Playground Lab, a semester-long tech incubator based in San Francisco and South Florida, today announced the launch of its inaugural cohort and first venture, Boujee Pet Care (www.boujeepetcare.com). The program pairs top university students with industry leaders to build real-world products from conception to launch.
Cohort 01 will officially kick off with an in-person meeting on August 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida, bringing together students, mentors, and company leadership to begin development on Boujee Pet Care.
This semester, the team draws talent from five universities — the University of Tennessee, the University of Kentucky, West Virginia University, the University of Florida, and Florida International University — and spans PhD, master’s, and undergraduate students across a range of disciplines.
“I founded Playground Lab to bring academia and industry together and close the gap between what students learn in the classroom and what companies actually need — giving students a real bridge into the workforce and giving companies direct access to emerging talent,” said Dr. Habibi Mamone, President and CEO of Playground Lab. Mamone brings more than 30 years of industry experience, including multiple C-suite roles, and holds a PhD in Information Science with emphasis in Artificial Intelligence.
“We’re equipping this team with the same industry-grade tools and platforms that top product teams rely on every day,” said Frank Perez, Chief Technology Officer of Playground Lab. “From modern development frameworks to AI-assisted design and engineering tools, our students aren’t just learning to build software — they’re learning to build it the way it’s built in the real world.”
Following the West Palm Beach kickoff, the team will spend the next 16 weeks developing Boujee Pet Care with AI, technical, legal, and business mentorship from Playground Lab’s network of industry leaders, working toward a full product launch.
About Playground Lab
Playground Lab is a semester-long tech incubator in San Francisco and South Florida that partners top university students with industry leaders to build real-world products from conception to launch. Each semester, a new cross-disciplinary cohort takes a business idea from ideation through product launch, with AI, technical, legal, and business mentorship provided throughout. Learn more at www.playgroundlab.org.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260804641022/en/
Media gallery
