2025 1H Insights Report

2025 1H Insights Report

All eyes are on AI in the starring role, but cybersecurity’s rise in Tampa Bay and across Florida can’t be overlooked. Defense tech, already with a strong base in Orlando, is gaining strength statewide, and Miami’s Crypto Capital has made a comeback thanks to a new wave of blockchain startups. In the first half of 2025, our analysis shows venture capital activity in both South Florida and statewide is on the way to a stronger showing than last year—and on pace to post the best year since the 2022 high.

Here are some key insights from the report:

• Florida now ranks No. 4 nationally for tech employment, and Orlando ranks No. 2 in tech job growth, according to the State of the Tech Workforce 2025 report by CompTIA.
• Startups across Florida attracted $2.85 billion across 270 deals, and in South Florida, they pulled in $2.02 billion across 161 deals. 
• The Miami metro area ranked No. 22 in the world by Startup Genome in its Global Startup Ecosystem Report released in June and placed almost as high in global rankings by StartupBlink and Dealroom. 
• South Florida’s climatetech startups in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area raised $391.3 million across 11 VC deals in the first half of 2025, already surpassing all of 2024, when companies in the climatetech sector pulled in $320.4 million across 27 deals.
• eMerge, Related Ross and The Florida Council of 100 launched the Gold Coast Tech Accelerator Program, a groundbreaking initiative positioning Florida’s southeast coast as the epicenter of a new technology revolution.
• In the US, both Florida and South Florida ranked in the top 10 for venture activity in the first half.

Thank you to the incredible eMerge Americas team, as well as our editor Nancy Dahlberg and our research partners at Northeastern University for their dedication to producing this insightful analysis of our ecosystem.