Linda Olson

Board Advisor

As President and founder of Tampa Bay WaVE, Linda has grown this non-profit to over 100 early-stage technology ventures in under 5 years. In 2012, she led a regional effort that was awarded a $1million federal grant from the US Department of Commerce to launch the FirstWaVE Accelerator program and an open innovation space in downtown Tampa, called the FirstWaVE Venture Center. This 16,000 sq/ft center provides dedicated office and coworking space for tech entrepreneurs, as well as event space for the local tech startup community. In the first 12 months of FirstWaVE, 62 local companies have been supported by program, several of whom have raised over $4 million in outside capital and have created and retained 144 jobs for the region.Will send his profile later