Building Our Tech (BOT) Executive Director Safia Porter represented BOT at the Florida Business Incubation Association (FBIA) Fall Conference in Orlando on November 5 and 6, 2026. Leaders from across Florida’s startup ecosystem shared tools and strategies for building stronger incubator and accelerator programs for tech founders. Below, we recap what we learned and explain how BOT will use it to improve our founder programming.
The short version: The conference focused on two big ideas. First, support works best when it matches a founder’s stage. Second, some of the best customers are in places founders don’t think to look, such as airports, government, and defense. BOT will build both ideas into our upcoming incubator and accelerator programs.
What is the Florida Business Incubation Association (FBIA)?
The Florida Business Incubation Association (FBIA) is a statewide network of business incubators, accelerators, and other organizations that help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Its Fall Conference gives these organizations a chance to compare how they support founders and to learn what is working across Florida.
For a community-focused nonprofit like BOT, that kind of statewide comparison is valuable. It shows us where our programs already stand out and where we can do more for the founders we serve in Orlando and Central Florida.
Day 1 recap: Match the support to the founder’s stage
Day 1 of the FBIA Fall Conference (November 5, 2026) took place at UCF Dr. Phillips Commons and centered on one lesson: the best incubators and accelerators match their support to where each founder is. Leaders from UCF’s Business Incubation Program, Starter Studio, and SMARTstart Pasco compared how they work with founders at different stages.
Day 1 sessions
- What top-ranked incubators and accelerators do differently. An interactive panel with Rafael Caamano of the UCF Business Incubation Program, Dawn Haynes and Bob Reed of Starter Studio, and Daniel Mitchell of SMARTstart Pasco.
- Making Regional Innovation Systems Investable. Led by Amy Beaird, PhD, and Dawn Haynes, co-founders and managing partners of Ecosystem Edge.
- Start in Florida, Grow in the United States: Launching Florida Soft Landings. Led by Madison Lawson, Vice President of International Investment and Representation at SelectFlorida.
What stage-matched support looks like
A founder who is still testing an idea usually needs help talking to potential customers and learning whether the problem is real. A founder who already has a product usually needs help reaching buyers, pricing, and closing sales. Giving both founders the same workshop serves neither of them well.
Tour, networking, and keynote
Attendees toured UCF’s Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA), followed by a networking event at the Marriott Orlando Downtown. The day closed with a keynote from Stephen M. Shapiro, founder of Human Driven Innovation and author of You’re Not Playing with a Full Deck: Why the Coworkers Who Drive You Crazy Are Your Unfair Advantage.
Day 2 recap: Look for customers in less obvious places
Day 2 (November 6, 2026) moved to the Orlando Economic Partnership, with a theme of finding customers in less obvious places. The standout example came from the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, which presented the airport as a real market for startups.
Day 2 sessions
- Reflections from Year One: Lessons from Leading a Defense Innovation Hub. Led by Amber Reep, Director of Central Florida Tech Grove.
- The Founder Behind the Venture: Recognizing and Coaching Around Dark Triad Behaviors. Led by Dane Wagner, co-founder and CPO of Symeta.
- Where Commerce Takes Flight: The Airport as an Entrepreneurial Tech Ecosystem. Led by Iranetta J. Dennis, Vice President of Business Opportunity and Exchange, and Amber Johnson, Assistant Vice President of Business Opportunity and Exchange, Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.
- Pitch Florida: Why We Need a Statewide Pitch Competition. Led by Dave Eyerly, CEO and founder of AcceleratePV and Crosswater Capital.
Why the airport is a local example worth studying
An airport is a city within a city, and it buys technology to solve real problems. A founder working on logistics, accessibility, or the passenger experience could start by asking two questions. Who at the airport deals with this problem every day? And how does that organization buy technology? Answering those questions turns a vague market into a specific buyer with a specific process.
Closing keynote
Day 2 ended with a keynote from Ted Baker, author and CEO of Muncie Innovation Connector.
BOT’s path forward: How we’ll strengthen our incubator and accelerator programs
BOT will use what we learned at the FBIA Fall Conference to sharpen our future incubator and accelerator programs. Orange County Government, one of our longest-standing sponsors, and the City of Orlando already recognize BOT as a major player in building Orlando’s tech ecosystem. This conference gives us new tools to build on that role.
Here is how the conference’s lessons translate into our programming:
- Support matched to each founder’s stage. Founders testing an idea will get more help with customer discovery and validating the problem. Founders with a product will get more help finding and reaching buyers.
- A wider view of who the customer is. We will encourage founders to look beyond the obvious markets, including local institutions like the airport, and to learn how those organizations buy technology.
- Continued learning across Florida. BOT will keep growing alongside the FBIA, comparing notes with incubators and accelerators statewide so Orlando founders benefit from what works elsewhere.
Our goal stays the same: empower our community to learn, build, and scale in tech, and support founders at every step of their innovation journey.
Frequently asked questions
What is the FBIA Fall Conference? The FBIA Fall Conference is a gathering hosted by the Florida Business Incubation Association. It brings together Florida’s business incubators, accelerators, and entrepreneur support organizations to share tools, compare programs, and learn what is working across the state.
When and where was the 2026 FBIA Fall Conference held? The 2026 FBIA Fall Conference took place on November 5 and 6, 2026, in Orlando, Florida. Day 1 was hosted at UCF Dr. Phillips Commons and Day 2 at the Orlando Economic Partnership.
Who represented Building Our Tech at the conference? Safia Porter, Executive Director of Building Our Tech (BOT), represented the organization at the 2026 FBIA Fall Conference.
What were the main takeaways from the 2026 FBIA Fall Conference? The two main takeaways were to match founder support to each founder’s stage and to look for customers in less obvious places. For example, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority presented the airport as a viable market for tech startups.
What is the difference between an incubator and an accelerator? An incubator typically supports early-stage founders as they develop and test an idea. An accelerator typically helps founders who already have a product or service grow faster, often through a fixed-length program focused on customers, sales, and investment readiness. For a deeper look, read Tech Accelerator vs. Incubator: What’s the Difference and Which Do You Need?
How will BOT use what it learned at the conference? BOT will tailor its incubator and accelerator programs to each founder’s stage. Early founders will get more customer discovery support, while founders with products will get more help reaching buyers, including nontraditional customers like local institutions.
How can founders join BOT’s incubator or accelerator programs? Founders in Orlando and Central Florida can learn about upcoming BOT incubator and accelerator cohorts on our programs page.
Who is Building Our Tech (BOT)? Building Our Tech (BOT) is an Orlando-based tech nonprofit whose mission is to empower the community to learn, build, and scale in tech. BOT runs incubator and accelerator programs for tech founders and is supported by partners, including the Orange County Government.