🚀 This week, Embarc Collective welcomed the #AmbitionAccelerated HealthTech cohort to Tampa for its first day of programming! From expert insights to meaningful connections, we're proud to support founders shaping the future of healthcare innovation. 🔗 hubs.la/Q04CMZh_0

Understanding Florida's economic outlook means looking beyond any single quarter. The Florida CEO Index provides a consistent measure of business confidence, tracking expectations for sales, capital investment and employment over time. As Florida Council of 100 President & CEO Mike Simas notes, the latest findings offer important perspective: confidence has moderated from a record high but remains above year-ago levels. These insights help inform the decisions shaping Florida's economic future. Explore the Q3 findings: fc100.org/news/florida-ceo-o…

EDA intends to award $47.3M to the Florida Oncology & Radiopharmaceutical Growth Engine to construct manufacturing facilities for cancer drugs, and support a business incubator for biotech startups. eda.gov/news/press-release/2…

FORGE announced it has been awarded $47.3 million by the U.S. Economic Development Administration to make Tampa Bay a hub for radiopharmaceutical.

Today, the @CommerceGov announced that the @U_Economic (EDA) had awarded $47.3 million to the Florida Oncology and Radiopharmaceutical Growth Engine (FORGE) coalition to make Tampa Bay a national hub for radiopharmaceutical development, through the construction of manufacturing facilities to develop cancer drugs, an incubator supporting biotech startups, and workforce training space. The regional efforts by the coalition address a national priority of developing, making and delivering these next generation therapies in the United States. Led by @Speros_Florida and @MoffittNews, FORGE unites @EmbarcCollectiv, the @USouthFlorida, and Pasco-Hernando State College around five connected projects spanning isotope production, drug manufacturing, startup growth and workforce training. With matching funds from coalition partners, the portfolio totals approximately $88.2 million. “Every radiopharmaceutical treatment starts with an isotope, and too much of that supply still depends on sources outside the United States,” said Josh Carpenter, president of Speros and chief integration officer at Moffitt Cancer Center. “This investment positions Florida to take on a challenge that matters to every cancer patient and family in this country. We are building the facilities, the companies and the workforce to make, test, and deliver these therapies right here in Tampa Bay.” For more information about the award, visit eda.gov/news/press-release/2… or embarccollective.com/resourc…. The award includes: 💠 130,000-sq-foot Integrated Theranostics Center, $16.9 million. Equipped with cyclotrons and radiochemistry systems to produce isotopes and manufacture therapies for research, clinical trials and industry partners. 💠 120,000-sq-foot Office and Wet Lab Catalyst Convergence Center, $15 million. 💠 14,000-sq-foot FORGE Incubator led by Embarc Collective, $4.3 million (to support up to 20 early-stage radiopharmaceutical and biotech companies). 💠 The University of South Florida CORE Select Program, $6 million (radiochemistry training for nuclear pharmacists). 💠 Pasco-Hernando State College IMPACT Program, $5 million, (associate degree programs in radiography and imaging). “By assembling a coalition of world-class partners across research, health care, workforce development and entrepreneurship, FORGE represents a transformational opportunity for the Tampa Bay region to build an end-to-end radiopharmaceutical ecosystem,” said Tim Holcomb, PhD, CEO, Embarc Collective. “It has the potential not only to generate thousands of new jobs over the next decade, but also to establish a preeminent life sciences and healthcare ecosystem for innovative startups driving the next generation of revolutionary breakthroughs for the prevention and cure of cancer.” For more info about Embarc Collective or to explore membership, visit embarccollective.com/. #Startups #HighGrowth #VentureCapital #Founders #Technology #Innovation #EcosystemBuilders #StartupTB #StartupFL

Big news for Tampa Bay! 🎉 Our FORGE coalition has been awarded $47.3M in federal funding to advance radiopharmaceutical innovation. Proud to partner with @MoffittNews, @USouthFlorida, @PHSCedu & @EmbarcCollectiv. 🔗 speros.org/announcements/for…

At @EmbarcCollectiv, we understand that founders of early-stage, high growth startups devote hours to attract, cultivate, and deploy their most valued resource … TALENT. Developing talent is crucial not only for Embarc Collective's community of 150+ Florida-based early-stage tech companies, but also for the growth of Florida's startup and innovation ecosystem. As Florida's largest startup hub and one of the fastest-growing hubs in the country, we understand that our region’s momentum depends on creating stronger connections between universities and the startup community, ensuring talent circulates between venture opportunities in ways that increase the optionality for talent, create density in the network, and produce real pathways for talent to build startup careers. This year, Embarc has engaged with more than 1,000 students from the @USouthFlorida , the @UofTampa, @FLPolyU, and universities and colleges across the state, providing practice-based, immersive experiential learning opportunities through internships, capstone projects, and educational opportunities for student organizations that help them understand how to apply their skills and disciplines to solve real-world problems today. That’s how USF biomedical sciences major Mel Mello first discovered Embarc. She began attending Embarc events more than a year ago, learning from entrepreneurs and industry professionals. The experience helped her envision a career combining her scientific background with business and prompted her to add a minor in entrepreneurship and innovation. “I realized that I needed to move from my comfort zone and try something new, even though that wasn't completely related to healthcare,” de Mello said. "Without Embarc, I’m not sure I’d have discovered my passion for business. I learned how to talk to people, schedule meetings, sell something and how to actually understand people." For BiaTech Corporation, a Tampa-based AI-driven platform that optimizes upstream energy and power generation operations, Dayne Guy, a computer engineering student, Justin Hominsky, an electrical engineering student, and other USF students spent last summer building a robot now deployed at an industrial pipe yard, where it uses cameras, lidar sensors and artificial intelligence to track inventory in real time. “It was a great experience,” Hominsky said. “It helped me to understand a client’s needs and what they want, how to convey that and what is feasible from a solution perspective.” For more information about how USF’s partnership with Embarc Collective is opening doors for students, visit usf.edu/news/2026/how-usfs-p…. For more info about Embarc Collective or to explore membership, visit embarccollective.com/. #Startups #HighGrowth #VentureCapital #Founders #Technology #Innovation #EcosystemBuilders #StartupTB #StartupFL

I'm excited to welcome @HWHlawfirm to @EmbarcCollectiv's Shared Services Partner Program, expanding access to legal education and experienced legal professionals to our community of more than 150 Florida-based early-stage technology startups and growth-stage companies. Embarc Collective's Shared Services Partner Program gives early-stage technology companies access to best-in-class service providers in banking and treasury management; accounting and assurance; tax and tax planning; legal; commercial insurance, E&O and D&O insurance, and employee benefits; licensed cybersecurity audits and compliance reports for SOC 1, SOC 2, and internal SOX 404 readiness; GTM strategy and marketing execution; and software development to help them build 'investor-ready' businesses faster. By connecting startups with best-in-class service partners and experienced advisors well before they would traditionally engage these services, the program helps companies strengthen core business operations, reduce complexity, and scale with confidence “Strong legal foundations give founders greater confidence to move quickly and make informed decisions as their companies grow,” said Nicholas Outman of Hill Ward Henderson. “We’re excited to work with Embarc Collective to share practical guidance, help founders recognize legal considerations earlier, and support the next generation of technology companies across Florida.” Hill Ward Henderson joins @BakerTillyUS and @CLAconnect (for accounting, tax, and audit), @CogentBank (for banking services), Cooth (for GTM and marketing execution), @aligncompliance (for SOC 1, SOC 2, and internal SOX 404 readiness), and @eagerworks (for software development and AI architecture). For more info about the addition of Hill Ward Henderson to Embarc Collective's shared services partner program, visit embarccollective.com/resourc…. For more info about Embarc Collective or to explore membership, visit embarccollective.com/. #Startups #HighGrowth #VentureCapital #Founders #Technology #Innovation #EcosystemBuilders #StartupTB #StartupFL

Ambition Accelerated founders had the opportunity to attend the Miami AI Summit today, powered by our Founding Platform Partner, @eMergeAmericas. The summit brought together founders, investors and industry leaders to explore how AI is transforming industries and creating new opportunities to build and scale. Thank you, eMerge Americas, for connecting our founders to these conversations and the people shaping what comes next!

Congratulations to our friends at @MoffittNews and @Speros_Florida for the grand opening of the Moffitt Discovery and Innovation Center, a 250,000-square-foot research facility that will ultimately house the Speros FORGE (Florida Oncology and Radiopharmaceutical Growth Engine) Startup incubator and marks an exciting new chapter in the growth of Moffitt's 775-acre life sciences campus in Pasco County. For more information about the opening of Moffitt's new innovation center, visit speros.org/announcements/mof…. Earlier this year, Speros by Moffitt tapped @EmbarcCollectiv to lead Speros's new Florida FORGE startup incubation program, an innovative effort to bring new precision medicine solutions for cancer treatment across different modalities to market. The collaboration includes Moffitt Cancer Center, @Speros_Florida, @EmbarcCollectiv, the @USouthFlorida, and @PHSCedu. The goal is “… to build an end-to-end radiopharmaceutical ecosystem that could generate 4,000 jobs and $2.6 billion in economic impact over the next decade” and establish the Tampa Bay region as a preeminent life sciences and healthcare hub for next-generation modalities that deliver best-in-class precision medicine. The effort is expected to generate 4,000 jobs and $2.6 billion in statewide economic impact over the next decade” and establish the Tampa Bay region as a preeminent life sciences and healthcare hub for next-generation modalities that deliver best-in-class precision medicine. Longer-term, the coalition plans to recruit top early-stage precision medicine companies across different modalities to FORGE and help them move from drug discovery through production and clinical use to full-scale launch and growth at Speros. For more information about the coalition, check out Anjelica Rubin's article earlier this summer in the Tampa Bay Business Journal here: bizjournals.com/tampabay/new…. A BIG shout out to Josh Carpenter, President at Speros and Chief Integration Officer at Moffitt, Hannah Mae Merten, Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Strategy at Speros, and the entire Speros team for their efforts to not only unite a group of leading Tampa Bay institutions to build the talent, infrastructure and innovation ecosystem needed to accelerate next-generation radiopharmaceutical therapies, but also position the Tampa Bay region at the forefront of one of the most promising advances in cancer care. For more information about Speros's massive 775-acre life sciences campus, visit speros.org/. For more info about Embarc Collective or to explore membership, visit embarccollective.com/. #Startups #HighGrowth #VentureCapital #Founders #Technology #Innovation #EcosystemBuilders #StartupTB #StartupFL

Join us next month for @EmbarcCollectiv's final Builder Series program of 2026, featuring featuring Jennifer Crabtree, President of the Tampa Medical & Research District and Senior Vice President at @TGHCares, in a fireside chat with Jennifer Burrington, Vice President of Research and Strategy at the @TampaEDC. The Q4 2026 Builder Series will be held on Wednesday, November 18 in the @ReliaQuest Auditorium at Embarc Collective. Doors open at 8:30 am ET. SPACE IS LIMITED. Register for the event HERE: luma.com/3fufa6q7. Jennifer will explore leadership, innovation, and the continued growth of Tampa Bay's healthcare and life sciences ecosystem and highlight exciting plans for the continued growth of TMRD. As arguably the most cohesive, innovation-forward, and research-anchored healthcare ecosystems in the state, the Tampa Medical & Research District offers a nationally ranked academic medical center anchored by Tampa General Hospital, the top-ranked hospital in Tampa Bay for 10 consecutive years, with 11 specialties ranked by the U.S. News & World Report set in one of the nation's ten fastest-growing markets for healthcare and life sciences talent led by the #1-ranked medical school in the nation, @USFHealth's Morsani College of Medicine. The Builder Series by Embarc Collective is a quarterly educational program that provides unparalleled access to business icons and thought leaders in Tampa Bay and across the state of Florida — each sharing the innovative leadership lessons and frameworks that led them to success in their respective careers. For more information about Embarc Collective or to explore membership, visit embarccollective.com/. #EcosystemBuilders #Startups #Founders #HighGrowth #VentureCapital #Innovation #Technology #StartupTB #StartupFL @TB_Times @TBBJnewsroom @TampaBayInno @TampaEDC @TB_Chamber

🚀 Congratulations to Embarc Collective member company Cope Notes and Founder & CEO Johnny Crowder on winning the CTIA @WirelessFdn 's 2026 Catalyst and @TMobile Innovator Award! 🔗 Read more: tinyurl.com/u3zv2z5y

We’re excited to share this week’s #EcosystemHighlight, a series that features founders and leaders from our vast community of innovators! This week, we’re highlighting Mathis, Co-Founder of syp! 🔗Learn more about Mathis: hubs.la/Q04B93FP0

🚀 Meet the @AmbitionAccel cohort! Introducing Krishan Punia, founder of SisaTech AI, whose AI-powered platform, SIVIA Medical, simplifies complex patient records so cardiologists can spend more time caring for patients. Learn more: hubs.la/Q04BKkYH0

Congratulations to @EmbarcCollectiv member-company @CopeNotes®, founded and led by Johnny Crowder, CRPS, CEO. Cope Notes was one of four tech companies to be named winners of the Catalyst 2026 Innovator Award from the @CTIA @WirelessFdn and @TMobile. Catalyst is a competitive grants program for social entrepreneurs using wireless technology to deliver solutions to the challenges impacting American communities. “CTIA Wireless Foundation’s Catalyst program highlights exceptional entrepreneurs who are demonstrating what’s possible when we leverage wireless innovation and American ingenuity,” said Ajit Pai, President of CTIA Wireless Foundation and President & CEO of CTIA. “We are excited to celebrate the Catalyst 2026 winners, a group of dynamic innovators using mobile-first solutions to improve access to workforce training and development, healthcare, and counseling in their communities.” The first-place grant of $100,000 was awarded to Austin-based FreeWorld, an app that trains and places formerly incarcerated individuals into jobs in the trucking industry, helping to ease unemployment and driver shortages. San Francisco-based Oben Health, an app that trains barbers and hairstylists as certified Community Health Workers to screen clients for hypertension and connect them with ongoing care, was awarded the second-place grant of $50,000, and Empower Work, an SMS and RCS platform that provides peer counseling to vulnerable and low-income workers struggling in the workplace, and Tampa-based Cope Notes® were awarded third-place grants of $25,000 each. For more information about the CTIA Wireless Foundation Catalyst 2026 Award Winners, visit wirelessfoundation.org/news/…. Cope Notes® uses daily text messages that combine peer support, positive psychology, and digital journaling to send positive thoughts and affirmations, enabling subscribers to combat depression and anxiety and help improve mental and emotional health. As a suicide/abuse survivor, Johnny Crowder spent his formative years searching for resources to help him cope with his mental health conditions, ranging from OCD and bipolar disorder to schizophrenia. After studying psychology at the @UCF and volunteering with NAMI, Johnny wanted to combine the neuroscience principles he learned about in school with the power of peer support that changed his life in treatment. In 2017, he began sending unsolicited psychology facts, journaling prompts, and exercises to friends via text message. The response was so positive that he opened it up to the public, and the rest is history. For more information about Cope Notes, visit copenotes.com/. For more info about Embarc Collective or to explore membership, visit embarccollective.com/. #Startups #HighGrowth #VentureCapital #Founders #Technology #Innovation #EcosystemBuilders #StartupTB #StartupFL

Next stop? World Series. Let’s go @RaysBaseball ! #ForTampaBay

WE ARE HIRING. @EmbarcCollectiv invites applications for the Member Operations & Systems Associate position. The Member Operations & Systems Associate supports the day-to-day operations of Embarc Collective's membership: monthly onboarding for every new company, member agreements and licensing, subscriptions and invoicing, roster and access changes across our platforms, office move-ins and move-outs, and the member helpdesk. This is the work that makes our member companies and the hundreds of individual members inside them feel like a community rather than an administrative burden — and it is judged by whether founders notice it at all. A significant and growing part of this role is investor relations operations. This is an exceptional opportunity for someone who is energized by mission-driven work, who takes real satisfaction in a complicated operation running cleanly, and who is eager to play a hands-on role in Florida's fastest-growing startup community. For more info about the position, please visit embarccollective.com/careers…. To apply, submit your resume to jobs@embarccollective.com with subject line: “Member Operations & Systems Associate.” The deadline to apply is October 30, 2026. Please contact Jeremy Fritzhand, VP of Platform & Member Engagement, at jeremy@embarccollective.com with questions about the position. Embarc Collective, a 501c3 not-for-profit and Florida’s largest and fastest growing startup hub, provides founders curated programming, on-demand coaching and mentorship, access to tech and tech-enabled talent, connectivity to corporates, universities, and investors, workspace, assigned offices, conference rooms and event space in our 32,000 sq ft hub in downtown Tampa, and engagement with a peer community of 300+ founders and founding team members that lead 150+ Florida-based early-stage tech startups and growth-stage companies in sixty sectors, including healthcare and life sciences, medical devices and robotics, cybersecurity and data analytics, AI and frontier tech, fintech and legaltech, edtech, renewable energy and climate tech, and defense and national security, among others. Member-companies have created 1,400+ Florida-based tech jobs, driving $100+M annually in direct economic returns to the state, and have raised more than $800M in funding, including $130M in seed, venture, and growth equity funding invested in Florida-based startups in 2025. For more info about Embarc Collective or to explore membership, visit embarccollective.com/careers…. #Startups #HighGrowth #VentureCapital #Founders #Technology #Innovation #EcosystemBuilders #StartupTB #StartupFL

🏆 Congratulations to the Speros FORGE coalition on receiving BioFlorida's 2026 Most Significant Innovation Award! We're proud to collaborate on advancing oncology innovation and strengthening Florida's life sciences ecosystem. 🔗 Learn more: shorturl.at/lUjDP

Honored to be a member of the @Speros_Florida FORGE (Florida Oncology and Radiopharmaceutical Growth Engine) coalition that received the 2026 Most Significant Innovation Award during the Annual Awards Celebration at @BioFlorida's Annual Innovation Conference in Orlando last week. Lawrence Range II, CPA, MBA, CHFP, Business Development Director at Speros, and Jay Lebsack, Vice President of Clinical Research Operations at Moffitt Cancer Center, accepted the award on behalf of the team. A BIG shout out to Josh Carpenter, President at Speros and Chief Integration Officer at Moffitt, and Hannah Mae Merten, Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Strategy at Speros, and the entire team at Speros for their efforts to unite a group of leading Tampa Bay institutions -- @MoffittNews and @Speros_Florida, @EmbarcCollectiv, the @USouthFlorida, and Pasco-Hernando State College. The goal is “… to build an end-to-end radiopharmaceutical ecosystem on the massive $1.5 billion, 775-acre Speros campus in Pasco Countyr, along with imaging technologist training at PHSC and nuclear pharmacy opportunities at USF. The effort is expected to generate 4,000 jobs and $2.6 billion in statewide economic impact over the next decade” and establish the Tampa Bay region as a preeminent life sciences and healthcare hub for next-generation modalities that deliver best-in-class precision medicine. Longer-term, the coalition plans to recruit top early-stage precision medicine companies across different modalities to FORGE and help them move from drug discovery through production and clinical use to full-scale launch and growth at Speros. For more information about the coalition, check out @anjelicamrubin's article earlier this summer in the @TBBJnewsroom here: bizjournals.com/.../embarc-s…. “FORGE represents a transformational opportunity to position the Tampa Bay region at the forefront of one of the most promising advances in cancer care,” Speros President and Moffitt Chief Integration Officer Josh Carpenter said. “By bringing together these regional partners, we are building the talent, infrastructure and innovation ecosystem needed to accelerate next-generation radiopharmaceutical therapies. For more info about Embarc Collective or to explore membership, visit embarccollective.com/. #Startups #HighGrowth #VentureCapital #Founders #Technology #Innovation #EcosystemBuilders #StartupTB #StartupFL

Florida isn't just attracting the next generation of great companies. We're helping build them. We brought together 46 innovative companies from across the country and around the world to launch the 2026 Ambition Accelerated accelerator program. Over the next eight weeks, these founders will connect directly with expert coaching and more than 75 of Florida's leading CEOs, potential customers, investors and strategic partners to help turn innovative ideas into companies that can scale. Four industry-focused accelerators. One statewide platform. A shared commitment to building Florida's future. This is Ambition Accelerated. Learn more: AmbitionAccelerated.com #AmbitionAccelerated #BuildInFlorida