L Marks CEO: Jacksonville shifting from unknown city to one ‘we should be paying attention to (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — When JAX Hub debuted in May 2025, it was hailed by local leaders as a game changer for the city’s push to become a global fintech and innovation center.
Months later, financial technology firm Paysafe and the University of North Florida emerged as founding partners of the initiative, spearheaded by London-based corporate innovation firm L Marks.
A little more than a year after its launch, not much has visibly changed in Jacksonville. Partnership organizations argue it has.
L Marks reviewed more than 600 applications from startups worldwide, each seeking to collaborate with Paysafe in Jacksonville. By February 2026, applications were narrowed to 14 companies that were brought to Northeast Florida for final selections. Four months later, it was slimmed to three startups: JAX Hub’s inaugural cohort.
The broad idea is straightforward: Link vetted startups with Jacksonville’s fintech sector to spur innovation and develop solutions during a 10-week program. From there, the hope is to offshoot the next wave of transformative financial technologies.
“The hub provides a network, and the network provides for increased engagement,” Paysafe Chief Product Officer Bob Legters said. “That increased engagement provides opportunities for partnerships, for connection — that’s the biggest benefit I see for all the local companies.”
It’s too soon to tell what the actual return on investment is for Paysafe, he said. L Marks CEO Daniel Saunders called the financial impact “exceptional.”
Recently, Paysafe confirmed plans to double its Jacksonville footprint. That expansion will bring its North American headquarters on the Southside to about 78,000 square feet.
The company deciding to grow is a win for Jacksonville in the eyes of Saunders, and it’s that type of benefit he sees being developed at least in part through JAX Hub.
Paysafe may have been the partnership’s first partner, but Saunders doesn’t intend it to be its last.
Based from London and traveling all over the globe, Saunders said he is increasingly hearing from other cities and markets about developing similar programs and using JAX Hub as an example.
Through its inaugural cohort, he said UNF students were also heavily involved. As the company looks toward its next partnered company for the program, Saunders already has high hopes for the next generation of entrepreneurs that could potentially spin off.
The success of JAX Hub is in its early days. Obviously tangible changes may still be to come for Jacksonville, but L Marks has no intention of slowing its pace.
Its goal was to stick Jacksonville on a more global stage, particularly in a state known for cities like Miami and Orlando. Saunders argues he’s already seeing that reputational shift.
“It started out of ‘OK, we don’t really know where Jacksonville is, oh it’s in Florida? I had no idea,’” he said. “To ‘This is actually a city we should be paying attention to and there should be more things happening.’”