Embarc Collective is proud to announce FLF as its first-ever Venture Partner under the newly launched Investor Partner Program, marking a major milestone as the organization expands its role as a connector between founders, investors, corporates and universities across Florida. The partnership officially goes live January 1, 2026, with FLF serving as Embarc Collective’s inaugural venture capital partner.

Launched in mid-2025, Embarc Collective’s new Partner Program was designed to create deeper, more integrated relationships with organizations committed to supporting Florida’s founders across the full lifecycle of growth. The program brings together leading corporate partners, university collaborators, and now investment partners to form a more connected, founder-first ecosystem.

This collaboration builds on years of close partnership between the two organizations and represents a deeper, more intentional integration designed to strengthen the connective tissue between founders and investors statewide. As the first VC partner in this new program, FLF will play a catalytic role in shaping how investors engage with Embarc Collective’s founder community, supporting access to capital, accelerating collaboration, and helping scale Florida’s next generation of high-growth companies.

FLF joins fellow Embarc Collective corporate and university partners, including ReliaQuest, A-LIGN, Tampa General Hospital, Benchmark International, and the University of South Florida—some of the earliest organizations to participate in the corporate and university stages of Embarc Collective’s partnership evolution. With FLF becoming the first investor group to formally join this new program, Embarc Collective is completing a critical piece of its partnership framework: aligning capital, industry, and academic institutions around Florida founders.

At its core, this expanded partnership with FLF is designed to amplify opportunity, engagement, and access to investment capital for startups that are part of Embarc Collective’s community through:

• Ongoing engagement with founders and member-companies across the state
  
• Quarterly dealflow engagement sessions to introduce new Embarc members and emerging companies
  
• Office hours, curated meetings, and access to startups through Embarc programming
  
• Annual membership for five early-to-growth-stage companies from the FLF portfolio 

This partnership strengthens connectivity between founders, investors, and operators, creating meaningful pathways for growth, mentorship, and capital formation.

“A key focus since I joined as CEO has been to strengthen relationships with a national network of seed, venture, and growth equity investors and provide access to Embarc Collective’s community of early-stage tech startups and growth companies. From the beginning, FLF has shared our belief that strong ecosystems are built through trust, access, and long-term collaboration,” said Tim Holcomb, CEO of Embarc Collective. “Formalizing this partnership allows us to deepen our work with leading investors in the state, connecting founders to capital, insight, and relationships that accelerate growth across Florida. Together, we’re building a more connected, founder-first innovation economy that scales impact statewide.”

Since opening, Embarc Collective has supported hundreds of founders through strategic programming which plays a meaningful role in putting Tampa Bay on the map as a fast-growing startup ecosystem in the Southeast. At its core, Embarc has shown that when founders are given real support and real access to capital, companies grow and communities benefit.

That impact is why FLF is stepping into a visible leadership role across Embarc Collective’s flagship programming, including serving as headline title sponsor of the Angel & Early-Stage Investing Summit and program sponsor of the Venture Capital & Growth Equity Investing Summit. In 2025, the inaugural year for both programs, these two flagship programs brought investors from more than 60 seed, venture, and growth-equity investment firms from more than a dozen cities across the U.S. to Tampa — including firms like KKR, FTV Capital, Fulcrum Equity, Fulcrum Equity Partners, Arsenal Growth Equity, DeepWork Capital, Medina Ventures, Orlando Health Ventures, Govo Venture Partners, Tech Square Ventures, and Queen City Angels, among others – together with local investors like Florida Funders, Ballast Point Ventures, TGH Ventures, TampaBay.Ventures, New World Angels, Tamiami Angel Funds, TiE Florida Angel Network, and Seedfunders, among others, to engage with founders of 120+ Florida-based early-stage tech startups and growth companies.

“FLF has partnered with Embarc Collective for years, and we’ve seen firsthand the impact their team has on early-stage founders across the state,” said Saxon Baum, Partner at Florida Funders.  “This expanded partnership allows us to take that collaboration to the next level, showing up even more intentionally for the entrepreneurs building here and strengthening the connectivity that fuels Florida’s innovation ecosystem. We want to continue to be the leading driver in the state of FL for VC, and our continued support of Embarc Collective reinforced this.”

“I’ve seen firsthand how transformative real access can be for founders—access to capital, to relationships, and to people who genuinely want to help them win,” said Steven MacDonald, Founder Circle member and Board Member of Embarc Collective, General Partner and Board Member at Florida Funders, and Founder of MacDonald Ventures. “This partnership ensures that our entrepreneurs & founders don’t just get advice—they get pathways. It’s a powerful step forward in building a founder-first ecosystem that can compete nationally.”

This partnership reflects a shared belief that Florida’s innovation economy thrives when founders, investors, universities, and corporate leaders work together with intention. By formalizing this relationship, Embarc Collective and FLF are expanding opportunity, increasing visibility, and strengthening the infrastructure that supports founders across the state.

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.

About Florida Funders
Florida Funders is a hybrid venture capital fund and investor network that discovers, funds, and builds early-stage technology companies. We combine a $300M+ venture platform with 2,000+ accredited investors to back breakout founders in B2B software, fintech, AI, health care, and cybersecurity. Beyond capital, our team of serial entrepreneurs and investors provides operating expertise, strategic introductions, and a nationwide support network that helps founders win. By unifying venture capital with an engaged investor community, we deliver exceptional outcomes for founders and LPs alike.