Synapse shutters its flagship Summit

Synapse Florida will end its annual Synapse Summit and pivot from conference organizer to ecosystem catalyst. The nonprofit announced the move Thursday  in Tampa, saying the region has outgrown a single tentpole gathering and now needs more targeted connective tissue across a maturing tech economy.

The decision closes a seven-year run for the region’s largest innovation conference, most recently staged in February at Raymond James Stadium. Since 2017, Synapse says the Summit drew 35,000 participants, connected more than 1,500 partners and generated an estimated $31 million in local economic impact and $57 million statewide. Those numbers did what they were designed to do: put Tampa Bay’s innovators in the same rooms and on the same radar.

Co-founder Andy Hafer framed the shift as a response to success. “We set out to connect the ecosystem to ensure Tampa Bay’s place as a recognized national innovation hub,” he said in a prepared statement. “Now the ecosystem needs something different — and we’re listening.” That “something different” is a deeper focus on convening the right people at the right times, amplifying wins and filling gaps that a once-a-year expo can’t reach.

Board member Allen Clary, who leads USF’s Nault Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, said the region no longer struggles to find good stories. They happen daily across incubators and industry groups. He called Synapse’s role “a comprehensive and helpful catalyst for connection,” suggesting amplification has eclipsed spectacle. That shift is visible in the calendar: niche and vertical events — from cybersecurity to healthcare innovation — are now drawing focused crowds and shaping their own communities.

Synapse plans to use the first quarter of 2026 to collect community input and sketch its next chapter. The organization signaled it will test new models for convening and promotion, guided by a simple filter — “impact over activity.” Former CEO and current board member Brian Kornfeld underscored that the mission isn’t changing, only the tactics. The aim is to keep momentum and build more on-ramps for founders, funders and talent.

The timing tracks with a broader flywheel effect. Tampa Bay has seen founders recycle wins back into the market, from ConnectWise’s exit to major philanthropy, including Arnie Bellini’s $40 million gift to establish USF’s Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing. That mix of capital, institutional strength and specialty convenings has helped triple venture deployment in recent years and seeded a more self-sustaining growth curve. Groups like Tampa Bay Wave, Embarc Collective, Florida Funders and Tampa Bay Ventures now provide the infrastructure that used to be borrowed from bigger markets.

The 2025 edition highlighted six pillars — cybersecurity, national security, healthcare and health sciences, sustainability, fintech and entrepreneurship — and drew thousands to hear local and national operators compare notes on what works. Florida High Tech Corridor CEO Paul Sohl called those connections “the foundation for Tampa Bay’s next chapter,” a nod to how collisions at a single event can ripple for years.

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