Lake Nona is a Living Lab

Resources for businesses big and small are attracting bright minds and big ideas to Lake Nona.

February 02, 2023

From major corporations to budding entrepreneurs, Lake Nona is a place where new ideas become reality – whether you’re imagining the next-generation of sports and health technology solutions in the leAD Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Accelerator, testing new healthy home technologies at WHIT, or still workshopping at home.

In fact, our Move Nona autonomous shuttle program is a great example. The leadership team at Beep had a trailblazing idea to redefine mobility with a sustainable autonomous vehicle (AV) shuttle solution. All they needed was a place and a partner who could bring their idea to life. After conversations with the leadership team in Lake Nona, Beep was able to go from concept to operations with AV shuttles running on the streets of Lake Nona in less than a year. Move Nona is now the largest and longest-running, single-site AV fleet in the country.

Verizon 5G Innovation Hub

At the Verizon 5G Innovation Hub companies can develop and test 5G-enabled solutions across a variety of existing industries in Lake Nona including health care, wellbeing, education, retail, sports, and autonomous mobility.

Verizon is already collaborating with Beep to improve safety features in our fleet of Move Nona autonomous shuttles. At the Hub, located across from Lake Nona Town Center, companies have access to a powerful 5G network, both shared and private workspaces, 3D printers, and flexible power accessibility.

leAD Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Accelerator

The Verizon 5G Innovation Hub shares its workspace with the leAD Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Accelerator. The open floor plan was designed to be shared with as few fixed elements as possible to accommodate innovations both big and small for entrepreneurs working on the future of sports and health technology.

One of six startups in the accelerator’s first cohort, NESTRE, is working on an app to train your brain for better cognitive health, mental wellness, and human potential. NESTRE’s founder and CEO Dr. Tommy Shavers said, “the network, resources, experts, and training have been top notch and have helped us transform in a short amount of time and find clarity in who we are and what we’re doing.”

GuideWell Innovation Center

Healthcare experts and entrepreneurs are reimagining the future of digital health and exploring the next industry breakthroughs at the GuideWell Innovation Center. Located in Lake Nona’s health and life sciences cluster, GuideWell features a variety of collaborative and private workspaces, a 250-seat theatre in the round for special events, and more.

UCF Life Sciences Incubator

The GuideWell Innovation Center is also home to the UCF Lake Nona Life Sciences Incubator, a collaborative effort of its own between the University of Central Florida (UCF), the City of Orlando, Lake Nona’s developer Tavistock, the State of Florida, and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council. The incubator features a fully equipped, Biosafety Level II wet lab facility, conference rooms, and offices.

WHIT

Putting your innovations to the test in a real-life environment is what we’re all about in Lake Nona. Take our WHIT prototype healthy home (Wellness Home built on Innovation and Technology)– it’s another one of those collaborative spaces we’ve been talking about, but this one is focused on healthy home innovations that can be installed and tested in a model home like no other.

Located in the Laureate Park neighborhood, WHIT has helped entrepreneurs test smart windows, drone delivery systems, lighting solutions, innovative kitchen models, and more within a real-life home setting.

Fred Maxik, founder of Lighting Science, is responsible for the smart home’s current lighting features including UV lights in the kitchen that disinfect the countertops. He said, “WHIT offers a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with like-minded, forward thinkers. We have the ability to demonstrate technologies and novel designs that are capable of improving our lives today.”