Three U.S. startups land spots in Jacksonville fintech incubator (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Fourteen startups from eight countries pitched for the opportunity to work with Paysafe in Jacksonville but the list was ultimately whittled to three U.S.-based companies — JAX Hub’s inaugural cohort.
One Florida company and two based in California now enter the next phase of the Jacksonville financial innovation program: structured engagements with the fintech giant, commencing this month.
The collaboration, JAX Hub, is a partnership between London-based corporate innovation firm L Marks, the University of North Florida and Paysafe and intends to foster and grow fintech innovation on the First Coast.
It all centers around linking vetted start- and scale-ups with fintech companies. In this case: Paysafe.
“With more than 70 applications in its first year, it is a clear signal that Jacksonville is becoming a global destination for fintech innovation,” said L Marks CEO Daniel Saunders in a statement. “The selected companies bring capabilities across embedded finance, infrastructure and compliance with immediate application across Paysafe’s platform.”
The three selected companies include West Palm Beach-based Paybotic Financial, Parafin and Alpaca.
Paybotic is a fintech company oriented specifically for the cannabis industry, delivering banking infrastructure and digital payments solutions.
Parafin provides platforms with embedded financial products for small businesses. The company has extended more than $25 billion in offers to businesses including but not limited to Amazon, Walmart and DoorDash, per its website.
The fintech startup was founded in 2020 by former employees of Robinhood, a stock trading platform.
Alpaca provides brokerage infrastructure APIs that enable institutions to embed investing capabilities across equities, ETFs, options, fixed income and digital assets.
The San Mateo, California-based company opened 2026 by raising $150 million in Series D funding, led by Drive Capital, which valued Alpaca at $1.15 billion, per a release at the time. It powers more than nine million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in over 40 countries.
L Marks is the spearhead of the partnership that brings these startups to the First Coast as it aims to act as a conduit between the region’s business community and international startup pipeline — driving transformative financial technologies to the First Coast.
The company was born in 2014 from the realization that large, traditional organizations need help with innovation.
Today, it runs programs like JAX Hub across the globe, helping regions with economic development. L Marks made the jump from the U.K. to the U.S. in 2018, establishing an operations center in Columbus, Ohio, and debuted a partnership with Maryland in 2024.
“Innovation thrives through collaboration and shared purpose,” said Paysafe Chief Product Officer Bob Legters of JAX Hub last year. “At Paysafe, we’re proud to support Jacksonville’s growing tech community by connecting with global startups and local innovators who are shaping the future of technology and helping us grow together.”