Founder Friday + O4SC Q & A

We're kicking off our newest event where you can meet startup founders and get advice, best practices, and lessons learned to become a founder yourself! We'll also take a deeper dive into our Opportunities for Sea Change and have an open forum to answer any of your questions about applying!

This group of founders are all came out of the University Innovation Fellows community -  a program that empowers students and faculty to become leaders of change in higher education. Fellows are leading a global movement to ensure that all students gain the attitudes, skills and knowledge required to navigate a complex world.

Just like this community empowered their entrepreneurial journeys, we seek to do the same kind of empowerment for ocean entrepreneurs (AKA Sea Change Makers) in our community! 

We're excited to make founding a startup accessible, and hope panels like this make this opportunity to co-found a startup with us something that we can help empower you to achieve!

About our panel:

Mahmoud Khedr

Co-Founder & CEO, FloraMind

Mahmoud is the Co-founder & CEO of FloraMind, an education company with the mission of empowering young people with the skills to flourish mentally and academically. Coming from Egypt with a passion for social change and most importantly serving marginalized communities, he felt the need to address the teen mental health crisis. Fueled by his own personal experience with mental health he built FloriaMind to not only help teenagers academically but most importantly with their personal health and wellbeing.   Mahmoud is a Colin Powell Fellow, Clinton Global Initiative Fellow, Forbes Under 30 Scholar, and Stanford University Innovation Fellow. He has previously worked at Facebook, Google, the NYC Mayor’s Office of Tech & Innovation and Echoing Green. He earned his B.S. in Social Entrepreneurship at the City College of New York.

Sam Warach

Founder & CEO, NextStep HealthTech

Sam Warach is the Founder and CEO of NextStep HealthTech, a mission-driven company that designs, develops, and implements digital health solutions to improve public health, at both individual and community levels. Sam loves to head to the coast for a surf when he can find the time and has a passion for environmental health.

Vincent Arena

Co-Founder, Tazzetto

Founder, Catalist

Vincent Arena is a systems designer and social entrepreneur with a passion for sustainable problem solving. After receiving a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Design, Innovation, and Society from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Vincent has spent the last two years building organizations and businesses centered around the UN Sustainable Development Goals and regenerative economy. Vincent currently serves as a co-founder of environmentally and culturally sustainable coffee company, Tazzetto, Director of Climate Action at the United Nations Association of Long Island, and founder of early stage startup Catalist.

Daniel Kleinman

Founder & CEO, Seaworthy Collective

Daniel Kleinman is Seaworthy Collective's Founder and CEO, and a marine roboticist. Daniel received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida, focusing on ocean technology while following a passion for exploring and understanding the oceans. As an undergraduate, Daniel interned with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and became a University Innovation Fellow. After graduating in 2015, Daniel spent two years as a Pilot and Test Engineer for Bluefin Robotics' unmanned underwater vehicles in Boston. Daniel spent the following three years in San Diego as a Navy Contractor contributing to mechanical engineering research and development for maritime systems. Daniel recently started his Master's in Exploration Science at The University of Miami RSMAS and was recognized as a Miami Global Shaper. Daniel launched Seaworthy Collective in the fall of 2020, channeling his passion, network, and industry knowledge to empower a community of current and aspiring ocean innovators and entrepreneurs.

About Seaworthy's Opportunities for Sea Change:

Seaworthy kicked off 2021 by opening its Opportunities for Sea Change for current and aspiring entrepreneurs looking to co-create regenerative ocean startups through our venture studio, while giving other ocean startups the opportunity to enter our pitch competition and be considered for our incubator and accelerator programs later in the year. The venture studio facilitates the creation of startups from the ground up, building the initial team of co-founders, providing strategic direction, and attracting capital for the startup to reach product-market fit. The pitch competition offers a platform for existing ocean startups across the Opportunities for Sea Change target areas to get into the pipeline for our partner ocean impact-focused incubator and accelerator programs, alongside the co-created startups from the venture studio.

Seaworthy Collective is ready to help Miami and the greater South Florida area activate its talent and become a blue tech and blue carbon hub through its Opportunities for Sea Change - accessible, inclusive, and prerequisite-free opportunities for ocean passionate innovators to co-found their own impact venture or grow their existing startup in one of our 6 target verticals in the ocean and climate tech space. 

Learn more about our Opportunties for Sea Change