You’re not imagining it: this week Central Florida stacked another cyber HQ, energy hub expansion, and quantum fab growth on top of our simulation-native infrastructure. The wins are real, but so is the 9x capital gap to Miami. We need execution, not just announcements. That’s what February 20 forces. 

FROM ANNOUNCEMENTS TO STAYING POWER 

SimSpace moved its global headquarters from Boston to Orlando this week. The company that trains the Department of Defense, Fortune 500s, and critical infrastructure on cyber readiness chose Central Florida for simulation expertise, defense proximity, and talent pipeline. Same week: Siemens Energy announced $131M in Florida manufacturing and R&D investments, and Kratos added $65M in defense contracts. 

The pattern is clear: simulation is our native language, whether we’re talking cyber ranges, nursing labs, flight training, or serious games. And it’s colliding with hardware, healthcare, space, and defense in ways that actually scale. 

But here’s the tension: Miami raised roughly $2.8 billion in venture capital in 2024 while Orlando captured about $300 million. That’s a 9x gap. We’re winning HQ relocations and federal contracts, but we’re not yet winning the capital wars that fund the next generation of those companies. 

Meanwhile, we’re growing: around 78,000 tech jobs, up faster than national averages and peers like Miami or Tampa since 2019. Demand for tech talent here is running hot. But the question isn’t whether we can attract jobs; it’s whether we can build companies with staying power, the kind that raise Series B, Series C, and beyond without relocating. 

TEAM ORLANDO & THE $7B MS&T ECOSYSTEM 

SimSpace didn’t pick Orlando on vibes. Team Orlando is a formal partnership of 25+ MS&T (modeling, simulation & training) organizations including Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, Northrop Grumman, CAE, Bohemia Interactive Simulations, and dozens of specialized contractors. The MS&T industry here generates over $7 billion annually. 

Add UCF’s Institute for Simulation & Training (the first university-based simulation research program in the U.S.), the National Center for Simulation, and the Central Florida Tech Grove: a 2,000-acre mixed-use innovation district anchoring Research Parkway where defense primes, startups, and university researchers are co-located. 

That’s not aspiration. That’s infrastructure. 

SIMULATION AS OUR NATIVE LANGUAGE 

If you’re trying to explain the Orlando region to an outsider, “we simulate everything” is becoming a pretty accurate starting point. SimSpace choosing Orlando for its global HQ plants a flagship cyber range in our backyard, explicitly tying cyber readiness and testing to this region’s training and defense DNA. The company that trains the Department of Defense, Fortune 500s, and critical infrastructure operators chose Orlando for the same reason Lockheed Martin built digital twin capabilities here: simulation expertise runs deep, and the talent pipeline from UCF, Full Sail, and defense contractors creates a competitive advantage few regions can match. 

This is exactly the convergence the Orlando Tech Summit is built around: cyber ranges, defense systems, and experiential design as one connected skill stack.  

• SimSpace Moves Global Headquarters to Orlando, Florida

• SimSpace relocates from Boston to Orlando

DEFENSE, CYBER & DUAL-USE: READINESS AS A BUSINESS MODEL 

Defense and dual-use stayed hot this week. SimSpace’s headquarters move aligns with Florida’s pitch as “the most cyber-forward state,” putting Orlando in the middle of cyber training for both federal and commercial missions. Kratos added $65M in new defense contracts for training systems across CH-47F, UH-60M, and UH-1 platforms. 

What happens when defense, cyber, and spatial computing all demand the same simulation-heavy skill sets we already have, and when those skills are the same healthcare, space, and entertainment all need. SimSpace’s cyber ranges show exactly how spatial simulation moves from R&D to operational readiness, whether you’re modeling adversary networks or testing autonomous systems in virtual battlespace. 

• Kratos Strengthens Defense Footprint With $65 Million In New Contracts

HARDWARE UNDER THE HYPE: ENERGY, QUANTUM & ADVANCED MANUFACTURING 

If you’re building anything that ships atoms, not just bits, this week brought validation. Siemens Energy announced $131M in new Florida manufacturing and R&D investments, including Tampa turbine facility expansion and Orlando Innovation Center upgrades for digital grid technology, adding momentum to commitments for a Lake Nona hub. The investment is explicitly tied to power demand, positioning Central Florida as a node in the infrastructure required to keep data centers and quantum systems running. 

SkyWater’s growth plans at NeoCity following IonQ’s $1.8B acquisition show that Central Florida is increasingly tied into national strategic bets on semiconductors and quantum. The lens of “moonshot experiences” sits on top of this hardware reality: immersive worlds still depend on fabs, energy systems, and materials built by people in this region. 

• Siemens Energy to spend $131M on Florida expansion, including Lake Nona hub

• Siemens Energy is investing $1 billion and creating highly skilled jobs in the United States

• SkyWater Technology plans NeoCity growth after acquisition 

AI, VOICE, AND THE FUTURE OF HEALTH 

This week’s stories remind us that our edge isn’t just in building models; it’s in where and how we deploy them. UCF’s “Fountain of Youth” feature profiles the AIM Lab, which is building medical systems that use patient histories, imaging, and clinical data to predict things like dementia risk and tumor gene mutations years in advance. Visionik’s deep dive on building voice technology that listens tackles the hard, unglamorous work of making conversational systems more human. 

What happens when these systems move into spatial, embodied environments where voice, gesture, and presence all matter at once. 

• Could AI Lead to The Fountain of Youth?

• More Human Than Human: Building Voice AI That Actually Listens

• DeLuca Philanthropy Invests $15.5 Mil. in WGU for Clinical Learning and Simulation Center in Orlando

SPACE, HEALTH, AND THE LONG GAME 

Space wasn’t quiet this week; it was honest. NASA delayed Artemis II after issues including heat shield concerns and hydrogen leaks, pushing the crewed lunar mission into 2027. Turns out “move fast and break things” has limits when re-entry is involved. 

UCF’s role shows up this week as well: researchers tackling medical risks of space travel connect our space heritage with healthcare innovation. Mission planning for Artemis and long-duration spaceflight increasingly happens in immersive simulation environments: the same digital twin capabilities advancing for defense and healthcare now scaling to space. 

• NASA delays Artemis II moon launch after issues during rehearsal 

• NASA delays astronauts’ lunar trip until March after rocket’s hydrogen leaks mar fueling test

• UCF Alum’s Work on Blue Ghost Lunar Mission Commemorated by Firefly Aerospace 

• UCF researchers tackle medical risks of space travel

GLOBAL CONTEXT & EXTERNAL VALIDATION 

A few national and global headlines this week help sharpen how Orlando fits into the broader tech map. Siemens Energy’s broader $1B U.S. investment proves Florida is competing for serious operations. SpaceX’s request to launch one million solar-powered satellite data centers is a wild-scale example of where infrastructure is headed. 

• Siemens Energy is investing $1 billion and creating highly skilled jobs in the United States

• SpaceX seeks federal approval to launch 1 million solar-powered satellite data centers  

THE EXECUTION RISK 

SimSpace, Siemens, and SkyWater didn’t pick Central Florida by accident. They’re the result of coordinated work: Orlando Economic Partnership recruitment, Osceola County’s NeoCity strategy for advanced manufacturing, UCF and Full Sail partnerships, and proximity to defense installations. But landing these anchors is only half the game. Infrastructure, workforce pipelines, zoning for fabs and energy systems, and follow-on local capital all have to execute, or we get ribbon cuttings, press releases, and relocations: Central Florida’s version of vaporware. 

If we don’t convert SimSpace’s HQ move, Siemens’ Lake Nona hub, and SkyWater’s NeoCity growth into 5x to 10x more local scaleups, supplier networks, and retained talent, Miami’s 9x capital lead becomes structural, not cyclical. 

In practice, that means UCF research needs local investors to become companies, FIEA grads need SimSpace or Siemens to hire them instead of relocating to LA or Boston, and SkyWater’s quantum fab needs 5 to 10 local suppliers to emerge around it. Ecosystems compound when every win creates the next one. 

FEBRUARY 20: ORLANDO TECH SUMMIT & COMMUNITY AWARDS 

This is where we plant the seeds. The Orlando Tech Summit & Community Awards brings together Loyal Pyczynski (Meta, former Disney Imagineering VP), Ken Hall (DeepWork Capital), Sal Rehmetullah (Stax/Worth AI), and Andrea Wesser-Brawner (FL High Tech Corridor) just to name a few, to tackle the hard question: what has to happen for Orlando’s biggest wins to create staying power, not just headlines? 

Plus: 25+ startups and vendors in the expo hall, Community Awards honoring the operators who never ask for credit, and 300+ founders, engineers, investors, and ecosystem builders in one room. 

Bonus: Summit attendees receive complimentary access to IMMERSE Festival premium experiences on February 20 (provided with your Summit registration). 

📅 February 20, 2026 | 12:00PM – 5:00PM 
📍 Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts 
🎟️ Register now: Orlando Tech Summit & Community Awards

CLOSING 

Zoomed out, this week reads like a spec sheet for what Central Florida does best: simulation, defense tech, advanced manufacturing, and healthcare innovation converging in the same ecosystem. The capital gap is real, but so is the infrastructure. 

That’s what February 20 is for. Show up or keep wondering why Miami gets all the headlines. Grab your seat, bring your cofounder, and get this on your calendar now: Orlando Tech Summit & Community Awards.

— Sheena 
CEO, Innovate Orlando
sheena@innovateorlando.io