Florida Funders commits $100,000 to Ambition Accelerated companies, building on the Council\u2019s work to mobilize Florida\u2019s corporate leaders around promising founders\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Florida Council of 100\u2019s effort to organize Florida\u2019s corporate community around promising entrepreneurs is attracting dedicated investment capital. Through a new partnership, Florida Funders will commit $100,000 to qualifying companies participating in Ambition Accelerated, the Council\u2019s statewide accelerator program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The commitment builds on a program that puts the Council\u2019s convening power to work for founders. Ambition Accelerated brings leading CEOs and companies together to help entrepreneurs reach potential customers, develop industry relationships, and build businesses in sectors critical to Florida\u2019s future. Florida Funders\u2019 investment adds dedicated early-stage capital to that work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBuilding on the success of last year\u2019s Gold Coast accelerator, we are expanding the program across Florida and bringing new investment capital to our founders,\u201d said Eric Silagy, Chair of the Florida Council of 100 Foundation. \u201cOur members are putting their relationships, experience and companies to work to help these entrepreneurs succeed. Florida Funders\u2019 commitment demonstrates the opportunity that leadership is creating.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the past decade, Florida Funders has grown from a crowdfunding platform into a Tampa-based venture capital firm and investor network that has invested more than $300 million in over 100 technology companies. With a network of more than 2,000 accredited investors, the firm has helped expand access to early-stage capital and support for entrepreneurs building in Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new commitment will be made through Florida First Check, an initiative managed by Florida Funders in partnership with the Institute for Commercialization of Florida Technology. The initiative provides institutional capital to promising Florida technology companies at the earliest stages of growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAccess to corporate decision-makers is enormously valuable to an early-stage company,\u201d said Saxon Baum, Managing Partner of Florida Funders. \u201cThe 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ambition Accelerated translates the Council\u2019s Beyond Sunshine economic strategy into direct support for company growth. Its regional tracks focus on financial technology, dual-use defense technology, health innovation and resilience, connecting founders with business leaders in industries where Florida has the assets to compete and lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe built Ambition Accelerated around a simple idea: connecting promising founders with the business leaders who can help them become successful companies,\u201d said Michael Simas, President and CEO of the Florida Council of 100. \u201cOur members have brought Florida\u2019s 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The partnership advances the Council\u2019s broader effort to organize Florida\u2019s business leadership around building and scaling companies that create higher-wage careers and strengthen the state\u2019s economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
About Florida Funders:\u00a0\u00a0
Florida Funders is a venture capital firm with a network of 2,000+ accredited investors, and we operate as committed partners to the founders they fund. Their model is built around three things that most firms don’t offer: a structured network that opens doors, a media-driven distribution engine that amplifies portfolio companies to customers, talent, and follow-on investors, and a community of founders and investors built for relationship-building and connection.\u00a0 Rooted in Florida’s thriving tech market, the firm invests in pre-seed through Series B technology companies led by standout founders across the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n
About The Florida Council of 100:\u202f\u00a0\u00a0
The Florida Council of 100 is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that brings together the CEOs of Florida\u2019s leading companies to strengthen the state\u2019s long-term competitiveness, expand economic opportunity for future generations, and advance solutions that better the lives of all Floridians.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Council identifies Florida\u2019s greatest economic opportunities and challenges, convenes business, government, academic, and community leaders around practical Solutions, and builds initiatives that create lasting economic impact. Through research, collaboration, and business-led action, the Council works to help Florida build stronger industries, create higher-wage jobs, develop talent, improve quality of life, and remain one of the best places in America to build a business.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019s future. Today, The Council represents more than 200 companies, employing more than 1.3M Floridians.\u00a0<\/p>\n
About Ambition Accelerated Florida:\u00a0\u00a0
Ambition Accelerated Florida is The Florida Council of 100 and its Foundation\u2019s statewide economic-development and company-building platform, designed to help attract and scale companies in Florida. Created as the execution platform for Beyond Sunshine, the Council\u2019s strategy for strengthening Florida\u2019s economy by organizing its regions around the 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 to attract businesses and talent to Florida, and connect companies of all stages with the relationships, capital, customers, talent and market opportunities they need to grow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Media Contact:\u00a0
Juan Carlos Fanjul, EVP, McNicholas & Associates\u00a0
561-420-5569 | juancarlos@mcnicholas.biz\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida Funders commits $100,000 to Ambition Accelerated companies, building on the Council\u2019s work to mobilize Florida\u2019s corporate leaders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-445116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}