Florida Funders Research
Investment Thesis
Florida Funders (FLF) is a hybrid venture capital fund and accredited-investor network founded in September 2016 by Tom Wallace, Marc Blumenthal, and Kevin Adamek, later joined by Saxon Baum and Michael Kadow. The firm's founding mission was to keep talented Florida founders from having to relocate to San Francisco or Boston to raise capital, by building an institutional first-check and follow-on capital source rooted in Florida. FLF backs early-stage B2B technology companies and positions itself as more than a capital provider, offering a structured network (advisory boards, founder circles, direct introductions to customers and later-stage investors), a media-driven distribution engine that amplifies portfolio companies to customers, talent, and follow-on investors, and an in-person community built around an annual founder summit and ongoing founder/investor gatherings.
Stage Focus
FLF invests from pre-seed through Series B, getting involved early and following on as companies scale. In 2026 the firm added a new, even-earlier entry point: Florida First Check, an evergreen pre-seed strategy launched in partnership with the Institute for Commercialization of Florida Technology ("The Florida Institute"), which writes $75,000-$100,000 first checks to Florida-based technology founders. Florida First Check is positioned as the entry point to a broader in-state capital continuum that continues through seed (DeepWork Capital, Florida Opportunity Fund) and Series A/B (the J.P. Morgan-managed Florida Growth Fund).
Check Size
Explicit check sizes are only publicly disclosed for Florida First Check ($75,000-$100,000 at pre-seed). The main fund's per-company check size is not published; LP-side minimums are $5,000 (Investor Network) and $50,000 (Portfolio Select), which are investor commitment minimums, not startup check sizes.
Lead Tendency
Not clearly disclosed. FLF operates a hybrid model where its Fund co-invests alongside a 2,000+ member accredited Investor Network, and its highest-profile 2026 milestone (Flex's Series B1) was led by an outside firm (Halo Fund) with FLF as an existing, non-lead investor. Treat lead tendency as unknown/mixed pending more deal-level detail.
Recent Activity
Fund 3 is actively deploying; Fund 1 and Fund 2 are fully deployed. Q2 2026 was described by Managing Partner Saxon Baum as the firm's most consequential quarter to date: portfolio company Flex raised a $70M Series B1 led by Ryan Smith and Ryan Sweeney's Halo Fund at a $1.2B post-money valuation in July 2026, making it FLF's second unicorn; Fund 1 portfolio company RepScrubs was acquired, delivering a realized ~11.84x gross MOIC. In August 2026 FLF launched Florida First Check with The Florida Institute, debuting with a first investment in Stello AI, a Tampa-based agentic AI HR platform founded by ex-Uber/Hims & Hers exec Amee Parekh. The firm also added Guy Levy as Associate, Investor Relations in 2026.
Portfolio Highlights
FLF has invested over $300M into 100+ early-stage tech startups; its public portfolio page lists roughly 90 active/exited companies. Notable names include Flex (fintech, unicorn), Betr (sports micro-betting), Archive (AI/creator discovery), Worth AI, Manifest, Cast.ai, Togal.AI (construction AI), HealthSnap (digital health), WiTricity (wireless power), Passes (creator monetization), Stoke Space (reusable rockets), Mesh Connect (crypto payments infra), Pocket Network, RapidFort, Secberus, Presence, ClassWallet, Finexio, GoTu, and RepScrubs (exited via acquisition, Fund 1). Categories spread across Fintech, Artificial Intelligence, Future of Work, Digital Health, Cybersecurity, Web3, Education Tech, Ecommerce, InsurTech, Aerospace, Sports, and AdTech/MarTech.
Team
- Saxon Baum, Managing Partner
- Tom Wallace, Executive Chairman (co-founder)
- Kevin Adamek, General Partner (co-founder)
- Marc Blumenthal, General Partner (co-founder)
- Michael Kadow, General Partner
- Rachel Ferm, Director, Investments (vertical software, cybersecurity, AI orchestration; hosts "The Founder Playbook" video series)
- Zach Brodsky, Senior Associate, Investments (manages the Florida First Check partnership)
- Guy Levy, Associate, Investor Relations (joined 2026)
- Jake Felman, Director, Legal
- Cheyenne Stopford, Executive Assistant
Board members and advisors include Slater Bayliss, Corey Hynes, and Mark Steele (Venture Partners), Steve MacDonald (Board Member & Investment Committee), Rachel Sapoznik (Board Member), Jerry Miller and Marc Sokol (Advisory Board Members), and a dedicated Cybersecurity Advisory Board (Deniz Sagnaklar, Sean Robinson, Sunny Singh).
Decision Process
The presence of multiple General Partners, a Managing Partner, and a named Board Member & Investment Committee role (Steve MacDonald) indicates an investment-committee-style decision process rather than a solo-GP structure.
Founder Preferences
Per Senior Investment Associate Zach Brodsky: "We look for three things in every company we back: rapid growth, founders who can sell, and teams that have done it before." Florida First Check specifically targets repeat founders with strong prior operating experience in AI, cybersecurity, fintech, and enterprise software.
Geographic Focus
FLF invests nationally ("anywhere in the US") but is deeply rooted in Florida, with deep knowledge of Tampa, Miami, Orlando, and St. Petersburg markets specifically, plus relationships extending to Silicon Valley and New York. Florida First Check is explicitly Florida-only at the pre-seed stage. Headquarters: 1311 N. Westshore Blvd. #101, Tampa, FL 33607.