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Florida Council of 100 and partners launch statewide tech expansion to reshape Florida’s economy

Nancy Dahlberg
Nancy Dahlberg
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Florida is no longer waiting for the next economic boom to arrive.

Today, The Florida Council of 100, a private, nonpartisan organization of influential business leaders, announced an expansion of its Ambition Accelerated platform. The move signals a strategic shift in how the Sunshine State competes for the next generation of high-growth companies. By launching new accelerator tracks focused on healthcare and resilience, the Council and its partners aim to move beyond organic growth toward a model of “intentional” economic development.

The platform builds upon the Council’s early success of the Gold Coast Tech Accelerator. That program launched in 2025 in partnership with eMerge Americas and Related Ross and integrates fintech and dual-use defense startups into Florida’s enterprise ecosystem; West Palm Beach offers the fintech track, while Miami’s track focuses on defense tech. Separately, the broader Gold Coast campaign launched this year as a regional positioning effort for West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The campaign was seeded with $10 million from Related Ross CEO Stephen Ross and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin.

The Gold Coast Tech Accelerator showed what’s possible when you connect founders directly into Florida’s economy, said Mike Simas, president and CEO of The Florida Council of 100. Now, he said, “the bigger story is that Florida is entering a new phase.”

For years, the state has been successful at attracting people and companies, lured by quality of life and business-friendly tax policies, Simas continued, in an interview with Refresh Miami. “The next step is turning that growth into lasting economic strength. That means aligning regional strengths with the full power of Florida’s statewide business leadership, talent, capital, and innovation network so companies don’t just move here. They build here, stay here, and scale here. Florida is in a position to compete for the next generation of American innovation.”

The expansion of Ambition Acceleration “reflects the kind of coordinated effort that is positioning Florida as a place where companies can build and scale,” added eMerge Americas CEO Melissa Medina, a Florida Council of 100 member.

Scaling success statewide

Starting this fall, two new specialized tracks will launch.

Ambition Accelerated: Tampa Bay, will be anchored and run by Embarc Collective. This track will focus on healthcare delivery, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health.

“Members of each startup cohort will be provided access to Embarc Collective’s globally recognized startup platform, including curated programming and a growing repository of startup resources and frameworks, on-demand coaching and mentoring, and connectivity to the customers, talent, and capital that they need to scale,” said Embarc Collective CEO Tim Holcomb, in an email interview. Assets of “arguably the most cohesive, innovation-forward, and research-anchored healthcare ecosystem in the state” include Tampa General Hospital and Moffitt Cancer Center, who together have invested nearly $2 billion to establish major life sciences and medtech research districts in Hillsborough County, USF’s Morsani College of Medicine, and large players including Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen and Pfizer, Holcomb added.

“Tampa Bay was a clear choice because the region has a deep healthcare base, strong talent, and major institutions that can help health-focused companies build and test real solutions,” said Simas. “But the goal is not for companies to scale in Tampa alone. The accelerator is anchored in Tampa Bay, while bringing together corporate leaders, healthcare systems, investors, and partners from across Florida. That is the power of Ambition Accelerated. We are locating these tracks in regions with real sector strength, but aggregating the full statewide market at the C-suite level so companies can scale in Florida.”

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Ambition Accelerated: Southwest Florida will be based at  Babcock Ranch, a huge master-planned community with future-proof infrastructure to eliminate climate risk. This track will focus on infrastructure resilience, water systems, energy, and climate adaptation.

“Babcock Ranch is one of the most advanced, award-winning resilient communities in the country, and one of the best real-world testbeds globally for resilience, infrastructure, and energy innovation,” Simas said, and climate resiliency is a statewide issue. “The goal is to anchor the work at Babcock Ranch while bringing together corporate leaders, investors, and partners from across Florida so companies can deploy, test, and scale solutions statewide.”

All four tracks, including the existing fintech and defense programs held in South Florida, will run concurrently this fall, representing a massive, coordinated push to scale the model across the state.

What sets Ambition Accelerated apart is its direct connection to Florida’s top employers. The Council represents more than 200 companies employing over 1.3 million Floridians. This provides startup founders with a direct line to the customers and capital they need to scale.

What’s next?

Expect more to come from Ambition Accelerated. Orlando? Jacksonville? Space Coast? “Over time, we’ll continue expanding into regions where Florida already has an advantage and connect those strengths into a broader statewide market,” said Simas.

In a main stage conversation at eMerge Americas on Friday with Medina and Ross, Simas further elaborated on the Florida-wide strategy, without revealing today’s expansion news: “We’re going to be intentional about building an economy that works for Florida, that embraces our strengths and adds technology and innovation on top of it, so we can scale and bring Floridians along with this growth.” Ross added: “People go to places where they can attract talent, and what people haven’t realized is how much talent is in the state of Florida.”

A global call for applications is expected this summer for the fall accelerated programs; founders and operators can find more information at AmbitionAccelerated.com.

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