BIG Connections Help Local Company Gain National Stature

There was big news yesterday from our very first BIG pitch-practice company.
 
BioLucid, the Sarasota-based leader in virtual reality and immersive healthcare technology, has been acquired by Sharecare, a digital health company that was itself founded by WebMD CEO Jeff Arnold and celebrity surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz.

The deal, announced in New York City at Advertising Week 2016, has huge implications here on the Gulf Coast for new business and educational opportunities. It also underscores one of our region’s biggest assets for entrepreneurs looking to start or grow a business: the abundance of successful, experienced executives itching to share their knowledge and connections to help the next generation of innovators and business builders.

 
A Hub for Health Innovation?
 
A flagship company of the Sarasota-Manatee region’s burgeoning health innovation sector, BioLucid has pioneered interactive technologies for “making health visual.” For example, the company’s YOU® software platform allows interactive exploration of a 3D virtual human body, helping patients better understand their own health and doctors better communicate with them about their care. BioLucid’s technologies can also be used by educational institutions, medical manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies to enhance discussions of physiology, diseases, and treatments.
 
Beyond the high profile of yesterday’s announcement, one of its most exciting elements for our region is one thing that won’t change: BioLucid—now a division of Sharecare called Sharecare Reality Lab—will continue to operate (and grow) right here in Sarasota. “We will stay in the HuB, where we’ve got a great space,” says Jeff Hazelton, BioLucid’s co-founder and chief technology officer. “We built it out custom for ourselves, and we expanded it in the past six months. We have a little more room to expand.”
 
That’s also great news for the prospects of keeping local talent here on the Gulf Coast. Ringling College of Art and Design, for example, has already provided at least two dozen graduates to BioLucid’s workforce—making it arguably the largest local employer of Ringling grads. “We also have a strong internship program going,” says Hazelton. 
 
“There’s been a lot of interest in the last year in Ringling doing a virtual reality major,” he adds. “We’re in a unique position as the leader now in virtual reality in health to help with that.” 
 
BIG Hero
 
Bright Ideas on the Gulf Coast (BIG), Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s entrepreneurial support initiative, was developed to better connect aspiring entrepreneurs and growing businesses with local resources. Businesses like BioLucid, which was doing amazing things at the intersection of digital arts and health innovation—two strategic sectors targeted by BIG—right under our region’s collective noses. 

And perhaps the most important yet underutilized resource BIG seeks to leverage is the experience and knowledge of successful executives who have retired or relocated here but want to stay engaged and help the next generation of business creators. Executives like Dean Eisner, the former Mannheim CEO and Gulf Coast power volunteer who helped us develop, launch, and lead our BIG initiative. 
 
“To put it simply, Dean Eisner is our hero,” states Hazelton. “He’s been a monumental figure in all of this.” Eisner, currently Ringling College’s board chair, brought in BioLucid for BIG’s very first “pitch practice,” a Shark Tank-meets-think-tank presentation where entrepreneurs and companies can practice their investor pitch and hone their story in front of a local group of business and investment experts before they go out to do the real thing.
 
While the pitch practice gave BioLucid’s team some good feedback, it was the mentoring, connections, and support that Eisner has continued to provide that has made the real difference, according to Hazelton. “Dean wholeheartedly wanted to have a studio like ours in Sarasota,” says Hazelton. “He sees the potential with Ringling College and so many other things going on here.” In fact, former Atlanta resident Eisner even made the introduction that led to BioLucid meeting Atlanta-based Sharecare.

“I’m sure a lot of folks would be interested in furthering innovative health [in Sarasota], and we’re squarely in that space,” Hazelton continues. “We look forward to involving the community in bigger ways.”

Involving the Community
 
Hazelton also thanks Gulf Coast Community Foundation for its longtime support of BioLucid and other local innovators. Back in 2013, Hazelton and his company (then Lucid Global) received Gulf Coast’s STEMsmart Innovation Award, culminating a year-plus campaign of recognizing local companies that support science, technology, engineering, and math education. BioLucid team members also participate in the annual STEMsmart High School Summit, and Hazelton served as one of seven expert panelists for last year’s inaugural Gulf Coast Innovation Challenge.
 
“Mark [Pritchett, Gulf Coast’s CEO,] has been an amazing supporter for us,” says Hazelton. “And Teri [Hansen] before him. We’re very grateful.”

He adds that the company has benefitted from CareerEdge Funders, a collaborative that provides workforce training dollars and other support in growing regional industry sectors like healthcare and information technology. “We just got an award from the governor for being very involved in workforce training,” says Hazelton. “I think a lot of that was a result of working with Gulf Coast and CareerEdge.
 
“I’m sure a lot of folks would be interested in furthering innovative health [in Sarasota], and we’re squarely in that space,” Hazelton continues. “We look forward to involving the community in bigger ways.”