That was the theme at the 12th annual Emerging Technology Business Showcase, hosted by the Enterprise Development Corp. of South Florida (EDC) in Deerfield Beach.

“Entrepreneurial activity is up,” said Jane Teague, EDC’s executive director. “I think there’s some optimism that’s starting to seep into the psyche of the business community.”

Of course, some of that activity is because people tend to hang up their own shingle when they lose a job, she said.

Even so, EDC – which helps startups develop business plans and obtain funding – has worked with 10 percent to 15 percent more startups in the first quarter of the fiscal year beginning July 1 than at the same time last year, Teague said.

The event brought together about 100 young companies and venture capitalists. Companies such as Palm City-based Connectyx Techologies, a health care records software business in Martin County, got a chance to tell the audience why its enterprise will be the next big thing.

“It’s kind of a perfect storm for us right now,” said Connectyx President and CEO Ronn Schuman, whose company is traded on the Pink Sheets under the ticker “CTYX.”

Connectyx is planning to capitalize on the mass shift toward electronic health care records, he said. To that end, the company, in business since 2003, is trying to obtain $3 million to $5 million right now in its second round of raising capital.

Another company presenting was Encontext Media, which is making a product to allow video content providers – whether online or on television – to encode video with advertising software.

The goal, President and CEO Jean Toubol said, is to allow someone viewing a video to click on a TV star’s earrings, for instance, and be taken to an online outlet that lets them purchase those same earrings. Rather than using banners and pop-up ads, everything would, hypothetically, be for sale.

Founded in May, Encontext will be moving into the technology incubator park at Florida Atlantic University where EDC works with several other nascent companies.

Mike Levy, founder of the Fort Lauderdale-based Open Sports Network fantasy sports community, gave the keynote address. Levy, a serial entrepreneur who started SportsLine.com during the dot-com boom, dispensed some general wisdom.

First, he told young business entrepreneurs not to worry about diluting the value of shares by raising too much starting capital since money tends to run out sooner than expected.

“Raise as much as you can,” he said.

Levy noted that entrepreneurs need to remain flexible.

“Hardly anything works right the first time,” he said. “Usually, you have to go back to the drawing board.”