A curated gathering brought together Florida House leadership and venture-backed startups to chart the state’s future as America’s next innovation powerhouse

Miami, FL — October 20, 2025

On a sun-splashed Sunday morning at The Gale Miami, an unprecedented conversation unfolded. From 10 a.m. to noon on October 20th, Florida House Speaker Cooper, flanked by key legislative allies, sat across from a room of venture capitalists, AI entrepreneurs, and health-tech founders—all gathered for a Brex Startup Events roundtable that felt less like a typical networking mixer and more like a strategy session for the future of American innovation.

The message from both sides was clear: Florida is no longer content to be Silicon Valley’s sunnier alternative. It wants to be the blueprint.

The New Power Brokers

“Most people don’t even know what we do,” Speaker Cooper admitted to the room of roughly two dozen attendees at The Gale, the iconic South Beach hotel that’s become a favored venue for Miami’s tech community. But the legislative leader quickly pivoted to why that needs to change. Recounting his early missteps with drone legislation—a bill that passed with little industry input and later sparked controversy—Cooper emphasized the importance of proactive dialogue between policymakers and the tech community.

“Nobody from the drone industry came to talk to me until after the bill was signed,” he said. “That’s why these conversations matter.”

The morning event, hosted by Brex—the $12.3 billion fintech darling that’s become the de facto financial infrastructure for one-third of America’s venture-backed startups—brought together an eclectic mix of stakeholders. From Ukrainian immigrants building AI call center platforms to Israeli cybersecurity veterans launching U.S. expansion programs, the room was a microcosm of Miami’s rapidly diversifying tech ecosystem.

And the numbers back up the momentum. According to the latest eMerge Americas Insights Report, South Florida startups raised $2.02 billion across 161 deals in the first half of 2025 alone—already on track to surpass 2024’s full-year total of $2.77 billion. Statewide, Florida now ranks fourth nationally in tech employment, with Miami climbing to 22nd globally in the Startup Genome rankings.

Beyond Tax Breaks: The Infrastructure of Innovation

While Florida’s zero percent state income tax remains a powerful draw—saving founders upwards of $130,000 annually compared to California—the legislators in attendance made it clear that competitive advantage requires more than favorable tax policy.

Representative of Florida’s Space Coast and brings a résumé including stints at Dell EMC, HP, and Citrix, is introducing legislation to legalize small modular nuclear reactors and micro-reactors in the state. “This is a national security issue,” Miller said, noting that Florida’s infrastructure has already been targeted by cyberattacks traced to foreign actors using compromised chips.

Meanwhile, a sophomore legislator from Lakeland—a teacher of entrepreneurship and robotics who sits on the state’s newly formed Information Technology Policy and Budget Committee—outlined the state’s struggle with wasteful tech procurement. “State agencies buy software with no strategy, hardware with no thought,” she said. “We keep spending hundreds of millions of dollars on things that don’t work.”

The solution, she argued, isn’t just better vendors—it’s better governance informed by the very people building cutting-edge technology. Which is precisely why the October 20th Brex roundtable at The Gale felt less like a photo-op and more like a working group.

The Founders: A Global Village in One Room

If policymakers came to listen, founders came to be heard. And their stories underscored just how international—and ambitious—Florida’s tech scene has become.

Take the Ukrainian entrepreneur behind AI-powered call center automation, now partnering with universities to streamline admissions and financial aid. Or the Israeli co-founder of The Lab Miami, who’s organized events bringing together 70-plus companies from Tel Aviv and South Florida. Or the managing partner of Assass Ventures, who’s launching a dedicated fund to relocate Israeli cybersecurity startups to Miami and Tampa—two cities he described as having better cyber ecosystems than Silicon Valley.

Then there’s Elon Adler, CEO of OneImaging, a radiology platform that’s slashed diagnostic imaging costs by up to 80 percent for clients ranging from FedEx to Norwegian Cruise Lines. Adler made a bold claim: “Six of the top ten digital health founders in the country now live in Miami.” His goal? Make South Florida the undisputed healthcare innovation hub of the United States.

Other attendees included:

• Brian, founder of Republic Driver Loyalty Program, an EV-focused insurance and energy credit platform licensed by the Florida Department of Financial Services
• Bill Rodriguez, who’s built a construction tech platform helping contractors manage capital and projects more efficiently
• Max Hinter, an engineer at Strugglers, which manufactures short-range electric vehicles for resort and urban environments
• Rebecca, executive director of Refresh Miami, the city’s longest-running tech community nonprofit, celebrating nearly 20 years of ecosystem building
• A precision medicine founder scaling a patient data aggregation platform, actively hiring engineers
• A biotech investor managing $4 billion for a single-family office, now working on novel therapies for rare blood cancers

And the venture capital firepower in the room was equally impressive. One partner oversees nearly $1 billion in assets across North America, Latin America, and Europe. Another runs a $200 million fund that’s invested in 34 U.S. states and is now targeting Israeli cybersecurity companies for relocation.

Brex: The Quiet Convener

While the legislative dialogue took center stage, the event itself was a testament to Brex’s evolving role in the startup ecosystem. Once known primarily as a corporate card alternative for venture-backed companies, Brex has become something more: a community architect.

Through its Startup Events series—dinners, happy hours, and invite-only roundtables held in tech hubs from San Francisco to Las Vegas—Brex has positioned itself as a connector, not just a service provider. The company hosts these gatherings not to pitch products, but to facilitate the kind of serendipitous, high-trust relationships that can’t be replicated on LinkedIn.

And in a post-pandemic world where many founders have relocated from traditional tech hubs, these in-person touchpoints matter more than ever. The Sunday morning gathering at The Gale exemplified this approach: intimate, curated, and focused on genuine dialogue rather than sales pitches. As one Brex resource explains, “The serendipitous introductions, the community events that felt like a must-attend—these soft assets were often the catalyst for hard growth.”

What’s at Stake

For Florida, the stakes couldn’t be higher. The state is locked in fierce competition with Texas, Colorado, and North Carolina for tech talent, venture capital, and corporate relocations. And while the sunshine and tax savings help, they’re not enough.

Founders want access to capital. They want streamlined regulation. They want talent pipelines. And increasingly, they want to feel like they’re part of something bigger—a genuine community, not just a cost-saving relocation.

That’s where events like the October 20th Brex roundtable come in. By creating forums where legislators can hear directly from founders—and vice versa—Florida is building the connective tissue that turns a collection of startups into an actual ecosystem.

As Trevor Andren of GFO Properties, a real estate developer focused on tech-ready commercial space, put it: “We’re passionate about building the environment that tech grows into. Tech moves quickly, so we need housing, office space, and infrastructure that can keep pace.”

Russell Dett, who helped coordinate the morning’s discussions, emphasized the collaborative spirit: “I want every one of you to partner with our legislative leaders. They are really smart people committed to keeping Florida the best place to build.”

The Road Ahead

As the two-hour roundtable wrapped just before noon, attendees exchanged contact information, scheduled follow-ups, and mapped out potential collaborations. Speaker Cooper emphasized his commitment to ongoing dialogue, while Representative Miller encouraged founders to reach out with specific policy needs.

But perhaps the most telling moment came as attendees filed out of The Gale into the Miami sunshine. The conversations didn’t stop—they spilled onto Ocean Drive, into group texts, and across LinkedIn messages. The energy was palpable.

If the momentum from that Sunday morning was any indication, Florida’s transformation from tourist destination to tech powerhouse is well underway. And with platforms like Brex facilitating the connections, legislators championing innovation-friendly policy, and founders choosing Miami over Manhattan, the Sunshine State’s next chapter is just beginning.

The October 20th gathering at The Gale may have lasted just two hours, but its impact will likely reverberate for years to come.

For more on Florida’s tech ecosystem, visit Refresh Miami, the state’s leading nonprofit connecting startups, investors, and community builders. To learn more about Brex Startup Events and upcoming gatherings, visit brex.com/resources/events.

The views expressed by event participants are their own and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Brex, The Gale Miami, or the Florida House of Representatives.

Sources
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