May 13, 2026
FLF Venture Summit 2026: How Tampa Became the Southeast’s Venture Capital Hub for a Day
On February 26, 2026, Florida Funders (FLF) hosted its annual Venture Summit at The Motor Enclave in Tampa, convening top founders, investors, athletes, and defense leaders for an invite-only day of programming. Speakers…
Traded Editorial
Traded Media
Tampa, FL | On February 26, 2026, Florida Funders pulled off something most regional VCs spend a decade trying to manufacture: a single-day gathering that punched well above its zip code. The 2026 FLF Venture Summit, held at The Motor Enclave in Tampa, brought together founders, fund managers, professional athletes, defense leaders, and city builders for an invite-only program that doubled as both a state-of-the-market briefing and a rallying point for what Florida's venture ecosystem now looks like in its second act.
TradedVC was on the ground as the official media partner, capturing sidewalk interviews with several of the day's most consequential voices, including Mayor Francis Suarez, Braxton Berrios, Joey Levy, and Saxon Baum.
The Firm Behind the Summit
Founded in 2013 and based in Tampa, Florida, Florida Funders (FLF) has quietly become the most active venture capital firm in the Southeast. Some quick numbers worth internalizing:
- ~$300M AUM
- 110+ portfolio companies since inception
- 36+ exits
- Rebranded from "Florida Funders" to FLF in early 2025, signaling national ambitions
- Saxon Baum was elevated to Managing Partner in January 2026; Tom Wallace transitioned to Executive Chairman
FLF's edge has always been structural. They combine a traditional fund with a curated network of accredited angels, giving them more sourcing surface area than any peer firm in the state. They write the first institutional check, syndicate aggressively, and stay close to founders through later rounds. The portfolio reads like a who 's-who of Florida and Southeast tech, anchored by their largest-ever investment to date: leading the Series A in Joey Levy's Betr.
The Venue: The Motor Enclave
FLF didn't pick a hotel ballroom. The Motor Enclave is a 200-acre experiential motorsports venue featuring a 1.72-mile Hermann Tilke–designed driving circuit and the world's largest private garage community. A handful of attendees got hot laps with professional drivers between sessions. The venue choice was a positioning statement: this isn't a conference, it's a clubhouse.
The Agenda: A Six-Pillar Curation
The day was deliberately constructed around six themes that map to where capital, talent, and influence are converging in 2026:
1. City as Platform. Mayor Francis Suarez and eMerge Americas co-founder Melissa Medina discuss how Miami built a tech ecosystem from scratch.
2. The Network Thesis. Saxon Baum on the "Meaning of Network," outlining FLF's playbook for compounding deal flow through the community.
3. Data Over Narrative. Carta's Peter Walker is delivering the only numbers-driven VC market read that matters this quarter, from national activity down to a granular view of Florida and the Southeast.
4. Operators as Investors. Geoffrey Woo (Anti Fund, Archive, Ketone-IQ) and Rohan Shah (Extend) on why founder-investors travel better than capital allocators ever will.
5. Athletes as Capital. Braxton Berrios and Drew Weatherford on the rebundling of sports, ownership, and venture.
6. AI and the New Battlefield. Dave Spirk (Palantir, former DoD Chief Data Officer) and General (Ret.) Tony Thomas (former USSOCOM Commander) on the AI defense stack.
What This Summit Signals
Three reads worth taking forward:
1. Florida's ecosystem has crossed the legitimacy threshold. The lineup wasn't local. Stanford-trained founder-investors, a four-star general, a Carta executive flying in to deliver national data, and a sitting mayor. This is the lineup of an established venture geography, not an emerging one.
2. FLF is positioning itself as the structural winner of the Southeast. No other firm in Florida has the AUM, founder bench, network, and brand momentum all at once. The Summit is now their annual statement of dominance.
3. The athlete-investor category is institutionalizing. Between Berrios, Weatherford, and the broader Betr cap table, the through-line of the day was clear: sports capital is no longer endorsement money. It's venture capital with distribution attached.
Sponsor Stack Worth Naming
PwC and Stifel Venture Banking as presenting sponsors. Dragonfly, SpotOn, and In Tech Ideas at Platinum. Carta, Gunderson Dettmer, Cherry Bekaert, Delta, Alto, Archive, and Raymond James are anchoring the gold tier. The sponsor mix is itself a signal: these are the firms underwriting the institutionalization of Florida venture.
TradedVC was proud to serve as the official media partner. Full interview cuts featuring Francis Suarez, Braxton Berrios, Joey Levy, Saxon Baum, and others are available on TradedVC channels.
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