News and event updates originally shared in June 2025.
Last night was LEGEND—wait for it—DARY.
The Silicon-Beach.ai Pitch Event at the University of North Florida’s Coggin College of Business brought the heat, the hustle, and a whole lot of future-shaping ideas.
Huge high-five and tailored suit-level thanks to:
👔 Martin Luytjes & Caleb Garrett – UNF Coggin School of Business
💼 Stephen Strum, MBA ~Financial Advisor~ – Northwestern Mutual
🌆 Carlton Lamar Robinson, DBA – JAX Chamber
🚀 Dave Eyerly, Stephanie Marquardt & Matisse VerDuyn – AcceleratePV
🏛️ Gregory Grant – City of Jacksonville, JSEB
Your support helped turn this into a true celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship.
We had 8 stellar presenters from Poland to Chicago to Tampa. Then—plot twist—Dr. Steve Bowers showed up post-surgery (yes, after operating on someone!) to share an incredible update on his robotic surgery safety solution—total boss move.
🎤 Despite some early tech gremlins with Zoom and AV, over 100 guests in-person and 30+ on Zoom stuck it out and brought the energy. And get this—after the pitches, I had family offices, angels, and investors from San Francisco, D.C., and NYC pulling me aside to say, "Jacksonville’s onto something big."
The Top 4 (because it was just too close to call 3):
🥇 Actual HealthCare Solutions – “Most investable now” with immediate real-world impact
🥈 Permit Rockstar – Clear pitch, confident answers, total mastery of their space
🥉 SparrowPay Inc. – Real-time payment disruption we’ve all been waiting for
🏅 BestDefense, Inc. – Cybersecurity for the giants, solving problems before they hit the news
Bonus nod to Robocor – no direct ask, but gave us all a thrilling glimpse into what’s coming next in robotics.
A sincere THANK YOU to every founder who pitched, every attendee who stayed, and every person who asked the kind of thoughtful questions that show this community is serious.
We’re just getting started.
Let’s keep building something awesome right here in Jacksonville—and beyond.