Cray Selected for the Spartan Incubator at the University of Tampa's Lowth Entrepreneurship Center

We're proud to share some news from our own backyard: Cray has been selected to join the Spring 2026 cohort of the Spartan Incubator at the John P. Lowth Entrepreneurship Center, part of the Sykes College of Business at the University of Tampa.

Why This Matters

The Lowth Entrepreneurship Center is one of the most respected entrepreneurship hubs in the country. Its programs have been ranked among the nation's best by The Princeton Review, and in 2017 the center was honored as the GCEC Nasdaq Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence — recognizing it as the top university entrepreneurship center in the world.

The Spartan Incubator is the center's semester-based program for early-stage founders. As part of the cohort, Cray will work alongside faculty, entrepreneurs-in-residence, and mentors from the Tampa Bay business community through expert-led workshops, weekly cohort sessions, and tailored one-on-one guidance.

Selection isn't automatic — ventures are vetted before joining the cohort. For Cray, that means the team building the future of digital student safety is doing it inside a university ecosystem, with university oversight, mentorship, and accountability.

A Homecoming for Our Founder

This one is personal, too. Cray founder Justin Smith earned his MBA in Entrepreneurship at the University of Tampa — so building Cray inside the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center is a full-circle moment. The same campus that shaped how he thinks about building companies is now helping shape the company he built to protect students.

What This Means for Schools and Partners

If you're a university administrator, student affairs professional, or campus safety leader evaluating Cray, this partnership should tell you something important: we're not building for students from the outside. We're embedded in higher education — mentored by it, vetted by it, and accountable to it.

Being part of a university incubator means our roadmap is shaped in constant conversation with the people who understand campus life best. It means when we say Cray is built for students, there's a top-ranked university entrepreneurship center standing behind how it's being built.

We're grateful to the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center team for the opportunity, and we're excited to make the most of the semester ahead.

Want to talk about bringing Cray to your campus? Visit cray.app/partnerships or reach out at hello@cray.app.

Vibes Lie. Patterns Don't.
— The Cray Team