Florida-Israel Business Accelerator

What Florida-Israel Business Accelerator does

Florida-Israel Business Accelerator (FIBA) is a Tampa-based economic development program founded in 2016 that supports emerging Israeli technology companies establishing or expanding operations in Florida. The organization functions as a public-private accelerator — leveraging Florida's zero state income tax, its positioning as a gateway to Latin American markets, and the state's established Israeli and Jewish community infrastructure — to lower the friction of U.S. market entry for Israeli founders. Its stated use cases include business acceleration, U.S. headquarters establishment, and Latin American market expansion, with a secondary vertical focus on Israeli orthopedic and medical technology companies needing manufacturing capacity, surgeon education support, and regulatory pathway guidance for the U.S. market.

FIBA's "product" is the program itself: structured acceleration services delivered through direct engagement with Israeli tech companies, including introductions to local partners, talent, and infrastructure. The organization operates with a very small staff of 1-10 employees under co-executive directors Pam Miniati and Rakefet Bachur-Phillips, suggesting a lean coordination model that plugs into a broader ecosystem of state, local, and community stakeholders rather than building internal product or technology assets. No proprietary software, API, or technology platform is disclosed, and the core technology field is reported as not disclosed.

The business model is not commercially disclosed. The economic footprint attributable to the broader ecosystem FIBA serves — 429 Israeli-founded technology companies generating $7.3 billion in gross economic output and supporting 26,510 jobs in Florida, with Miami-Dade County alone contributing over $6 billion (2.78% of county GDP) and wages 12% above the Florida average — is program-level outcome data, not FIBA's own revenue. Funding sources, pricing, ownership, and revenue mechanics are not disclosed in available sources, and the organization reports no revenue figure.

Name

Florida-Israel Business Accelerator

Website

https://fiba.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Florida-Israel Business Accelerator (FIBA) is a Tampa-based economic development program founded in 2016 that helps emerging Israeli technology companies establish operations in Florida, providing U.S. market entry support, Latin America gateway access, and a secondary vertical focus on medical technology companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Accelerator Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Accelerators & Startup Programs (FSANAHAD)

Keywords

• Business accelerator services
• International market entry
• Technology incubation programs
• Startup expansion support
• Economic development services

Headquarters

HQ city

Tampa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Core offering

Florida-Israel Business Accelerator is an economic development program that supports Israeli technology companies seeking to establish or expand operations in Florida. It provides market entry assistance, introductions to local infrastructure and corporate partners, access to talent, and pathways into Latin American markets, serving as the on-the-ground landing pad for Israeli startups entering the U.S. Southeast.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Business Acceleration Program Core accelerator program that supports Israeli technology companies in establishing and scaling operations in Florida, providing introductions to local infrastructure, corporate partners, talent, and pathways into Latin American markets.

Quantifiable outcome

• Israeli tech companies generate $7.3 billion in gross economic output in Florida
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Techstars: One of the largest global accelerator networks operating in 30+ countries including Israel; competes for the same Israeli founder mindshare and provides US market entry, though as part of a much broader portfolio of programs.
• CIC (Cambridge Innovation Center): Global innovation campus operator with locations including Miami that hosts accelerators and startup programs; comparable as a startup-enabling infrastructure operator in overlapping geographies, though not Israel-specialized.

Direct peers

• SOSA: Israeli corporate innovation and accelerator hub connecting Israeli startups with global corporations; comparable to FIBA in serving Israeli-to-global scaling pathways, especially for enterprise customers.
• MassChallenge: Global zero-equity accelerator with a dedicated Israel program that helps Israeli startups access US markets — directly comparable to FIBA's market-entry mission and cohort-based delivery model.
• 8200 Impact: Israel-based accelerator leveraging the 8200 alumni network to scale Israeli tech companies internationally; directly comparable to FIBA in mission (scaling Israeli startups) but operates from Israel rather than from the US landing market.
• Start-Up Nation Central: Israeli non-profit that connects Israeli tech companies with global partners, investors, and corporates; directly comparable as an Israeli ecosystem-to-world gateway organization, though operating from Israel rather than the US.
• eMerge Americas: Miami-based tech ecosystem platform and conference connecting Latin America with US/Israeli tech; comparable in serving the Miami-Florida cross-border innovation corridor and targeting international founders entering the US via South Florida.

Regional players

• Israel Innovation Authority: Israeli government agency running innovation programs, including bilateral R&D and market-entry initiatives; comparable as an institutional Israeli-tech catalyst, though as a government body it operates with a different mandate and funding structure than FIBA.

Emerging players

• Global EIR / Israel-US bilateral programs: Various smaller bilateral accelerator initiatives between Israel and individual US states/cities (e.g., NY-Israel, Texas-Israel); closely comparable in structure to FIBA but serving different US geographies.
• Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP): Israeli VC with US operations in NYC that supports Israeli companies entering the US market; comparable in serving Israeli-US scaling founders, though JVP operates a venture-fund model versus FIBA's accelerator model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fiba_tampa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Florida-Israel Business Accelerator