Ambition Accelerated Florida connects 46 early-stage technology companies spanning eight states and five countries with the customers, capital and business leadership to scale in Florida

The Florida Council of 100 and its Foundation today brought Florida’s business leadership together around a shared ambition: build the next generation of great American companies in Florida. The statewide orientation and kickoff of the 2026 accelerator program within Ambition Accelerated Florida launches eight weeks of direct connections between founders of 46 early-stage tech companies from across Florida, seven other states and five countries, and the CEOs, customers, investors and strategic partners who can help them scale.

Founders in this year's cohort are building companies to solve some of the nation’s hardest challenges, developing technology that reaches from space to the ocean floor. Their work includes keeping drones powered in the field, protecting critical underwater infrastructure, detecting strokes earlier, and bringing people without bank accounts into the financial system. Others are taking on challenges familiar to Floridians, helping in the filing of insurance claims following a hurricane and preventing shorelines from eroding.

“Florida’s next chapter will be defined by the companies we help build here,” said Mike Simas, President and CEO of The Florida Council of 100. “Through Beyond Sunshine, we identified where Florida can lead. Ambition Accelerated puts that strategy to work, mobilizing our business community to help founders win customers, attract investment and build companies that strengthen Florida’s economy for the long term.”

Florida has become one of the most dynamic states in the country to build a company, leading the nation in new business formations in 2025, according to US Census Bureau Data.  This year's cohort is building in the industries where Florida has the greatest opportunity to lead, and each Ambition Accelerated track is based in a region where its founders are able to find the customers and expertise needed to scale.

HealthTech founders will work from Tampa Bay in Central West Florida, where health services, biotech and medtech support more than 240,000 jobs in the region. FinTech founders will work from West Palm Beach, which is part of a Southeast Florida finance and insurance sector that generates more than $30 billion in GDP. The Dual-Use & Defense Technology track is hosted in Miami, Southeast Florida, where military and defense support more than 73,000 jobs. Resilience founders work from Babcock Ranch, where the team behind America's first solar-powered town built an entire community from the ground up and knows what it takes to get new technology into homes and infrastructure.

Across the four tracks, this year’s cohort is tackling a range of important problems. In HealthTech, founders are developing wearable technology to detect strokes earlier, and helping cancer patients find clinical trials in English and Spanish. In FinTech, one start-up is building proof of life for digital finance through an ultrasound fingerprint scan that confirms a real person is present before money moves. In Dual-Use & Defense, companies are advancing airborne pathogen detection for settings from schools to the battlefield, and building underwater systems that secure critical ocean infrastructure. In Resilience, founders are helping homeowners with the insurance claims process, and building technology to cool, protect, and extend the life of buildings and infrastructure.

The accelerator began as the Gold Coast Tech Accelerator in 2025 and has grown from two tracks to four. Over eight weeks, founders will have access to more than 75 of Florida’s leading CEOs, giving them a direct line to experienced operators and grounding their work in real demand from Florida employers. Founders will also receive executive coaching from Statewide Platform Partner Embarc Collective, connect directly with business leaders and potential customers, and present their companies at a statewide showcase with Council members.

The accelerator kickoff comes as major investments — such as Ken Griffin’s gift to Carnegie Mellon University for a new Miami campus and Stephen M. Ross’s gift to Vanderbilt University for a graduate campus in West Palm Beach — expand Florida’s capacity for research and innovation and help train the next generation of technical talent. Ambition Accelerated complements that work by helping scale the companies that could one day hire that talent and bring new technology to market. The Council is working to translate that momentum into lasting economic competitiveness by helping companies grow, create higher-wage jobs and strengthen the industries shaping Florida’s future.

Four Industry Focused Accelerators Across Florida

Ambition Accelerated: Gold Coast Tech

Powered by The Florida Council of 100, Related Ross, eMerge Americas, and Embarc Collective, and presented by Truist, Gold Coast Tech includes a FinTech track in West Palm Beach and a Dual-Use & Defense Technology track in Miami.

Ambition Accelerated: Tampa Bay

Powered by The Florida Council of 100, Embarc Collective, and eMerge Americas, and presented by GuideWell and Tampa General Hospital, the Tampa Bay accelerator is anchored at Embarc Collective within the Tampa Medical & Research District and focuses on healthcare delivery, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health.

Ambition Accelerated: Southwest Florida

Powered by The Florida Council of 100, Embarc Collective, and eMerge Americas, and presented by Babcock Ranch, the Southwest Florida accelerator is anchored at Babcock Ranch, America’s first solar-powered town, and focuses on technologies that strengthen resilient communities through innovations in infrastructure, energy, water, construction, and disaster preparedness.

“Babcock Ranch demonstrates what is possible when resilience and innovation are built into a community from the start,” said Syd Kitson, Chairman and CEO of Kitson & Partners and founder of Babcock Ranch. “We want to help these founders bring forward solutions that strengthen communities across Florida and can scale well beyond our state.”

View 2026 all cohorts HERE.

Platform Partners

Founding Platform Partners Related Ross and eMerge Americas helped launch Ambition Accelerated alongside FC100 through the Gold Coast Tech Accelerator and continue to support its statewide expansion, while Embarc Collective has joined as a Statewide Platform Partner to provide coaching and programming support across all accelerator programs.

“Florida’s business leaders have the relationships and experience to help promising companies take their next major step,” said Eric Silagy, Chair of The Florida Council of 100 Foundation and Vice Chairman of Related Ross. “This expansion puts that leadership to work across the state, investing in the companies and economic opportunities that will shape Florida’s future.”

“Through Ambition Accelerated, we are connecting founders with the technology and investment community that eMerge Americas brings together,” said Melissa Medina, Co-Founder and CEO of eMerge Americas. “These connections can become the customers, partnerships and investments that help Florida’s next generation of companies compete globally.”

“Our work is to help founders turn access into progress,” said Tim Holcomb, President and CEO of Embarc Collective. “Through coaching, programming and connectivity with a community of experienced founders, we are helping these companies build investor-ready businesses faster and lasting connections in Florida.”

To learn more, visit AmbitionAccelerated.com.

About Ambition Accelerated Florida:

Ambition Accelerated Florida is The Florida Council of 100 and its Foundation’s statewide economic-development and company-building platform, designed to help attract and scale companies in Florida. Created as the execution platform for Beyond Sunshine, the Council’s strategy for strengthening Florida’s economy by organizing its regions around the industries and capabilities in which they are best positioned to lead, the platform brings together CEOs, established companies, founders, investors, universities, economic-development organizations and regional partners to attract businesses and talent to Florida, and connect companies of all stages with the relationships, capital, customers, talent and market opportunities they need to grow. For more information, visit AmbitionAccelerated.com

About The Florida Council of 100: 

The Florida Council of 100 is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that brings together the CEOs of Florida’s leading companies to strengthen the state’s long-term competitiveness, expand economic opportunity for future generations, and advance solutions that better the lives of all Floridians.

The Council identifies Florida’s greatest economic opportunities and challenges, convenes business, government, academic, and community leaders around practical Solutions, and builds initiatives that create lasting economic impact. Through research, collaboration, and business-led action, the Council works to help Florida build stronger industries, create higher-wage jobs, develop talent, improve quality of life, and remain one of the best places in America to build a business.

Founded in 1961 at the request of Governor Farris Bryant, the Council brings together CEOs who believe business success carries a responsibility to help shape Florida’s future. Today, The Council represents more than 200 companies, employing more than 1.3M Floridians.

About The Florida Council of 100 Foundation
The Florida Council of 100 Foundation is the Council’s nonprofit affiliate, focused on research, education and strategic initiatives that support long-term economic growth and prosperity across Florida. The Foundation plays a key role in identifying opportunities, funding forward-thinking programs and driving collaborative partnerships to strengthen Florida’s talent pipeline and innovation economy. For more information, visit fc100.org.

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