Embarc Collective, TGH Ventures, and Tampa Medical & Research District Form Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Health Care and Life Sciences Innovation Across Florida

Embarc Collective, Florida’s fastest-growing startup hub and home to a peer community of 300 founders and cofounders building 135-plus early-stage tech startups and growth companies, today announced a new strategic partnership with Tampa General Hospital (TGH), TGH Ventures, in collaboration with the Tampa Medical & Research District (TMRD), to accelerate health care and life sciences innovation across Florida.

Together, the organizations will strengthen collaboration between startups, researchers, universities, and health care leaders to solve real-world challenges, advance the commercialization of emerging technologies, and reinforce Florida’s position as a national leader in applied health and life sciences innovation.

This partnership builds on Embarc Collective’s growing role as a convener of Florida’s innovation economy and reflects the continued expansion of its Corporate Innovator Program, which offers leading institutions a structured and meaningful way to engage with the state’s startup, research, and investment ecosystems.

Through close collaboration with TGH Ventures, Tampa General Hospital’s innovation and venture arm, Embarc Collective’s startup community will be connected with TGH’s internal innovators, clinical leaders, and portfolio companies. Together, Embarc Collective, TGH Ventures, and the Tampa Medical & Research District will continue to co-host health care and HealthTech meetups, support pilot programs and applied innovation initiatives, and establish pathways for startups to directly address enterprise health care challenges.

“TGH Ventures exists to bridge the gap between innovation and real-world health care impact,” said Rachel Feinman, senior vice president of innovation, ventures, and digital solutions at Tampa General. “By partnering with Embarc Collective, we’re deepening our access to Florida’s startup ecosystem and creating meaningful opportunities for collaboration, pilots, and long-term partnerships that advance both patient care and enterprise innovation.”

Tampa General Hospital will gain direct access to Embarc Collective’s pipeline of early- and growth-stage health care and life sciences startups across Florida, opening up new opportunities for collaboration, pilot programs, and long-term innovation partnerships. In addition, TGH Ventures will support both internal innovators and portfolio companies by participating in Embarc Collective’s curated programming, founder network, and applied innovation initiatives.

“Florida’s health care industry is a massive economic driver, and innovation happens when institutions and entrepreneurs are intentionally connected,” said Tim R. Holcomb, Ph.D., CEO of Embarc Collective. “This partnership with Tampa General Hospital, TGH Ventures, and the Tampa Medical & Research District is about creating those pathways, ensuring startups can work alongside health care leaders to bring new solutions into the real-world and improve human health at scale.”

Tampa General Hospital will be further positioned as a statewide health care innovation leader through board-level involvement with Embarc Collective, co-branded ecosystem convenings, and speaking and thought leadership opportunities across Embarc Collective’s flagship programs and summits. As a program sponsor and innovation partner, TGH will be recognized across Embarc Collective platforms, including the Angel Investing Summit, Glaring Gap Summit, and Venture Capital and Growth Equity Summit.

“Through TGH Ventures, we’ve built a strong foundation for working with innovators across the health care ecosystem,” said Jennifer Crabtree, president of the Tampa Medical & Research District and senior vice president at Tampa General Hospital. “By deepening our partnership with Embarc Collective, we are expanding that foundation, supporting both our internal innovators and portfolio companies while continuing to engage directly with Florida’s growing startup community to accelerate meaningful health care innovation.”

Embarc Collective, Tampa General Hospital, and the Tampa Medical & Research District share a commitment to building the connective infrastructure between entrepreneurs and institutions, ensuring breakthrough ideas can move from research and startup innovation into real-world health care delivery. Since its launch in 2019, Embarc Collective member companies have achieved a 96% survival rate, created more than 1,200 high-paying tech and tech-enabled jobs, and raised over $600 million in angel, venture, and growth equity, with more than half coming from investors outside Florida.

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 Tampa General Hospital 

Tampa General Hospital, the Tampa Bay region’s only academic health system, is a 1,530-bed not-for-profit network of hospital and outpatient services spanning across Florida. As the only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care center serving 23 counties, Tampa General  delivers world-class care. The system’s hospitals include Tampa General Hospital, Tampa General Rehabilitation Hospital, Tampa General Behavioral Health Hospital, all in Tampa; Tampa General Brooksville, Tampa General Spring Hill and Tampa General Crystal River. Tampa General is the highest-ranked hospital in Tampa Bay in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025-2026 Best Hospitals, with six medical specialties ranking among the top 50 in the nation and five additional medical specialties ranked among the top 10% best hospital programs in the United States. As the first hospital in Florida to open a clinical command center for real-time situational awareness, the academic health system has elevated its digital care coordination center to the next level by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and its analytics platform across inpatient and outpatient care to ensure patients receive leading-edge care as quickly and safely as possible. Tampa General’s commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by three prestigious Forbes magazine rankings — in the 2026 America’s Best Large Employers ranked as the Tampa Bay region’s #1 employer in the health care category for the sixth year in a row, and among the top five in the state of Florida, in the 2025 Best Employers by State and the 2023 America’s Best Employers for Women.

Tampa General is the area’s safety-net hospital, caring for anyone regardless of ability to pay; in fiscal year 2024, Tampa General provided a net community benefit of approximately $289.1 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is recognized as one of the adult solid organ transplant centers in the nation and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General transports critically injured or ill patients from surrounding counties to receive the advanced care their conditions require. Tampa General has a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center and its 32-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It is home to the Muma Children’s Hospital at TGH, the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General’s footprint includes TGH North, which consists of three hospitals and several outpatient locations in Citrus and Hernando counties; 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices; TGH Family Care Center Kennedy; two TGH outpatient centers; TGH Virtual Health; and 20 TGH Imaging outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care, powered by the Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). For more information, go to www.tgh.org.