Tag: Innovation District
‘Milk the Moment’ Fights That Phone Habit

The idea behind Milk the Moment is, at first, counterintuitive for a mobile app: it’s meant to get users off their phones.
The app, re-launched in Birmingham, is one of seven startups now participating in Innovation Depot’s Velocity Accelerator, a program that provides up-and-coming tech companies with funding, mentors, office space and other resources.
Milk the Moment founder Courtney “Coko” Eason said that her experience at Innovation Depot – and in Birmingham in general – has her considering relocating the company’s headquarters from Nashville to the Magic City. “We’re calling it Milk 2.0,” she said of the app’s relaunch. “We’ve totally redesigned it … . It’s very brand-spanking-new, and it’s all happening out of Birmingham.” Read more.
Birmingham‘s Technology, Start-up Scene Thrives, ‘Innovation District’ in Development Spotlight

As 2020 rolls in, BirminghamWatch looks back at its biggest stories of 2019, highlighting a different one each day.
Metro Birmingham’s powerhouses of tech and innovation – including the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Southern Research and Innovation Depot – are among dozens of businesses and organizations that believe the time has come to put a fresh focus on the city’s tech savvy and its Innovation District.
The amped-up effort to establish Birmingham as a Southern tech hub intersects with a plethora of mostly homegrown tech companies already setting up shop in downtown and Southside and coincides with new Opportunity Zone incentives for investors.
Innovation District plans also benefit from increasing national attention for its tech scene, said Birmingham Business Alliance’s Lauren Cooper, who noted that metro Birmingham being called a possible Southern Silicon Valley boosts momentum for the idea of the Innovation District.
“A defined home for technology and innovation around Innovation Depot will allow more companies to easily access the resources needed for growth, including collaboration, funding research and workforce,” said Cooper, who is vice president for communications at BBA.
The official roll-out of new branding plans and strategies for metro Birmingham’s Innovation District is planned for summer 2019. An updated City Center Master Plan will be revealed later in the summer, said Josh Carpenter, director of economic development for the city of Birmingham.
The Innovation District will include established high-tech employers UAB and Southern Research and the city’s business incubation nonprofit Innovation Depot, home to more than 100 startups and 1,000 employees, plus a growing number of startup companies establishing offices in downtown Birmingham. Read more.
More of BirminghamWatch’s Best in 2019
Alabama Site for Detained Immigrants Has History of Abuse Charges, Efforts to Close It
First Class in More Than Name Only: Why Alabama’s Preschool Program Is Best in the Country on National Standards
On the Up and Coming Lists

Birmingham’s growth as a tech and innovation hub has been attracting interest from a variety of national publications. Read more.