New Healthcare and Resilience Tracks Expand Coordinated Effort to Build Florida’s Economy Intentionally

The Florida Council of 100 and its Foundation today announced the expansion of its Ambition Accelerated platform, launching new sector-focused accelerator tracks in healthcare and resilience as part of a broader, statewide strategy to build Florida’s future economy with intention.

The platform represents a shift in how Florida competes for companies.

Florida already has the scale to compete. As one of the largest economies in the United States, with a diverse set of industries and one of the fastest-growing populations in the country, the state has the underlying foundation for sustained economic leadership. The opportunity now is to organize that scale into a coordinated system that can compete for and support the next generation of companies.

Ambition Accelerated builds on the success of the Council’s Gold Coast Tech Accelerator, launched in partnership with eMerge Americas and Related Ross, which brought high-growth, enterprise-ready companies to Florida and demonstrated the state’s ability to support companies as they scale. The initial program included tracks in fintech and dual-use & defense tech, establishing a model for connecting founders with customers, capital, and industry leaders.

Ambition Accelerated now expands that model into a coordinated, statewide platform. It aligns regions, sectors, and partners around a unified system designed to attract, build, and scale companies in Florida’s priority industries.

The new tracks include:

Ambition Accelerated: Tampa Bay (Fall 2026)
Anchored at Embarc Collective, this track will focus on companies building solutions across healthcare delivery, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health.

Ambition Accelerated: Southwest Florida (Fall 2026)
Anchored at Babcock Ranch, this track will focus on technologies supporting infrastructure resilience, water systems, energy, and climate adaptation, positioning resilience as a scalable economic sector for the state.

All four accelerator tracks will run concurrently this fall, reflecting a coordinated effort to scale the model across sectors and regions.

“Florida has the underlying strengths to compete at a much higher level, but realizing that potential requires coordination,” said George LeMieux, Chairman of The Florida Council of 100 and Chairman of the Board at Gunster. “What’s different about this effort is that it brings together business leadership, industry, and regional assets in a way that is aligned and intentional. That’s how you create the conditions for long-term economic competitiveness.”

The effort is driven by the Council’s membership, representing the CEOs of Florida’s leading employers. This provides a direct line to the companies and industries shaping the state’s economy, ensuring the platform is grounded in real demand and aligned with how companies actually build and scale.

“What we’re seeing across the Gold Coast and throughout Florida is not incremental growth, it’s a fundamental shift in how and where companies are choosing to build,” said Eric Silagy, Chair of The Florida Council of 100 Foundation and Vice Chairman of Related Ross. “When you combine capital, infrastructure, and leadership at scale, you create the conditions for companies to grow with speed and certainty. That’s what makes this moment different, and why this platform matters.”

Florida is not relying on growth alone. It is building its future intentionally, organizing its assets to compete for companies and create a market that founders and operators want to be part of.

“Gold Coast Tech showed what’s possible when you connect founders directly into Florida’s economy. This next phase is about scaling that model statewide,” said Mike Simas, President and CEO of The Florida Council of 100.

“For a long time, Florida benefited from growth. What we’re doing now is building that growth intentionally, aligning capital, talent, and industry to create the kind of environment where companies don’t just come, they choose to build and stay. That’s how long-term competitiveness is established, and how the next generation of American companies takes shape.”

The announcement follows eMerge Americas, where leaders from across the global technology and investment community gathered in Miami to discuss the future of sectors including healthcare, national security, finance and emerging technologies.

“eMerge was built to bring together the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of the global economy,” said Melissa Medina, Co-Founder and CEO of eMerge Americas. “The expansion of Ambition Accelerated reflects the kind of coordinated effort that is positioning Florida as a place where companies can build and scale with real momentum.”

The platform is supported by a growing network of partners across the state, with Embarc Collective and eMerge Americas providing programmatic support across accelerator tracks.

“High-growth companies need more than capital. They need access to customers, talent, and the right network to scale,” said Tim Holcomb, CEO of Embarc Collective. “This effort brings those elements together in a way that is both structured and connected to real market demand.”

Ambition Accelerated builds on the Council’s broader economic strategy outlined in Beyond Sunshine, which identified the need for Florida to align its economic strengths and compete more intentionally for high-growth companies.

The expansion reinforces Florida’s position as a place where companies can operate and scale with speed and clarity, conditions that are increasingly shaping where capital is deployed and where companies choose to build.

This effort reflects something broader. As companies reassess where they can build and scale, the environments that offer speed, clarity, and coordination are increasingly shaping the next phase of economic growth. Florida is not only becoming one of those environments. It is helping define how that growth is built.

In that sense, this is about more than competitiveness. It is about where the next generation of American exceptionalism takes shape, through the companies that are built, scaled, and sustained here.

A full list of partners will be announced later this summer, alongside a global call for applications targeting companies building solutions aligned with real industry demand and enterprise needs.

Additional program details and application timelines will be released in the coming months.

Learn more: www.AmbitionAccelerated.com

About The Florida Council of 100 and The Florida Council of 100 Foundation
The Florida Council of 100 is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of business leaders dedicated to improving Florida’s quality of life and economic well-being. Founded in 1961 at the request of Governor Farris Bryant, the Council serves as a trusted advisor to Florida’s elected officials and policymakers. Its membership represents over 200 companies employing more than 1.3 million Floridians, collectively shaping the state’s future through business-driven policy solutions and direct economic impact initiatives. 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 about The Florida Council of 100, visit www.fc100.org.

About eMerge Americas
eMerge Americas is a strategic convener and catalyst for innovation, bringing together global enterprises, startups, investors, and government leaders to accelerate advancements across AI, Finance, Health, and National Security. Through year-round programming and its annual tech conference + expo in Miami, eMerge drives transformative ideas to market and strengthens industries through connection, capital, and collaboration. Since 2014, the global tech conference + expo has attracted 20,000+ attendees annually from over 50 countries and catalyzed billions in venture investment.

About Related Ross
Led by visionary developer Stephen Ross, Related Ross is a fully integrated real estate company shaping South Florida’s next generation of growth. With more than $10B planned in investment across Palm Beach County, the firm is a market leader in attracting global companies and talent to South Florida.

As a catalyst for regional growth, Related Ross is advancing developments through public-private partnerships that strengthen business ecosystems, expand attainable housing offerings, support world-class healthcare, enhance higher education and K-12 opportunities, and cultivate innovation hubs to accelerate South Florida’s dynamic business and cultural growth. The firm also curates entertainment programming and thought-leadership initiatives that position the region as a national center for ideas and experiences. Its portfolio spans mixed-use, Class AA+ lifestyle office, luxury residential, affordable housing, city centers, hotels and hospitality, and public realm, designed to anchor long-term economic vitality in the communities they build. Through the Related Ross Foundation, the company is focused on equitable growth that expands access to education, employment, and cultural vitality. For more information, visit www.relatedross.com.

About Embarc Collective
Embarc Collective, a 501c3 non-profit, is a central landing zone for the most driven and focused startup builders in Florida, ranked as a top startup support program in the world by UBI Global. Embarc Collective offers vetted, curated live and on-demand coaching and programming, an ever-growing repository of resources and frameworks, and access to a network of corporate customers and investors, all amongst a peer community of 300 founders and cofounders of 135+ early-stage tech startups and growth companies operating within an award-winning 32,000-square-foot startup hub in downtown Tampa, Florida. Since its launch in 2019, Embarc Collective member-companies have achieved a 96% survival rate, created 1,200+ high-paying tech and tech-enabled jobs, and raised more than $600M in angel, venture and growth equity, including more than half from investors outside the state of Florida. Annually, Embarc Collective’s Florida-based early-stage tech companies drive $100 million in direct economic returns to the state of Florida and attract more than $100 million annually in seed, venture, and growth equity investment capital, capital that is invested directly into Florida-based companies.

Media Contact: Amber Statler, amber@mcnicholas.biz, (954) 649-9840