Florida Funders commits $100,000 to Council accelerator

By Grace Kim

Florida Funders will commit $100,000 to qualifying companies participating in Ambition Accelerated, the statewide accelerator program of The Florida Council of 100. The commitment will be made through Florida First Check, an initiative managed by Florida Funders in partnership with the Institute for Commercialization of Florida Technology.

Florida First Check provides institutional capital to promising Florida technology companies at the earliest stages of growth.

What does the $100,000 commitment support?

The Council says Ambition Accelerated puts its convening power behind founders, leading CEOs and established companies. The program helps entrepreneurs reach potential customers, develop industry relationships and build businesses in sectors considered critical to Florida’s future. Florida Funders’ commitment adds dedicated early-stage capital to that work.

“Building on the success of last year’s Gold Coast accelerator, we are expanding the program across Florida and bringing new investment capital to our founders,” said Eric Silagy, Chair of the Florida Council of 100 Foundation.

Silagy added: “Our members are putting their relationships, experience and companies to work to help these entrepreneurs succeed. Florida Funders’ commitment demonstrates the opportunity that leadership is creating.”

The commitment adds capital to a program already built around corporate relationships and customer access.

How much capital does Florida Funders bring?

Over the past decade, Florida Funders has grown from a crowdfunding platform into a Tampa-based venture capital firm and investor network. The firm says it has invested more than $300 million in over 100 technology companies and built a network of more than 2,000 accredited investors. It says that network has expanded access to early-stage capital and support for entrepreneurs building in Florida.

“Access to corporate decision-makers is enormously valuable to an early-stage company,” said Saxon Baum, Managing Partner of Florida Funders. “The Council has organized that access through Ambition Accelerated, creating a compelling opportunity for founders and investors alike. We are committing capital because we see the potential in bringing these resources together to help more companies grow in Florida.”

Florida Funders says it works as a committed partner to the founders it funds. It describes its model as three features that most firms do not offer:

• A structured network that opens doors.
• A media-driven distribution engine that amplifies portfolio companies to customers, talent and follow-on investors.
• A community of founders and investors built for relationship-building and connection.

The firm says it remains rooted in Florida’s technology market and invests from pre-seed through Series B in technology companies led by standout founders across the U.S.

The $100,000 commitment links the Council’s accelerator with an investor network reporting more than $300 million in cumulative technology investments.

Which Florida sectors are in focus?

Ambition Accelerated translates the Council’s Beyond Sunshine economic strategy into direct support for company growth, according to the Council. Its regional tracks focus on:

• Financial technology
• Dual-use defense technology
• Health innovation and resilience

The Council says these tracks connect founders with business leaders in industries where Florida has the assets to compete and lead.

That structure gives each regional track a defined industry focus and a direct line to relevant business leaders.

What does the Council add beyond funding?

The Florida Council of 100 is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of CEOs from Florida’s leading companies. It says its mission includes strengthening the state’s long-term competitiveness, expanding economic opportunity for future generations and advancing solutions that improve life for all Floridians.

The Council says it identifies Florida’s greatest economic opportunities and challenges, convenes business, government, academic and community leaders around practical solutions, and builds initiatives designed to create lasting economic impact.

Through research, collaboration and business-led action, it works to build stronger industries, create higher-wage jobs, develop talent, improve quality of life and keep Florida among America’s strongest places 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, it represents more than 200 companies, which employ more than 1.3 million Floridians.

“We built Ambition Accelerated around a simple idea: connecting promising founders with the business leaders who can help them become successful companies,” said Michael Simas, President and CEO of the Florida Council of 100.

Simas added: “Our members have brought Florida’s corporate market to the table. Now we are connecting that market with dedicated investment capital. That is how we help build the next generation of great American companies here in Florida.”

The partnership advances the Council’s broader effort to organize Florida’s business leadership around building and scaling companies that create higher-wage careers and strengthen the state’s economy.

The Council supplies the company network; the accelerator gives those relationships a route to founders and investors.

How does Ambition Accelerated scale across Florida?

Ambition Accelerated Florida is The Florida Council of 100 and its Foundation’s statewide economic-development and company-building platform, designed to attract and scale companies in Florida. Created as the execution platform for Beyond Sunshine, it organizes the state’s regions around 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. It aims to attract businesses and talent to Florida and connect companies at all stages with the relationships, capital, customers, talent and market opportunities they need to grow.

For the Council and Florida Funders, the test is whether the statewide platform can turn CEO access and dedicated capital into more investments for qualifying Florida companies.