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Every founder in the Launchpad program is matched with a mentor. The seed grant gives them money to start, and the mentor gives them someone who has already made the early mistakes and can help them avoid a few. Launchpad is a CodeBoxx Foundation program for early-stage entrepreneurs in St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay. Most of the founders are working on their first business. They usually have a real skill and a workable idea. What they often lack is someone to ask: how to price

Most new businesses get their first funding from family and friends. That money pays for the LLC filing, the website, the equipment, and the first few months of getting customers. Plenty of capable people in St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay have the skills and the idea but no one in their circle who can write that check. Launchpad is a program of CodeBoxx Foundation built for those founders. It pairs a seed grant with a mentor who has been through the early stages of building som

Launchpad, a new St. Petersburg initiative focused on entrepreneurship and economic opportunity, is addressing one of the most difficult challenges facing aspiring entrepreneurs: turning a promising idea into a viable business. Leaders from across the city's business, entrepreneurial, investment, education, nonprofit and civic communities are working together to strengthen entrepreneurship, prepare the workforce for an AI-enabled economy and shape St. Petersburg's next chapte

CodeBoxx Foundation, through its partnership with CodeBoxx Academy, has sponsored the program fees for a youth entrepreneurship training at the Enoch Davis Center, bringing no-cost business education to young people in South St. Petersburg. The program gives youth the space to develop, present, and collaborate on real business ideas — with the support of mentors and community volunteers behind them. This Saturday, April 11, those ideas go public. The Kidpreneur Marketplace, p

In May 2025, Riley A. enrolled in CodeBoxx’s AI-Native Full Stack Development program as an 18-year-old with no professional experience and little confidence that they belonged in tech. By January 2026, Riley had joined six classmates as a full-time developer at VideoAmp , a private technology firm valued at more than $1 billion.The placement was not the result of a traditional recruiting pipeline. It was the outcome of a growing shift in how companies evaluate talent in the

The Tampa Bay Lightning Community Hero Award is given to those who dedicate their lives to making a difference—and few embody that spirit...