Tech|X Accelerator 2026

Florida's #1 Accelerator delivering world-class programming. Non-dilutive, no equity taken, accepting companies globally

Located in Tampa, Florida, the Tampa Bay Wave is the #1 Accelerator not just in Florida but the entire Gulf Coast. Our portfolio companies have raised nearly $2B in funding, including over $500M in 2025 alone. Our network includes over 600 investors (VCs, angels, Family Offices), over 300 mentors, executives and decision makers from companies throughout Florida and the United States, and over 700 portfolio companies.

We primarily focus on companies at the Seed and Series A stage, but welcome applications from strong founders as early as idea stage. Our goal is to help companies that are growing through curated introductions to investors, customers, partners, and more, and our program is a 0 equity and 0 cost program funded by the federal and regional government, large corporations, sponsors and partners. To date, we have helped accelerate founders from over 30 countries.

The Tech|X Accelerator, powered by Nielsen Foundation, is a unique 6-week program designed for early-stage tech startups aiming to achieve both economic success and positive, measurable impact by solving real-world issues through transformative technology. We recruit founders from all demographics and geographies who demonstrate foresight, clear intentions, a progress mindset, and the ability to be catalysts for beneficial change.

This is a national/international program based out of Tampa that will further elevate the incredible momentum of the Tampa Bay (and Florida) Business & Technology ecosystem.
The program features two intensive in-person sessions in Tampa: 4 days in June and 3 days in July, with virtual sessions held between the in-person weeks.

Programming is focused on topics pertinent for founders. Previous speakers include unicorn founders, Financial Modeling experts, Venture Capitalists, Family Offices, the former Chief Investment Officer of Lighter Capital, the Founder of Priceline.com, Enterprise SaaS Sales and Marketing experts, M&A experts, Serial Entrepreneurs, Public Relations experts, and more.

Outside of these sessions, startups will be able to leverage Wave's 300+ strong mentor network located throughout Florida and the United States, the Wave team, and the community to move companies through milestones as quickly as possible.

Alumni companies have leveraged Wave in multiple ways, including:
Founder relations · Investor preparation and introductions · Customer preparation and introductions · Compliance issues · HR, legal, and accounting issues · Marketing and messaging streamlining · CEO coaching · Immigration and more.

Notable alumni from the Tech|X program include Philadelphia’s NeuroFlow (TX 2019) which has raised over $100M, SF/Miami-based Mappa (TX 2025) which raised an oversubscribed $3.4M Seed round led by Draper Associates, Houston’s Koda Health (TX 2023), which recently closed an oversubscribed $7M Series A led by Evidenced Ventures, and San Francisco’s Venteur (TX 2022), which raised a $20M Series A to expand its ICHRA platform, and more. Tech|X companies have also achieved meaningful exits, including Vincere Health (acquired by United Healthcare/Optum RVO Health), Movestax (acquired by Magalu Cloud), Autonomiq (acquired by Sauce Labs), and Allotrope Medical (acquired by Northgate Technologies).

Companies have joined Tech|X from throughout the United States and abroad, and have joined some of the top accelerators in the world, including Y Combinator, Techstars, MassChallenge, Plug and Play, Alchemist, Zeroto510, Johnson & Johnson J-Labs, IndieBio, and more.

Notable investors in Wave alumni include Informed Ventures, RRE Ventures, Radian Capital, Gradient Capital (Google/Alphabet), BIP Ventures, Fulcrum Equity Partners, Roo Ventures, C2 Ventures, Chingona, Florida Funders, Deepwork Capital, TopMark Partners, Sequoia, Precursor, General CatalystReformation, VOCAP, Ballast Point Ventures, New World Angels, and Tampa Bay Ventures.

Media coverage for the program and alumni companies have included Forbes, TechCrunch, the New York Times, Grit Daily, Cheddar, Inc., the Wall Street Journal, and more.