TITUSVILLE, Fla. - Tom Rainey, director of the Florida/NASA Business Incubation Center (FNBIC), recently announced that two new companies have signed contracts to become tenants of the Incubator facility. Interactive HealthCare, LLC (IAHC) and Riptide Software, Inc., who both joined the Incubator in January, will use the facility and the overall FNBIC program to further their products and services for commercial use.
 
Interactive HealthCare, LLC (IAHC) is an innovative new eHealth content and eCommerce and service provider that is developing a suite of Web sites geared towards consumers who must adhere to specific or prescribed nutritional requirements due to acute and chronic medical conditions. The Web site currently addresses four conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, obesity and gastrointestinal diseases, but will be expanded in the future to include additional medical conditions. IAHC plans to offer three levels of service, a general Web site accessible by non-subscribers, a personalized site for subscribers and a personalized site for medical professionals.

"The Incubator's business services are a tremendous benefit to our operation, allowing us to keep our overhead costs low and concentrate on developing our business into a viable company," said Alan Rabin, president and chief executive officer of IAHC.

Riptide Software, Inc. (Riptide) specializes in the development of object-oriented software design and implementation. Riptide additionally provides businesses with assistance in collecting and analysis of requirements, software development and testing, business process modeling, system installation and configuration, as well as having several Sun Certified Java developers on staff. Riptide has provided business solutions to a wide variety of industries, such as space shuttle processing and e-commerece. Recently Riptide added a Sun Certified Java trainer to their staff and began a software development training division, which can tailor instruction to a company's specialized needs.

"The FNBIC not only offers exceptional business services, they help us access many technological resources that the average small business owner doesn't know exists in order to help us further launch our business," said Barry Rubel, president of Riptide Software, Inc. "Both of these companies are destined for success," Rainey said. "We look forward to providing them with access to our numerous resources to accelerate their growth," he added.

Established by Florida's Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA) in 1996, the Florida/NASA Business Incubation Center nurtures and helps accelerate the success of technology-based, small businesses in Brevard County. Located on the Titusville campus of Brevard Community College, the Incubator provides affordable space and shared office equipment and services, thereby reducing many of the costs associated with establishing and operating a small business. In addition, they provide access to many NASA and other technological-based resources that help each tenant grow and prosper. The incubator is managed through a joint partnership of Florida's TRDA, NASA-Kennedy Space Center and Brevard Community College.