favor.
Since moving Knack’s headquarters to Tampa in 2016, we’ve witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of funds being established to support innovation and the people behind it, not to mention support organizations, like Embarc Collective, the Tampa Bay Wave, FIBA, and Blockspaces, that play a pivotal role in connecting customers, talent, and investors in support of overall growth.
With an award-winning airport (TPA love!), incredible quality of life, low startup costs, and a burgeoning venture capital and early stage financing scene, Tampa is in a prime position to attract top-tier talent and dramatically reshape the Southeastern startup scene as a whole.
It’s been four years since we brought Knack home, and flash forward, millions in capital raised, a new office, and seventeen employees, Tampa Bay continues to foster our innovation while simultaneously fueling our success. The invaluable access to local talent, whether it be from Florida universities or large anchor tech companies that are attracting bright minds to the ecosystem, has allowed our team to successfully double in size this year alone.
The story of Knack is still very much in progress, and while we can’t know what the future will hold for us, one thing is certain – Tampa Bay will be at the heart of all.
