Thirteen fintech startups from the United States and United Kingdom are coming to Tampa Bay this week for the fifth FinTech|X Accelerator, with businesses spanning payments, artificial intelligence, wealth building, risk management and small-business finance.
The 2026 class stretches from San Francisco and San Diego to New York, Connecticut, Delaware, West Virginia and Oregon, while two companies will make the trip from London. Four Florida startups also made the cut: Aequi of Ocala, BuildUp of Orlando, PayShore of Riverview and PredictQ of St. Petersburg.
Tampa Bay Wave selected the companies for the accelerator, backed by Regions Foundation with support from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business and its Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance. Now in its fifth year, FinTech|X brings founders together with investors, mentors and other business leaders through a series of events and meetings in Tampa Bay.
Those meetings begin Wednesday, Oct. 7, with a FinTech|X mixer hosted by spARK Labs at the ARK Innovation Center in St. Petersburg, followed Thursday by a reception hosted by CliftonLarsonAllen in Tampa. The two events give the visiting founders their first scheduled opportunities this week to meet investors and business leaders from across the region.
Beyond the four Florida companies, the class includes Alogram Inc. of San Diego; Beem of San Francisco; Flip & Floss of Bridgeport, Connecticut; LinqAlpha of New York; Mili of Wilmington, Delaware; Milo of Morgantown, West Virginia; Moola Money and TradePolaris of London; and Zelody of Portland, Oregon.
Tampa Bay Wave, the nonprofit technology accelerator founded in 2013, has now worked with more than 670 startups that have raised more than $2 billion, created more than 7,600 jobs and completed 34 exits, according to the organization. Wave estimates those companies generate about $450 million in annual economic impact.
TIME ranked Tampa Bay Wave No. 3 among U.S. accelerators and No. 1 in Florida earlier this year.
