The purpose of recently launched invisionAZ is to help the state’s technology and innovation community grow. Its three-part goal is to help early-stage and startup businesses gain access to capital; enhance the technology ecosystem with the right technical workforce through mentoring, accelerators and education; and to raise Arizona’s profile as a welcoming environment for startups.
Inception to launch was realized in just one year, as invisionAZ grew from last year’s Technology Summit — the inaugural event of a now-annual summit from the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
A near-term issue for invisionAZ now is to help drive through legislation to create a first-of-its-kind FinTech sandbox to encourage innovative financial products.
Companies would apply to come into the sandbox to test, without burdensome regulatory requirements, such as licenses, explains John Ragan, COO of the Arizona Chamber, with participation at the discretion of the attorney general. “The sandbox would allow capital to come in for early-stage and startup companies — and possibly for those further along,” he says.
Picture: Glenn Hammer, Gov. Doug Ducey, Michael Crow (l to r)
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