Tampa Bay Wave picks 13 startups for fintech accelerator

Tampa Bay Wave, a Tampa-based startup accelerator program, has selected 13 emerging tech companies for its fifth annual FinTech|X Accelerator program, connecting founders with mentors, investors and financial industry leaders to help them grow their businesses.

The 2026 cohort includes 11 U.S. companies and two companies from London, according to a release. The four Florida companies in the group are Riverview’s PayShore, St. Petersburg’s PredictQ, Ocala’s Aequi and Orlando’s BuildUp.

The program is backed by the Regions Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Regions Bank, and supported by the University of South Florida Muma College of Business’s Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance. The cohort, which began meeting this month, represents a mix of ventures across fields including artificial intelligence, payments, wealth building, risk management and small business growth.

“FinTech|X is about connecting talented founders with the people, expertise and opportunities that can help them build and scale successful companies,” Linda Olson, Tampa Bay Wave’s CEO and founder, says in the release.

Among the local participants, PayShore offers a platform that allows finance teams to view cash balances, manage payments and track approvals across multiple banks, according to its website. The company says its technology works with businesses’ existing banks and financial management systems.

PredictQ offers tools and research for prediction-market participants, including comparisons of prices on Kalshi and Polymarket, trader tracking and sports-market analysis, according to its website.

The accelerator is part of a broader effort to build Tampa Bay’s financial technology industry. 

USF and Tampa Bay Wave announced their partnership in November 2021 and welcomed their inaugural cohort in April 2022, the release says. By August 2025, companies that participated in FinTech|X had collectively raised more than $300 million and generated more than $60 million in revenue, the release says. Alumni include Paperstack, Viva Finance and Ascent.

The current program offers coaching, business introductions and networking opportunities. Applicants must demonstrate market validation, a scalable business model and enough cash to operate for at least six to 12 months. They businesses also must be able to visit Tampa at least twice during the program. A pitch night is scheduled for Nov. 19, according to Wave’s program website.

The remaining companies in the 2026 cohort are Alogram of San Diego; Beem of San Francisco; Flip & Floss of Bridgeport, Connecticut; LinqAlpha of New York; Mili of Wilmington, Delaware; Milo of Morgantown, West Virginia; Moola Money and TradePolaris of London; and Zelody of Portland, Oregon.

Across all its programs, nonprofit Tampa Bay Wave says it has supported more than 670 technology startups since 2013. Those companies have collectively raised more than $2 billion, created more than 7,600 jobs and completed 34 exits, according to the release.