To make Wealthtender free for readers, we earn money from advertisers, including financial professionals and firms that pay to be featured. This creates a conflict of interest when we favor their promotion over others. Read our editorial policy and terms of service to learn more. Wealthtender is not a client of these financial services providers.
➡️ Find a Local Advisor | 🎯 Find a Specialist Advisor
The Tampa Bay region has had a significant head start in building an entrepreneurial startup ecosystem. Since 2017, the annual Synapse Summit has strategically positioned itself and successfully engineered a premier Tampa Bay, Florida-based hub and rallying point for entrepreneurs, innovators, universities, business leaders, entrepreneurial service organizations (ESOs), and local/state government agencies to help drive engagement towards accelerating innovation across the state.
More than a traditional conference, nonprofit Synapse Florida has designed their Summit to be a “celebration” of Tampa Bay’s vibrant innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem that encourages chance encounters, sharing of innovative ideas, collaborative discourse, and discovery of new technologies and approaches to solving business and life challenges. They accomplish this by carefully curating inspiring keynotes, interactive breakout sessions, dynamic exhibits, and immersive experiences.
The 2025 Synapse Summit broke down the agenda into six tracks or “pillars of innovation” – Cybersecurity, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Science/Sustainability, FinTech, Healthcare/Health Sciences, National Security. These tracks put a spotlight on groundbreaking companies, visionary startup founders, progressive corporate leaders, and vibrant community organizations driving growth and transformation in the Tampa Bay and greater Florida region.
The importance of this effort is clear and of paramount economic importance. The success of a region’s entrepreneurial startup ecosystem can have a significant impact on job creation, economic growth, and the region’s reputation as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship to attract talent and capital investment.
The sheer size of the Summit hosted at Raymond James Stadium in northern Tampa forced me to focus my review on the financial services and FinTech sessions that would appeal to my financial industry readership.
Synapse 2025 Highlights
Building a Vibrant Startup Ecosystem: A Call to Action for Tampa Bay
Tim Holcomb, CEO of Embarc Collective – a top-ranked Tampa Bay nonprofit startup incubation program – outlined how they currently serve about 270 founders and 134 early-stage high-growth companies and, over the past five years, Embarc has helped create 1,000+ tech jobs, provided 9,300+ hours of business coaching delivered, and raised $565+ million in funding (60% from outside Florida) for their cohort startup companies.
In his presentation, Tim shared some amazing facts and statistics on the State of the Startup Community that revealed some important truths about startups:
Startups are primary drivers of job growth in the U.S., accounting for nearly all net job growth. Young firms (<5 yrs old) account for 2/3rds of net new jobs created, averaging 4 new jobs per firm per year. Older firms (>10 yrs old) are net job destroyers, losing one million jobs net combined per year; by contrast, new firms add 3 million jobs in year one.
Startups grow and fail at high rates – Historically, 20% of startups fail in year one, 50% in the first 3 years. Startup failures hit a new high in 2024 with a 58% increase compared to 2023; 70+% of companies that were 2-5 years old failed last year.
A startup “deficit” exists … and it is exacerbated by barriers facing specific populations. Startup density, measured as the number of startups relative to the total number of companies, has declined from 170 per 1,000 companies in 1977 to 85.4 in 2016. The playing field is also not level, and certain groups face more significant and more persistent barriers to starting companies leaving untapped human potential on the sidelines. As an example, he cited the challenges for women-led businesses, noting they receive only 2-3% of venture capital despite growing 5x faster than male-led businesses.
Startup funding has fallen sharply and remains well below peak in 2021. Overall startup funding regained its footing in 2024 reaching close to $314 billion, up around 3% compared to 2023, but less than half of a record high of $643 billion reached in 2021.
Startups waiting longer between rounds. The median time between rounds in 2024 was 28 months – longest span since 2012. Less cash and longer fundraising runways are forcing startups to stretch current funding further and focus on profitability earlier.
Starting a company is hard, taking a psychological toll on founders who often struggle silently. 72% of founders struggle with mental health issues compared to just 48% of non-entrepreneurs. 37% suffer from anxiety; 36% experience burnout; 81% hide their stress, fears, and challenges from others; and 77% refuse to seek qualified professional help.
The number one reason why startups fail – Failure is not because they do not have enough money, and it is not because they do not have access to talent. It is because often they solve a problem people do not care about. That is what we call a lack of “product-market fit”. There is no natural “build it and we will come” dynamic. You have to consciously design your innovation around your client and their specific problems or needs and not rely on innovating from your head and “great ideas”.
Supporting startup founders and their companies is a crucial regional imperative. As an example, Embarc Collective’s entrepreneurial support platform consists of four key elements: curricular programming, coaching, membership, and connectivity to ecosystem partners. Tim emphasizes that building a startup ecosystem is a “team sport” and outlined the “power of six” partners as key ecosystem components: investors, universities, startups, ESOs (Entrepreneurial Support Organizations), corporations, and government. He further stated that: “Successful startup ecosystems create an intentional orbit around the startup community.”
Tim then issued a friendly challenge to all Summit participants to “Be a Catalyst for Change” by actively engaging to support your local startups that can drive innovation, foster economic growth, and build a thriving community that benefits everyone. He offered these suggestions on how to do so:
- Offer your expertise and guidance to budding entrepreneurs.
- Provide funding to promising startups and share in their success
- Partner on innovative projects that align with your strategic goals.
- Collaborate with startups to bring new products and services to market faster on programs that complement your resources and expertise.
- Support or establish programs that nurture startup growth.
Linda Olson CEO of Tampa Bay Wave was also at the Summit whose organization is another major example of an entrepreneurial service organization (ESO) in Tampa Bay which is a nationally recognized accelerator program that provides co-working space, mentorship, and guidance to tech entrepreneurs to build, launch, and grow their businesses into successful ventures. Of particular interest with Tampa Bay Wave is, besides running their own accelerator with multiple tracks and cohorts like a regular FinTech one, they also help build accelerator programs for other organizations and corporations.
The Future of Fintech: Innovation and Positive Impact for Our Region
Michael D. Wiemer, MBA – Director of the FinTech Center at University of South Florida’s (USF) Muma College of Business (which offers a MS, BS, FinTech concentrations, and multiple FinTech certificates) – discussed the university’s commitment to the FinTech business sector by addressing their initiatives, such as an online FinTech certificate program and sponsoring a FinTech business accelerator. The FinTech Center at USF was launched as a hub of engagement and a center of excellence in FinTech, focusing on teaching, research, engagement, and innovation. The three-year-old Center has already developed a robust ecosystem of strategic partnerships with the business community to support experiential learning, research collaboration, student mentoring, and faculty engagement.
Michael explained the University’s growing commitment of educational resources to FinTech by the numbers:
Research from Mckinsey and BCG projects the FinTech industry becoming a $1.5 trillion industry by 2030 from a baseline of $245 billion in 2021. It also shows that revenues in the FinTech industry are expected to grow almost three times faster than those in the traditional banking sector through 2028. Compared with the 6% annual revenue growth for traditional banking, the FinTech industry could post annual revenue growth of 15% over the next 5 years.
They see FinTech as ubiquitous in today’s economy, moving quickly and changing constantly. The key trends they see as shaping the future of business across all industries include AI-driven technological convergence, blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, hyper-automation, and open-source software.
Michael emphasized the growing importance of FinTech which requires specialized education and training in this field. The FinTech learning journey roadmap he suggested should include:
- Innovations in banking, credit Unions, and Insurance
- AI and automation
- Blockchain, crypto, and regulation
- Bitcoin, stable coins, and the future of finance
- Fostering talent pipelines in FinTech through intergenerational mentorship
Their commitment as a university is to help drive regional/national growth and prepare their students for these real-world challenges and opportunities by being an active part of Tampa Bay’s Innovation Ecosystem and improve “FinTech Literacy.”
Michael also ended his talk with a friendly invitation to be an active participant in the regions entrepreneurial ecosystem by stating “the doors are open for collaboration”, inviting business leaders to engage with the FinTech Center, especially financial services leaders.
Leadership & Cybersecurity in Financial Services
Raymond James Fireside Chat – The speakers, Paul Shoukry, new CEO of St. Petersburg, FL-based Raymond James and Brian Murphy CEO of ReliaQuest, a cybersecurity company based in Tampa, discussed the importance of cybersecurity, the role of AI, and the challenges of translating technical concepts to business leaders. Key points shared:
- Cybersecurity is a critical and dynamic threat that requires constant attention and investment. At Raymond James, it is discussed at every board meeting due to the dynamic nature of the threat and the importance of protecting client data.
- Raymond James has created a new role of Chief AI Officer to proactively evaluate how AI is changing the industry and how the company can integrate it into the business.
- Translating technical concepts like cybersecurity and AI to business leaders is a significant challenge, and they both emphasized the importance of finding ways to communicate business impact effectively.
- Building a strong, trusted team and maintaining direct communication with frontline employees and customers is essential for effective leadership.
AI, Automation, FinTech: Revolutionizing Financial Services
Panelists:
- Leslie Norman, Chief Technology Officer at Dynasty Financial Partners, has over a decade of experience delivering technology solutions for financial advisors.
- Priscilla Drummond Costa, VP at Raymond James, has been with the company for 19 years and currently co-leads the AI team.
- Rick Pinkerman, Co-founder of Notice Ninja, has over 17 years of experience in the payroll and compliance industry, leveraging AI and machine learning to automate workflows.
The panel discussion focused on the current landscape of AI and automation in the FinTech sector and its potential to unlock new opportunities for efficiency, personalization, and innovation, as well as the potential impact on consumers and the industry as a whole. They highlighted the opportunities for democratizing financial services and improving financial inclusion by improving access for underserved communities through technology.
The panelists emphasized the critical importance of data readiness, regulatory considerations, and the need for transparency and trust when implementing AI solutions. They also touched on various industry trends and developments, such as the rise of open banking, embedded finance, and the increasing focus on cybersecurity and know-your-customer (KYC) processes.
Key talking points:
- The AI landscape in FinTech is still in the early stages, with concerns around regulatory and compliance hurdles slowing adoption.
- The growing role of AI and machine learning in automating and streamlining financial processes.
- Ensuring data readiness and quality is crucial for effectively leveraging AI and machine learning solutions.
- Transparency, trust, and education are key factors in driving adoption and acceptance of AI-powered technologies in the financial services industry.
- 60% of wealth management executives are targeting talent in data and AI, but only 20% are actively piloting projects.
“Anything that we’re building right now within the AI space [ensures] that there is a human in the loop… until we can actually prove that it has a very, very small percentage of any error.” – Priscilla Drummond Costa (Raymond James)
“You’ve got to be AI ready from a data perspective. You got to get your data in order… It means diligence around your processes for managing data, keeping it clean, keeping it organized, and making sure that it is as context rich as possible.” – Leslie Norman (Dynasty Financial Partners)
Conclusion
The reason that I report on Synapse and the innovation community regularly is to offer insights for my financial services readers on how innovation is actively happening around us. This is important because the financial services industry – like all other industries – are in a new operating environment driven by an accelerating, compounding rate of change. This requires challenging our traditional practices, legacy operations, business models, and even our way of thinking.
Mistakenly, many equate “innovation” as representing technology but, at core, innovation is a mindset – a way of behaving, a way of handling challenges, an open and growth-oriented way of thinking. The only way to keep up competitively with this rapid rate of change is to innovate as fast as the business environment around us by consistently being open to creating new ideas and new ways of operating that add client value.
The rise of entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems, like the one in Tampa Bay and all across this country, are illustrating a new business dynamic for success in this hyper-changing operating environment. It is a radical mind shift from closed insulated corporations to open ecosystems, from leveraging internal assets to accessing external networks, from a traditional operating focus on efficiency to dynamic open innovation.
I highly recommend that all financial services leaders at all levels should seek out their local/regional entrepreneurial ecosystems in their area. Witnessing the behind-the-scenes mechanics of modern-day business innovation and learning how to participate can be a very motivating catalyst for all financial professionals and their business owner clients. In today’s business environment of accelerating change, it is essential to develop a greater practical understanding of the need to tap into this new mindset and business innovation dynamic.
This article was originally published here and is republished on Wealthtender with permission.
About the Author
Bill Hortz
Founder Institute for Innovation Development
To make Wealthtender free for readers, we earn money from advertisers, including financial professionals and firms that pay to be featured. This creates a conflict of interest when we favor their promotion over others. Read our editorial policy and terms of service to learn more. Wealthtender is not a client of these financial services providers.
➡️ Find a Local Advisor | 🎯 Find a Specialist Advisor