Ambition Accelerated applications now open to help startups scale in fintech, healthtech, defense and resilience – Refresh Miami

At a time when states are fiercely competing to attract technology startups, Florida is making a big play to not only lure founders but help them scale up right here in the Sunshine State.

The Florida Council of 100 and its partners announced in West Palm Beach on Tuesday that applications are now open for the 2026 cohorts of Ambition Accelerated, an initiative designed to support startups in four sectors where state leaders believe Florida has competitive advantages: financial technology, health technology, dual-use and defense technology, and resilience.

Unlike many accelerator programs that focus primarily on mentorship or early-stage investment, Ambition Accelerated is positioning itself as a relationship-driven platform that gives founders direct access to enterprise customers, strategic partners and executive leadership. More than 75 CEOs from major Florida companies  are expected to participate as mentors or advisors. The initiative is backed by a broad coalition of corporate and ecosystem partners, including Related Ross, eMerge Americas and Tampa’s Embarc Collective.

The program, first announced in April, reflects a broader shift in how states compete for technology companies. Rather than relying solely on tax incentives or business-friendly policies to attract startups, Florida is betting that building stronger connections between founders, corporations and investors can help companies scale without leaving the state.

It’s no longer enough to just attract companies to Florida. “Florida also should help build great companies from scratch,” said Florida Council of 100 President and CEO Mike Simas at a press conference in West Palm Beach on Tuesday. The Florida Council of 100, a nonprofit, advises state leaders on long-term economic development and competitiveness and represents more than 200 companies employing over 1.3 million Floridians.

“It’s really a new approach to economic development. It’s private sector driven, identifying state assets and then agregating resources around those to scale,” Simas continued in a brief interview with Refresh Miami. “We’re at this moment where it matters more than ever to make sure we’re providing certainty and market access as companies decide where they’re going to build for the next 10 years, and maybe it’s not New York or Boston or California. We want to make sure Florida is part of that conversation really aggressively.”

The cohorts will take place across three regions – South Florida, Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida – through an eight-week hybrid program. Ten startups will be selected for each industry track.

Participants will receive executive coaching, introductions to potential enterprise customers, investor access and opportunities to present their businesses during a statewide showcase attended by members of the Florida Council of 100. Founders will also receive access to the invitation-only Miami AI Summit hosted by eMerge Americas on Oct. 23.

An additional incentive comes through a partnership with Tampa-based startup hub Embarc Collective. One founder and one co-founder from each participating company will receive a complimentary one-year membership in 2027, providing continued access to coaching, investor networks, university partnerships and startup programming after the accelerator concludes.

Each regional accelerator focuses on a specific technology sector:.

• FinTech (Gold Coast / West Palm Beach): This track, backed by Truist, taps into South Florida’s rapidly expanding financial services hub to help business-to-business (B2B) financial technology startups secure market perspective and institutional traction. Fintech is already South Florida’s strongest sector for venture capital.
• Dual-Use & Defense Technology (Gold Coast / Miami): Positioned to capitalize on regional defense priorities, this track will help founders navigate national security and commercial applications side-by-side. This year, the growing defense tech sector was a large focus of eMerge Americas.
• HealthTech (Tampa Bay): Anchored at the acclaimed startup hub Embarc Collective within the Tampa Medical & Research District, this track is prebacked by GuideWell and Tampa General Hospital, focusing on digital health, diagnostics, and healthcare delivery systems. Medical technology is among the Sunshine State’s most-active sectors.
• Resilience (Southwest Florida): Hosted at Babcock Ranch, which claims to be America’s first solar-powered town, this track targets infrastructure, energy, water, construction, and disaster preparedness technologies.

The two Gold Coast accelerators graduated their first cohorts last fall and served as a model for the expanded program. Even during the initial planning for those cohorts, the three partners of the Gold Coast programs  – Related Ross, eMerge Americas and the Florida Council of 100  – were already thinking bigger. “We were hoping we could scale this across the state and we knew we couldn’t do it alone,” said Melissa Medina, eMerge’s CEO. Now with more partners on board, it’s grown from 20 founders to 40 and two verticals to four in just a year, and the program offerings will hopefully grow again next year too, she said.

Jeremy Crane is the founder of Retrievables, which specializes in business to business debt collections, participated in the inaugural fintech cohort in West Palm Beach last fall. Crane moved to Florida from New York City about two years ago, and the program first and foremost helped him build a network. “Every time I went to an event [as part of the program], people were giving me their cell phone numbers and I guarantee you that never happened to me in New York City,” Crane said.

He also met potential clients “and business opportunities arose,” and he even made a new friend, he told Refresh Miami. After the 12-week program ended, the opportunities for engagement and mentorship did not: For instance, he attended a luncheon for Palm Beach County business owners organized by the Gold Coast team. Will he stay in the Sunshine State? “I’m never leaving Florida.”

Founders scan apply through the Ambition Accelerated website between now and Aug. 21. Companies selected for the program will join one of the four industry tracks and participate in mentoring, networking and customer engagement opportunities designed to help accelerate commercial growth.

Nancy Dahlberg contributed to this report.

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