Leadership transition at Embarc Collective ushers in a new phase of growth

TAMPA, Fla. – Aug. 29, 2024 – Embarc Collective announced Dr. Tim R. Holcomb as its new CEO, succeeding Lakshmi Shenoy. Holcomb, an entrepreneur and educator with over 35 years of experience, will take the helm on January 1, 2025, to further expand Embarc Collective's impact as a leading startup incubator in the Southeast U.S.

Holcomb comes from Miami University, where he served as Professor, Chair of the Department of Entrepreneurship, and Director of the Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship. He has advised companies like ReliaQuest and previously led the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at Florida State University. Holcomb is also a co-founder of Telcom Global Solutions, which was acquired by Flex in 2001.

Under Shenoy’s leadership, Embarc Collective grew into one of the fastest-growing startup hubs in Florida, supporting over 230 startups, creating nearly 1,000 jobs, and raising over $200 million. Shenoy will remain involved as a board member and coach.

“Tim’s experience supporting entrepreneurs makes him uniquely qualified to lead Embarc into its next phase,” said Brian Murphy, Chair of Embarc’s Board of Directors. “We’re excited to build on the foundation Lakshmi laid, expanding our reach and impact.”

Holcomb expressed his commitment to supporting Florida’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and building on Embarc’s success to create a national model for startup ecosystems.

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Zengines Announces Major New Software Release after Closing $9M Round of Financing

Zengines, a leading provider of AI-driven data management solutions, has successfully closed its oversubscribed Series Seed Preferred financing round, led by Hyde Park Venture Partners. The raised capital will be used to accelerate the company's product development and expand market presence.

This announcement follows the recent launch of Zengines' end-to-end Data Migration platform in Fall 2024, along with the introduction of its Data Lineage solution. The platform consists of three core components: the Zengines Analyzer, which identifies data requirements through intelligent discovery; the Zengines Mapper, which leverages AI to generate field matches and apply data transformations; and the Zengines Loader, which moves and validates transformed data into target systems. These integrated components utilize Active Metadata to optimize and learn from each migration process.

The new Data Lineage solution enhances visibility into the data lifecycle, tracing its origins and the transformations it undergoes. This solution supports key initiatives such as Mainframe Modernization, Data Governance, Data Design, and Data Quality.

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Zengines co-founders Caitlyn Truong and Carl Drisko emphasized the platform's ability to reduce migration-related time, cost, and risk, while Hyde Park's Greg Barnes highlighted the company's progress in leveraging AI to address complex data management challenges. Zengines' AI platform is widely used across various industries by enterprises, software vendors, and consultants, enabling more efficient and risk-mitigated data conversions and system migrations.

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1809 Capital 2024 LP Meeting

Last week 1809 Capital hosted its annual Limited Partner Meeting at Miami’s Lee and Rosemary Fisher Innovation College@Elm center.  Thank you to those that were able to attend!

Mark Richey opened by stating this LP Meeting marked an important milestone.  The fund has succeeded in building a unique alumni-supported venture platform that leverages a Miami alumni network for access to exceptional deal flow for financial return. 1809 Capital has executed on its vision for fund I, which includes more than 80 alumni LPs, access to deal flow from a network of more than 30 venture capital funds across the country, and now includes 11 portfolio companies. In addition, the fund leaders have collaborated with Miami faculty and administration to support the Miami mission. We highlighted the success in executing the strategy introduced three years ago and concluded by previewing the roadmap to significantly scale the platform in 2025 and beyond. We prefaced fund-specific updates with insightful remarks from Jenny Darroch, Dean of Miami University Farmer School of Business and Entrepreneurship Program updates from Tim R. Holcomb Ph.D., Chair of Miami Department of Entrepreneurship and the  John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship. We then covered a dynamic agenda, featuring:

• 1809 Capital business updates (Partners Kimberly Walker and Kevin Mendelsohn):   Kevin highlighted current venture asset class performance metrics and benchmarked  1809 Capital’s investing activity, its portfolio status, as well as the fund’s current performance relative to its peers and top-tier funds.  Kim and Mark provided a summary portfolio update and discussed the compelling value drivers for the most recent portfolio additions

• Portfolio updates from our most recent portfolio companies:  CEO presentations from Rusty Ralston (Loft Orbital), Michael Markesbery (Oros/Solarcore), Ameesh Divatia (Baffle), and Walter Rogers (MontyCloud). 

• 1809 Capital Student Intern Program update (current and former interns Katherine McIntosh, Stella Fiscus, and Jack Marks): Mark highlighted 1809 Capital’s commitment to support Miami’s educational mission by discussing the impact of its internship program through the Department of Entrepreneurship and RedHawk Ventures, emphasizing that 40% of the management fee is invested in the Intern Program providing talent, operational capacity and yearly Miami impact (experiential learning).

• Venture Capital Trends Panel Discussion: 1809 Capital Partner, John Gardner, moderated an expert panel engaging Greg Barnes (Hyde Park Ventures), Emily L. Easley (Cintrifuse), and Steve Berg (Lytical Ventures) on current trends in the venture capital landscape, including perspectives on investing trends, valuation, and areas of opportunities across technology innovation. 

• Closing remarks: President Gregory Crawford shared Miami University’s long-term strategic vision, THRIVE, sharing the vision for how the university will continue to transform it’s educational mission to align with the changing landscape of secondary education.

The day wrapped up with a post-meeting reception, co-hosted with the Miami University Foundation Board of Directors. It was a day filled with learning, meaningful connections, and inspiring discussions, all reinforcing our commitment to alumni engagement, impact, and entrepreneurship at Miami University!

It was a day filled with learning, meaningful connections, and inspiring discussions, all reinforcing our commitment alumni engagement, impact and entrepreneurship at Miami University!

Here’s to another year of growth and impact!

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