Honored to be a member of the @Speros_Florida FORGE (Florida Oncology and Radiopharmaceutical Growth Engine) coalition that received the 2026 Most Significant Innovation Award during the Annual Awards Celebration at @BioFlorida's Annual Innovation Conference in Orlando last week. Lawrence Range II, CPA, MBA, CHFP, Business Development Director at Speros, and Jay Lebsack, Vice President of Clinical Research Operations at Moffitt Cancer Center, accepted the award on behalf of the team. A BIG shout out to Josh Carpenter, President at Speros and Chief Integration Officer at Moffitt, and Hannah Mae Merten, Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Strategy at Speros, and the entire team at Speros for their efforts to unite a group of leading Tampa Bay institutions -- @MoffittNews and @Speros_Florida, @EmbarcCollectiv, the @USouthFlorida, and Pasco-Hernando State College. The goal is “… to build an end-to-end radiopharmaceutical ecosystem on the massive $1.5 billion, 775-acre Speros campus in Pasco Countyr, along with imaging technologist training at PHSC and nuclear pharmacy opportunities at USF. The effort is expected to generate 4,000 jobs and $2.6 billion in statewide economic impact over the next decade” and establish the Tampa Bay region as a preeminent life sciences and healthcare hub for next-generation modalities that deliver best-in-class precision medicine. Longer-term, the coalition plans to recruit top early-stage precision medicine companies across different modalities to FORGE and help them move from drug discovery through production and clinical use to full-scale launch and growth at Speros. For more information about the coalition, check out @anjelicamrubin's article earlier this summer in the @TBBJnewsroom here: bizjournals.com/.../embarc-s…. “FORGE represents a transformational opportunity to position the Tampa Bay region at the forefront of one of the most promising advances in cancer care,” Speros President and Moffitt Chief Integration Officer Josh Carpenter said. “By bringing together these regional partners, we are building the talent, infrastructure and innovation ecosystem needed to accelerate next-generation radiopharmaceutical therapies. For more info about Embarc Collective or to explore membership, visit embarccollective.com/. #Startups #HighGrowth #VentureCapital #Founders #Technology #Innovation #EcosystemBuilders #StartupTB #StartupFL

Congratulations to @EmbarcCollectiv member-company @CopeNotes®, founded and led by Johnny Crowder, CRPS, CEO. Cope Notes was one of four tech companies to be named winners of the Catalyst 2026 Innovator Award from the @CTIA @WirelessFdn and @TMobile. Catalyst is a competitive grants program for social entrepreneurs using wireless technology to deliver solutions to the challenges impacting American communities. “CTIA Wireless Foundation’s Catalyst program highlights exceptional entrepreneurs who are demonstrating what’s possible when we leverage wireless innovation and American ingenuity,” said Ajit Pai, President of CTIA Wireless Foundation and President & CEO of CTIA. “We are excited to celebrate the Catalyst 2026 winners, a group of dynamic innovators using mobile-first solutions to improve access to workforce training and development, healthcare, and counseling in their communities.” The first-place grant of $100,000 was awarded to Austin-based FreeWorld, an app that trains and places formerly incarcerated individuals into jobs in the trucking industry, helping to ease unemployment and driver shortages. San Francisco-based Oben Health, an app that trains barbers and hairstylists as certified Community Health Workers to screen clients for hypertension and connect them with ongoing care, was awarded the second-place grant of $50,000, and Empower Work, an SMS and RCS platform that provides peer counseling to vulnerable and low-income workers struggling in the workplace, and Tampa-based Cope Notes® were awarded third-place grants of $25,000 each. For more information about the CTIA Wireless Foundation Catalyst 2026 Award Winners, visit wirelessfoundation.org/news/…. Cope Notes® uses daily text messages that combine peer support, positive psychology, and digital journaling to send positive thoughts and affirmations, enabling subscribers to combat depression and anxiety and help improve mental and emotional health. As a suicide/abuse survivor, Johnny Crowder spent his formative years searching for resources to help him cope with his mental health conditions, ranging from OCD and bipolar disorder to schizophrenia. After studying psychology at the @UCF and volunteering with NAMI, Johnny wanted to combine the neuroscience principles he learned about in school with the power of peer support that changed his life in treatment. In 2017, he began sending unsolicited psychology facts, journaling prompts, and exercises to friends via text message. The response was so positive that he opened it up to the public, and the rest is history. For more information about Cope Notes, visit copenotes.com/. For more info about Embarc Collective or to explore membership, visit embarccollective.com/. #Startups #HighGrowth #VentureCapital #Founders #Technology #Innovation #EcosystemBuilders #StartupTB #StartupFL