We help Tampa Bay startup talent build bold, scalable, thriving companies. The startups we support have a mindset toward scaling globally, so we needed to ensure that we’ve built in that connectivity from a support standpoint from the start. Knowing that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, we have partnered with impactful organizations from around the world to help us do so.
Through listening to the needs of startup founders and their teams, we’ve gathered data points that have dictated our approach to building relationships and seeking partnerships, focused on three core components:
Connectivity Beyond Tampa Bay
High-growth companies can now start and scale anywhere, not just in a few coastal cities. Our partner organizations like GSVlabs, Nashville Entrepreneurship Center, and Loeb.atl are backing up this thinking. Whether we are swapping best practices, sharing office space for our member companies to conduct investor meetings, or facilitating introductions, our national partners are aligned on helping startups succeed—no matter where they are headquartered. By being a member of one organization, you can receive value from an entire global network.
Strength as a State
We may not be the size of a market like New York City or San Francisco as a standalone city, but as a statewide collective, Florida demonstrates tremendous support. Founders can attend conferences like eMerge Americas in Miami, meet with customers through Synapse‘s reach in Central Florida, or pitch the Florida Venture Forum investor network in Sarasota, Naples, and West Palm Beach. Given our rising rank as one of the most popular states for migration growth, we must align on strong collaboration to be competitive with other startup destinations.
Local Collaboration
When building a startup, your success is determined by more than just your own team and capabilities. It takes a solid network of support behind the scenes. We lean on the power of local accelerator programs like the Tampa Bay Wave, colleges and universities, and economic development organizations such as the Florida Business Development Corporation (FBDC), which allow us to focus on the consistent and tailored support we deliver. Through local collaborations, we can begin to reduce silos and more easily and effectively connect resources within our community to the entrepreneurs that need them.
Even before our space opens, Embarc Collective has been working to ensure that Tampa Bay’s startup community has access to the relevant resources required to scale.
- Read our report on the state of connectivity in Tampa Bay.
- View our Southeast Capital Landscape, a comprehensive list of capital providers of venture-backed startups in the Southeast US region.
- Lastly, if you’re interested in discussing collaboration opportunities, please reach out.
See Press Release