The startup scene in United States

USF Research Foundation owns and operates the USF Research Park, which USF describes as more than 112 acres adjacent to its Tampa campus, and supports USF CONNECT and the Tampa Bay Technology Incubator on the university’s behalf. USF describes its economic-development role as spanning the Tampa Bay region and Florida statewide.

The Early Stage Innovation Fund allows USF researchers advancing USF technologies to request up to $25,000 for internal commercialization research. USF requires technology disclosure through its Inventor Portal before letter-of-intent submission and says letters of intent are accepted on a rolling basis.

Embarc Collective describes its founder hub as located in downtown Tampa. In its 2025 impact report, Embarc reported 300+ founders, 130+ startups, 320+ events, and 20,000+ event attendees; it stated its $200 million annual economic impact across Florida, not Tampa alone.

ReliaQuest identifies Tampa as its headquarters and Brian Murphy as its founder and CEO. The company reported more than 1,200 team members and more than 1,000 customers on a page inspected October 2, 2026. StartupBlink’s September 2026 Tampa page lists the city at No. 82 globally, No. 28 in the United States, and No. 33 in North America under its own ranking methodology.

Tampa Bay Wave’s 2026 BlueTech|X application period ran May 4 through July 3, 2026; the listed cohort dates included an August 3 kickoff and September 17 pitch night. As of October 2, 2026, those dates had passed and the program page directed visitors to check back for future dates.