Newsletter June 26th, 2025

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Happy Thursday! This is Mind Your Business, your insider pass to the wins, waves, and wild momentum shaping our local startup scene. This week, Tampa tops a global list as a business hotspot, a founder turns personal pain into a powerful safety app, and the Bay sees its biggest IPO yet. Plus: new capital flowing, global expansion from Sarasota, and two local legends take home top honors. Let’s get into it because the energy’s real this week.

Here’s what we’ve got for you this week:

🌍Tampa ranked #1 on this global list of best cities for business
👟Local entrepreneur builds a safety app for female runners
🏆 Two Tampa-based entrepreneurs win annual award
🌊 New local fund, first investment done
🧪 Sarasota startup to scale its innovative product globally
💥 Biggest IPO of the year for Tampa Bay

Scroll down to learn more…

📍REGIONAL WINS

Tampa Tops Nikkei Ranking as Best U.S. City for Foreign Investment in 2025

Tampa has officially claimed the top spot in the FT-Nikkei Investing in America 2025 rankings, naming it the best U.S. city for foreign multinationals to do business. Once a sleepy fishing post, Tampa has transformed into a hub for white-collar sectors like healthcare, finance, education, and tech — all while maintaining low export exposure and high quality of life.

The city’s resilience to trade disruptions, particularly during tariff turbulence under the Trump administration, helped it outperform peer cities like Houston. Foreign direct investment is on the rise, thanks to Tampa’s streamlined business incentives, no state income tax, and 5.5% corporate tax rate. Its international pitch is backed by real investments: Bill Gates–backed Strategic Property Partners is reshaping the waterfront, and global players like Mitsubishi UFJ and Medability are already setting up shop.

Why It Matters:
Tampa’s rise isn’t just luck, it's the result of smart policy, global outreach, and a livable environment that startups and multinationals alike are flocking to. With AAA credit, falling crime, and a surging medtech corridor, Tampa is showing that growth cities don’t need to choose between quality of life and economic momentum that they can have both.

👟HEALTH & WELLNESS

Tampa Founder Dena Lewis Expands Running Mate, a Safety-First Runshare App Built by Survivors, for Survivors

Dena Lewis, a Tampa-based entrepreneur and seasoned runner, is scaling Running Mate, a runshare app designed to help women run safely by pairing them with vetted partners. Born from personal experience, Lewis is a survivor of two assaults while running alone—the app takes a proactive, peer-based approach to safety.

Running Mate launched in late 2024 and is now live in Tampa, Austin, Boston, Atlanta, West Palm, Denver, and Salt Lake City, with New York City and seven more markets on deck. Think of it like Uber for runners: users choose their pace, route, and whether they want to chat. Everyone is background-checked, and events in each city help build a trusted user base before a full rollout.

Backed by Techstars and a groundswell of community support, Lewis has resisted pressure to pivot toward dating features, staying laser-focused on safety and empowerment. The newly launched Running Mate Collective offers training and resources that go beyond the run: building confidence, awareness, and connection.

Why It Matters:
Running Mate fills a gap most founders ignore: the safety gap that keeps millions of women from doing something as simple as jogging alone. In a world where 92% of women feel unsafe while running, Lewis isn’t just building an app, she’s building a movement. And it’s one that could scale globally in the next year.

WE’LL BE BACK RIGHT AFTER THIS COMMERCIAL BREAK!

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WELCOME BACK!

TICKLE YOUR BRAIN

🧠 Riddle of the Week:
I whisper before revenue, yet echo after scale.
I shape the pitch and fuel the trail.
Too narrow, I miss the mark.
Too broad, I leave no spark.
What am I? 🤔

(Answer at the bottom of the newsletter)

Pause for some deep thinking…

🏆AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Avalon Healthcare’s Bill Kerr and Geographic Solutions’ Paul Toomey Named EY Entrepreneurs of the Year

Two Tampa Bay CEOs, Bill Kerr of Avalon Healthcare Solutions and Paul Toomey of Geographic Solutions, have been named Florida winners of EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year award. They’ll now advance to the national stage this November.

Kerr was recognized for building a GPS-like Lab Insights System that helps payers and providers make smarter testing decisions. Avalon now manages lab benefits for over 40 million people and claims to cut outpatient lab costs by up to 20%.

Toomey, a 30+ year veteran of Palm Harbor’s Geographic Solutions, leads a platform used by more than 40 states and territories for workforce development, serving over 204 million people. Their tech touches everything from unemployment systems to reentry programs and job boards across the U.S.

Why It Matters:
While Tampa Bay’s startup ecosystem gets flashier headlines, these two leaders prove that quiet, sustained innovation can create enormous national impact. From healthcare savings to workforce systems at scale, Kerr and Toomey are reshaping essential infrastructure without chasing hype. Their recognition puts Tampa Bay on the map for smart, systems-level entrepreneurship.

💰VENTURE CAPITAL

Coastal Community Fund Launches to Back Florida Startups, Invests in St. Pete’s Spontivly

The Coastal Community Fund has officially launched with a mission to grow Florida's early-stage startup ecosystem from the inside out and Spontivly, a St. Pete-based B2B SaaS startup, is its first bet. Spearheaded by Gazelle Capital’s Ashby Green and local investor Kim Vogel, the fund will invest in seed-stage startups across Florida and partner with local organizations to bridge capital and talent gaps.

With Florida’s tech sector booming but early-stage capital still scarce, the fund wants to build a self-sustaining cycle by reinvesting local dollars into local companies. It’s already working with startup accelerators like Embarc Collective and Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship, and will create student pipelines through USF and University of Tampa. The fund is housed within Gazelle Capital but focused squarely on homegrown momentum.

Why It Matters:
Florida founders often look out-of-state for funding. The Coastal Community Fund flips that script. By keeping capital, mentorship, and talent development local, it could help unlock the next wave of Florida unicorns and show other regions what true startup sustainability looks like.

😂MEME STREET

Here’s a Meme You Can Probably Relate To

🧪DEFENSE TECH

Sarasota’s Trace Eye-D Scales Rapidly with Drug and Explosives Detection Wipes

What started in a Sarasota lab is now being used around the world to detect fentanyl, meth, cocaine, and even explosives, all from a color-changing wipe. Trace Eye-D, founded by chemist Barry Gorski and led by CEO Chris Baden, has seen 500% growth since launching the product in early 2023. The company’s patented wipes offer instant, contact-free detection, a major improvement over traditional test kits that require handling unknown substances.

The product has caught fire with law enforcement, military units, and forensic teams globally, with over 40 distributors now in countries from Norway to Colombia. The idea began with explosive detection, but expanded rapidly as the drug crisis grew — and the demand for fast, safe testing followed.

Why It Matters:
This is the kind of deep tech-meets-public safety story that rarely gets headlines. While flashy consumer startups dominate feeds, Trace Eye-D is building a global impact tool — quietly making the world safer one wipe at a time. It’s proof that hard science, local grit, and a global mission can scale from Sarasota to

💸FINTECH

Slide Insurance Surges in $402M IPO, Now Worth Over $2.6B

Slide Insurance just pulled off the biggest U.S. insurance IPO of 2025, raising $402M and launching onto the Nasdaq with a 30% price pop. Shares (SLDE) soared to over $22 on day one, placing its valuation at more than $2.6B, surpassing legacy players like Heritage and HCI Group.

Founded in 2022 by Bruce Lucas, who also founded Heritage, Slide has grown aggressively, adding 135,000 new policies this year alone. With over 348,000 policies in force and $1.3B in premium, it’s now one of Florida’s largest private market carriers and one of Tampa Bay’s most valuable public companies. Investors bet big and so far, it’s paying off.

Why it matters:
This is a rare public win in a capital-tight market and signals renewed investor confidence in insurtech when executed right. It also marks a defining moment in Tampa Bay’s financial sector, where Slide is now firmly in the top 20 publicly traded companies by valuation.

📢ANNOUNCEMENT

Pitch Your Health-Tech Startup🩺 in Front of Cathie Wood (Ark Invest) – Apply Now

Got What It Takes to Pitch in Front of a $40B Titan?

This November 13th, we're hosting a landmark event featuring Cathie Wood, legendary founder of Ark Invest and visionary leader managing over $40 billion in assets.

We're selecting 5 standout health-tech startups to pitch live on stage, in front of Cathie and a room full of investors, operators, and key decision-makers in tech and venture.

🎤 What’s at stake?
The prize is still under wraps, but the real win is who you’ll be pitching in front of.

To apply:
Reply to this email with 1 short paragraph about your startup and what you’re aiming to achieve. Think of it as your elevator pitch – concise, bold, and clear.

📅 Event Date: Wednesday, November 13
📍 Location: Ark Innovation Center

Space is limited! Don’t miss the chance to put your startup in front of one of the most influential investors in the world.

WORTHY MENTIONS: UPDATES, EVENTS, RESOURCES, ETC…

• ⚖️ Fear & Greed Index: 62 (GREED) per CNN

• 🏡 Pay your mortgage with… Bitcoin? US regulators considering per CoinDesk

• 🧑🏾‍💻Turn conversations into presentations with DeckSpeed

• 🚀 We’re growing our private Masterminds Slack community — and we want you in it! Connect with top entrepreneurs, founders, and techies building big things in Tampa Bay and beyond. Join now

• 📅 Want to sponsor an upcoming Masterminds event? Apply here!

RIDDLE ANSWER

Your Value Proposition.
It’s what you define early on, refine through traction, and constantly communicate to customers and investors. When it’s too vague, nobody remembers it, but when it’s sharp, it cuts through the noise.

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