Over one million people globally move to urban areas weekly. According to projections, the urban share of the world population is expected to grow from 3.9 billion in 2015 to 6.4 billion by 2050. This rapid growth of urbanization is putting tension on transportation, infrastructure, water, energy, as well as impacting health. As a result, a new segment has emerged in the marketplace, referred to as Urban Tech that will have a growing Bold Impact on society.
The UrbanTech Summit put Tampa Bay on the map for forward thinking business and bold action. Guests and attendees were inspired and motivated by the range of knowledge presented and the high caliber of the speakers present.
In response to these trends, on December 5 Bisnow and Dreamit, presented a CRE (Commercial Real Estate) and UrbanTech Summit focused on the future of urbanization with the help of some of the leading companies and leaders of the urban tech movement. More than 250 of Tampa Bay’s top real estate investors and business leaders attended the event at the Waterside Marriott, which was covered by Media Partner Bold Business.
Jeff Vinik, Chairman of Tampa Bay Lightning and Partner Strategic Property Partners, LLC (SPP) presented a fabulous speech about the future of Tampa Bay, importance of block chain, and the announcement of a new $25M Venture Capital Fund, which will be the largest in Florida. SPP is leading the Water Street Project (second largest of its kind in the U.S.) which is undertaking the $3 billion dollar 53 acre revitalization project in downtown Tampa. This project will nearly double the number of housing units in downtown Tampa with an estimated 23,000 people living, working and visiting the Water Street area daily.
Dan Doctoroff, Chairman and CEO of Sidewalk Labs an Alphabet company, was the Keynote Speaker. Doctoroff, along with David Gilford from Intersection spoke about Sidewalk Labs project in Toronto Canada. They are designing and reimaging the modern city plan to improve quality of life. His speech discussed the Toronto plan in depth and also the importance of the Water Street project.
In addition to Vinik and Doctoroff, there were a number of panels emphasizing aspects of the commercial real estate industry, from customer relations software to the announced launch of a new trading platform called Brokers+Engineers (which is transforming the the Triple Net Lease market), to new meters and sensors that assist management understand their tenants’ behaviors and needs, in order to improve efficiency and profits.
Bisnow is well-known for their real estate conferences, once again put on a first-class operation. Bisnow partnered hosting the conference with Dreamit, a top ten innovation incubator, that offers startups with market ready products and opportunity to prepare for growth, as well as access to capital investors and mentors.
Seven of Dreamit’s inaugural class of UrbanTech companies were at the Summit live on the main stage. Dreamit presenters were as follows: Lotik, creators of a wireless point-of-use water meter; cityzenith gathers city data from a variety of sources and incorporates it into actionable information; Flower Turbines, LLC offers small, silent wind turbines appropriate for urban implementation Ecomedes is a powerful platform that connects buyers with sustainable manufacturers of building products; Knowify brings contracting time keeping, purchasing and record keeping into the 21st century; GiFly offers electric bikes with an innovative product and ownership model; and Raxar which offers integrated management, inventory inspection and maintenance for commercial enterprises.
The UrbanTech Summit put Tampa Bay on the map for forward thinking business and bold action. Guests and attendees were inspired and motivated by the range of knowledge presented and the high caliber of the speakers present. It was a great day that points to a bright future for the entire Tampa Bay region of Florida. Further interviews and stories will be published in the weeks to come in Bold Business.
