The Takeoff: 2025 Northwest Florida Pitch Day

Space Florida, Gain Venture Capital, and the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC) are pleased to announce The Takeoff: 2025 Northwest Florida Pitch Day to be held at IHMC in Pensacola, Florida on Wednesday, November 5^th, 2025 from 8:30 am – 6:00 pm. 

The Takeoff: 2025 Northwest Florida Pitch Day will highlight 3 industry leading researchers from IHMC presenting on their groundbreaking technology. In addition, leading edge early-stage companies to be chosen by a selection committee will have the opportunity to present to an audience of potential investors with a specific interest in your target industry sector.  The day of the event, judges will award the top 3 companies with a financial award. In addition, Deep Work Capital, the Investment Manager for the Florida Opportunity Fund (FOF) will also be a key participant at this year’s event.  Established in 2008 with an initial capital appropriation of $29.5 million from the state of Florida, the FOF has leveraged funds from federal sources, to create an investment program of over $150 million to provide venture capital to emerging Florida companies.

Your company was pre-selected to receive an invitation to apply.  Please find the link to the application below. Applications must be submitted by October 8th, 2025 by 5 pm CST or 6 pm EST. To be considered, all questions must be answered and the company must be registered with SunBiz. The selected companies to present will be notified around October 22nd, 2025 and are required to have a representative attend the November 5th event. Each representative must deliver a 10-minute presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A session. For any questions, please see contact information below.

SunBiz: https://dos.fl.gov/sunbiz

Company Application Contact:
Melissa Stoker
Business Development Manager, Space Florida
MStoker@spaceflorida.gov

About Space Florida: Space Florida is where leading aerospace companies get everything they need to see their new ideas take off. As that state’s aerospace finance and development authority, Space Florida brings a mix of unrivaled experience, unmatched financial tools, and unbeatable location to the table by providing critical business financing opportunities for the aerospace industry, managing infrastructure investment in the state’s spaceport system, and facilitating research and development, workforce, education, and investment programs. Visit www.spaceflorida.gov for more information.  

About IHMC: IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System and is affiliated with several Florida universities. Created at the University of West Florida, with a main campus in historic downtown Pensacola and a branch campus in Ocala.  Researchers at IHMC pioneer technologies aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. Their research falls into three broad categories: Machine Learning and Artificial intelligence; Robotics and Exoskeletons; and Healthspan, Resilience, and Performance.  Find more information at IHMC.  

About Gain Venture Capital: Gain Venture Capital invests in early-stage tech startups in the Southeast United States.  Based in Northwest Florida, Gain VC I was established to professionalize access to seed-stage capital required by an increasing number of tech startups. https://gaincapital.vc/   