ORLANDO - The Florida Economic Gardening Institute (aka GrowFL) at the University of Central Florida is pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 class of Florida Companies to Watch. In its 2nd year of existence, Florida Companies to Watch is presented by SunTrust Banks and the University of Central Florida in association with the Edward Lowe Foundation and with special support from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Created by the Edward Lowe Foundation, Companies to Watch is an exclusive program that honors second-stage growth companies. Fifty second-stage companies from across the state of Florida were selected as “Companies to Watch” for their impressive employment rates and revenue growth. Award winners were also selected for their entrepreneurial leadership, product innovation, social/community responsibility and competitive business practices.

Startup Orange County held its first demo day event to showcase three web-based startups who participated in the four-month seed-stage program.

FTJ gets reaction from Jack Henkel, Tom O'Neal and Cody Swain of UCF about the program and Orlando's startup scene.

GAINESVILLE - Gainesville video game company Trendy Entertainment has received an $18.2 million investment from a New York venture capital firm. Insight Venture Management of New York City is the equity investor, meaning the company takes an ownership stake in Trendy. The sale was revealed in a notice of securities filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Trendy CEO Augi Lye declined to comment but said the company will be making an announcement about its development activities toward the end of the year.

ORLANDO - Apple has bought Melbourne-based AuthenTec, a company that makes secure fingerprint sensors for $356 million. AuthenTec mainly provides fingerprint sensor chips, which are common across the industry. While the work that AuthenTec does is widely known in the tech industry, there is nothing concrete about what Apple is hoping to gain from buying AuthenTec or what technology it is expecting from AuthenTec to put into its own devices.

TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Technology Forum has announced a call for nominations for its 9th Annual Industry Achievement Awards to be held November 16.

The Industry Achievement Awards honor the leading organizations and individuals in the technology industry. Finalists will be selected by a distinguished panel of judges and honored in front of hundreds at a black-tie awards gala. TBTF members are strongly urged to apply, but nominations are also open to other technology companies, regardless of TBTF membership status.

Christine Ortiz, co-organizer of Startup Weekend Orlando EDU talks about the 54-hour event designed to create and launch startups with educational applications.

Orlando Startup Weekend EDU will held August 3-5 and be one of the first to be hosted in the Southeast. Teams will have the opportunity to compete for $15,000 in cash prizes, in-kind services and incubation space.